THE WAR GARDEN VICTORIOUS 159 



Some of the unused product was on hand at the begin- 

 ning of the European war, and when opened, was found 

 to be in a perfect state of preservation. The British 

 soldiers in South Africa could not distinguish between 

 the dried vegetables they were eating and the food 

 to which they were accustomed, and they throve 

 exceedingly well on it. John Hays Hammond, the inter- 

 nationally renowned mining engineer who took such 

 a prominent part in the development of the South 

 African territory and who is a member of the National 

 War Garden Commission, is familiar with this matter. 

 In discussing it he said: 



The supplies of dried vegetables which were shipped 

 from Canada to South Africa during the Boer War were 

 found to be just as palatable, just as nutritious, as any 

 of the other rations. I doubt if a single one of the men 

 could have told the difference between this part of their 

 mess and the other edibles that were furnished them. 

 Certainly this is borne out by what a close friend of 

 mine, Dr. Charles L. Lindley, of Lakewood, New Jersey, 

 himself born in South Africa and an army surgeon dur- 

 ing Lord Robert's campaign there, recently told me of 

 the experiment. His experience with dried vegetables 

 confirms every claim that can be made for them as a 

 valuable part of a soldier's rations. 



It was largely due to the successful results obtained 

 during the Boer War that the British War Office was led 

 to adopt dried vegetables as part of the soldier's supply 

 during the recent war. Since the outbreak of the Euro- 

 pean struggle the British and French governments have 

 purchased no less than 50,000,000 pounds of dried foods 



