THE WAR GARDEN VICTORIOUS 



37 



tants each had at command at least a few square feet 

 that could be cultivated. And urban dwellers by the 

 hundred thousands found vacant lots near their homes 

 which could be utilized for food production. This great 

 host of individuals, each working like his fellows for a 

 common purpose, carried 

 on what, in the aggre- 

 gate, was a vast farming 

 operation. 



In no previous war did 

 women play so great a 

 part as they did in the 

 world war. Not only did 

 hosts of them make mu- 

 nitions in factories, but 



Other hosts joined the Draw on your back-yard type of bank 



men in the production of that other sort of munitions 

 the kind that grows in gardens. With the women who 

 served as nurses, ambulance drivers, canteen helpers, 

 and munition makers, should also be ranked the women 

 gardeners. In thousands of instances- women gardeners 

 cultivated entirely, even to the extent of doing the dig- 

 ging, the home food plot, while in thousands of other 

 instances they shared with the men the task of caring 

 for the war gardens. 



Thousands of letters have come to the National War 

 Garden Commission from women gardeners. In order 

 that the fine service rendered by such women may not 

 be forgotten, some of these communications are in- 

 cluded in this record. A letter from Mrs. T. J. Ulery, 



