OPERATORS FOR JAP FARMS LAG

About a third of the necessary number of operators to take over farm lands of Japanese evacuees have registered with the Farm Security Administration at 808 Second Ave., Charles A. Agers, field representative, announced today.

Agers said the curfew proclamation, preventing Japanese from traveling farther than five miles from their homes, had hindered efforts of the F.S.A. to register the Japanese and find operators, but that is being remedied as fast as possible.

"It was like the mountain and Mohammet," Agers said. "The Japanese couldn't come to us, so we went to them, holding meetings in rural areas near Auburn, Kent, Vashon, South Park, Bothell, Kirkland and similar farm regions.

"The Japanese provided crews for the registration and even interpreters. We now are tabulating all this information."

Agers urged white or Filipino farmers, who desire to take over evacuee farms, to register at the Seattle office.

It is estimated from 600 to 900 farms will be left in King County by Japanese evacuees, and 125 in Pierce County.

A similar situation exists up and down the Pacific Coast, according to the Associated Press. The United States Employment Service in San Francisco announced that Japanese farmers are swamping coastal offices with requests for persons to farm their lands.

The F.S.A. in San Francisco said it has supervised the transfer of about 1,000 farms of some 50,000 acres in the three Coast states, and that unreported transfers probably will bring the total to about a third of the transfers needed.

Other agencies assisting in helping to find new farmers to prevent loss of production include banks, chambers of commerce, farm cooperatives and processor and shipper organizations.