THE WAR GARDEN VICTORIOUS 115 



toward bringing this about, to meet the urgent appeal 

 of Mr. Hoover and to help feed a starving continent, 

 the Commission realized that no relaxation was to be 

 considered and its campaign for 1919 was on a broader 

 and more vigorous scale than during the conflict. 



This terrific demand for food will be not a matter of 

 one season only. For years and years we must con- 

 tinue to supply unheard-of amounts of food. Indeed 

 it would have been almost as easy to put Humpty 

 Dumpty together again as it will be to restore Europe's 

 agriculture. The soil of thousands of acres has liter- 

 ally been blown away by high explosives. Practically 

 all the lands in the embattled nations have decreased 

 in producing power through poor handling, neglect, and 

 lack of fertilizers during the war. And of the host of 

 farmers that toiled to feed Europe before the war, 

 millions now lie beneath the soil they tilled, and other 

 millions, maimed and crippled, can never again turn a 

 furrow or harness a horse. As long ago as 1916 the 

 shortage of cattle, hogs, and sheep in Europe totaled 

 115,000,000 head; and without livestock to produce 

 manures years must elapse before Europe's produc- 

 tion is restored to normal. 



Since American farmers cannot produce all the food 

 needed, American gardeners must continue and extend 

 their merciful work of helping to supply the food needs 

 of the world. Instead of lessening their efforts, they will 

 be called upon to add as much as possible to their pro- 

 ductive capacity because of the additional mouths to 

 be fed. They are offered a new opportunity to help. 



