ENLISTING SOLDIERS OF THE SOIL 



337 



working of such enterprises 

 that a special bulletin of 

 ad\ice has been issued on 

 the subject. This bulletin 

 says in part : 



"The advantages of com- 

 munity gardening are sev- 

 eral. Considerable back- 

 breaking labor can be saved 



by hiring the plowing and harrowing of the garden tract. 

 The pro-rata expense for this work will be light and well 

 worth paying to escape the toil of spading by hand. 

 Moreover, in the cultivation of an extended garden tract 

 it is possible to use other labor-saving tools, like the wheel 

 hoe, which are not practical in small back-yard gardens. 



"Money also can be saved by the individual members, 

 comparing the cost of community gardens with that of the 

 same tract if tilled in individual plots, in the purchase of 

 garden tools — hoes, rakes, wheelbarrows, sprinkling cans, 

 and the like — because several workers in the garden at dif- 

 ferent times can use the same tools. In the same way 

 money can be saved in purchasing fertilizer, seeds, and 

 spraying chemicals for insects and plant diseases, and a 

 further advantage is that the community garden is likely 

 to have the benefits of artificial fertilization and spraying 

 which are often dispensed with by the individual who cul- 

 tivates a small garden. 



' ' The greatest advantage of all which can come to the 



A WAR-TIME MOTTO 



""TJRACTICE Economy, but not Parsimony; cut 

 I out Waste— particularly all Food-Waste — 

 but maintain the American standard of 

 Comfort. That is good economics and good busi- 

 ness." — Charles Lathrop Pack. 



workers in a commumty 

 garden is the possibility of 

 their obtaining expert in- 

 struction. For a small cost 

 some expert gardener — per- 

 haps a market gardener on 

 the outskirts of the city — can 

 be hired to visit the commu- 

 nity garden at intervals and 

 tell the novice workers about their mistakes. Once a week 

 would be often enough for such practical instruction. Such 

 first-hand advice for a new gardener often means the differ- 

 ence between a heavy crop and a complete crop failure. 



' ' In general those who engage in such an enterprise 

 should be as far as possible persons of the same interests 

 and tastes, and also of about the same habits in life. Their 

 leisure time should be about the same. Shunt ofT the 

 chronic kickers, and those who are constitutionally con- 

 vinced that others are always trying to get the best of them. 

 Every one who goes into such an arrangement should 

 understand exactl}' what the cooperation proposes to do. 

 It ought all to be down in black and white before any- 

 thing is started or any money spent. While each member 

 is enlisting to share in the produce, he is also pledging his 

 pro-rata amount of labor. The points of trouble in any 

 community garden undertaking are likely to come in these 

 two places. 



" It is important that the volunteer manager be a man 



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ONE YOUNG CANNER'S VERSATILITY 



This "Girl from Utah" has established a reputation that may well bestir the envy of the experienced housewife. With a view to doing her bit in the matter of Food 

 Thrift, she started at the top of the vegetable and fruit list and worked through it. The result is here pictured. In each of the five rows may be counted eleven 

 jars. No two of them are duplicates as to contents. This means that the young lady canned fifty-five varieties of vegetables and fruits in a single season. What 

 will she do when she is twice as old? 



