The Intelligencer March 18, 1918 (page 2)
“Can’t You Hear Them Calling—Boys? The Soldiers of the Soil need 15,000 of you in Ontario to swell their ranks and produce food for your brother soldiers overseas. Starvation and defeat face the Allies unless more food is sent from Canada this year.
Boys, this is your grand opportunity to do your bit. You’re too young to serve in the trenches, but you can do something big—self-sacrificing—on the farm. For 3 months’ service on the farm, a Bronze Badge of Honour will be awarded. Make up your mind to win one.
Join Up! Join Up! Your Country’s Calling You! Canada Food Board, Ottawa.”
The Intelligencer March 18, 1918 (page 4)
“The Soldiers of the Soil. This is enrolment week for the Soldiers of the Soil in Canada, when it is hoped that at least 25,000 boys between the ages of fifteen and nineteen will enroll under the banner of Food Production and gladly pledge themselves to assist in the great conflict against German aggression by working on the farms to provide food for the soldiers on the firing line. …
The experiment last season of boy labor on the farms was so successful that plans for this season resulted in the present Soldiers of the Soil movement which, on a much larger and more efficient scale, will bring to the aid of the sorely pressed farmers thousands of boys whose work will be doubly valuable because inspired with true British patriotism. …
Canada is calling to its ‘teen age boys, and they are coming a-running. Heroes many, slackers few. ‘Teen age boys can enroll all this week as Soldiers of the Soil at the Y.M.C.A. building. Y.M.C.A. Secretary Brockel is already out organizing the boys of the district as far east as Cornwall, and with his well-known energy and enthusiasm is bound to meet with abundant success.”
The Intelligencer March 18, 1918 (page 4)
“Special Appeal to Ontario Farmers. With a view to doing its part in the monster greater production campaign under organization by the Dominion Government, the Ontario Department of Agriculture has issued 20,000 large advertising cards calling upon farmers and others to exert every effort on behalf of food production during the coming year. These cards have been distributed to railway stations, post offices, schools and stores throughout the Province.
In addition to the cards, 100,000 pamphlets consisting of four pages of printed matter, setting forth the Government’s aim toward a greater spring wheat production, and giving instructions in regard to the preparation of soils for this purpose have been issued. …
The movement toward registration of labor for agricultural purposes is well under way, and within a short time, it is expected that every man, woman and child, of workable age, will be asked to prove their loyalty to the Empire by working upon the land in the interests of greater production. As this is a Dominion project, the Ontario Government’s part in the scheme will be to place its share of the labor secured by registration.”
The Intelligencer March 18, 1918 (page 6)
“Patriotic Tea. The tea given by Mrs. Hyman’s Knitting circle at the Belleville Club on Saturday afternoon, in aid of the Women’s Red Cross and Patriotic Association was a great success and $120 was made to buy yarn for socks for the men in the trenches. The beautiful sweater coat donated by Miss Jessie Neilson was drawn for, and little Miss Gwen Lazier drew the lucky ticket, No. 43 giving the coat to Mrs. Gain, 302 Bleecker Ave. The prizes for the guessing contest were won by Mrs. Bird, Miss Downey and Miss McKay.”
First World War Belleville 