THE FARM GARDEN 135 



are available for any school and furnish detailed information 

 applying to any particular locality. 



A job for boys and girls. During the garden season of 

 1918, about 1,500,000 boys and girls made gardens, and the 

 value of the products from these gardens was estimated at 

 $15,000,000. Before the War thousands of boys and girls 

 in towns and cities made successful vegetable gardens which 

 not only supplied the home, but produced a surplus sufficient, 

 when sold, to bring considerable return to the producer. 

 Similar success attended the efforts of many boys and girls 

 living on farms, enough to indicate that the problem of the 

 farm garden might easily be solved if undertaken by the 

 boys and girls. In most cases a business arrangement could 

 be made, whereby the gardener would receive a sum for the 

 vegetables supplied to the farm home, equivalent to their 

 cost if bought at the village market. 



Preserving garden products. Preserving food produced 

 in the garden by canning and drying saves much that would 

 otherwise be wasted and, at the same time, provides a winter 

 supply for the home. The great value of this work was 

 demonstrated during the War. It is estimated that, in 1918, 

 1,450,000,000 quart jars of produce were preserved. Con- 

 servation of food should go on also in times of peace. Com- 

 plete directions for canning all kinds of vegetables and fruits 

 will be found in references in the appendix. 



Hot beds and cold frames. In the Northern States the 

 garden season may be much extended by the use of hot beds 

 and cold frames for the production of early vegetables: The 

 average farmer may not feel that he can afford the time 

 necessary for starting vegetables in this way. But if, as has 

 been suggested, the boy or the girl on the farm undertakes 

 to supply the home with vegetables, the use of the hot bed 



