THE WAR GARDEN VICTORIOUS 117 



formed. So we can look for no huge immigration after 

 the war to solve our labor problem, and that problem 

 is acute. There are no ruined cities to be rebuilt, or 

 devastated farms to be restored in the United States, 

 but there are innumerable construction tasks to be 

 done that have been put aside during the war. 



Thousands of miles of road to mention a single 

 task will have to be completely rebuilt. The day of 

 the heavy motor-truck as a means of transportation 

 between city and city has come to stay, and for its 

 accommodation there must be a strengthening of roads. 

 This is one of the great tasks awaiting the army of 

 men returning from the battle-fields. The construction 

 of new buildings in our cities, checked by war-time 

 need of material and men, must be resumed and lost 

 time must be made up. Cities will need many improve- 

 ments which will keep the workers of the world busy. 

 In these and a hundred other ways there will be steady 

 call for the men released from strictly war work. 



All these facts point to the increasing value of the 

 victory garden. It will be just as important a factor 

 m the life of the nation and the community after the 

 war as was the war garden during the conflict. The 

 need for gardens will last for many years; and during 

 that time, the value of gardening will have become so 

 apparent that the movement will continue indefinitely. 

 It will have become a habit fixed and firmly implanted 

 in the hearts and lives of the people of the country. 



In addition to all this, gardening has been found to 

 be a health measure. It has been used in the rehabili- 



