On This Day, 27 April 1917

Birmingham Daily Post

Friday 27 April 1917

POTATOES AND TOMATOES IN THE PARKS.

BIRMINGHAM’S SUCCESSFUL EXPERIMENT.

A report by the Birmingham Parks Committee states that during the past year the Department experimented on the utilisation of land at Perry Park and Quinton Nurseries for potato growing. The experiment was a financial success, the yield of potatoes producing a sum of £407, whilst the cost of providing the seed and the labour was about £75. In view of the present exceptional circumstances, the experiment is being continued on a larger scale this year at the following parks and recreation grounds:—Aston, Cotteridge, Handsworth, Perry, Warley, Greet, Quinton, Stechford, and Victoria Common. During the summer season the committee made experiments in the growing of tomatoes in the several greenhouses in the parks, the receipts from which amounted £90. In the view of this success, the experiment is being continued on larger scale this year. During the past year there was a departure also the growing of hay in several of the parks, which produced £190.