344 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



ment, and a fine large tract of almost 400 acres was the British arniy, who recently visited a number of the 



promptly set aside for the first "real war garden" in the army camps in this country, pointed out to the American 



United States. With the example of Cam]) Dix before officers some of the advantages of having the soldiers 



them as an inspiration it was believed that it would not plant gardens. These benefits agree precisely with those 



be long before every army 

 training camp in the coun- 

 try would be raising much 

 of its own food "F. O. B. 

 the Mess Tent Door." 



At Camp Dix. Lieut. 

 Champlin, of the quarter- 

 master's corps, was placed 

 in active charge of the war 

 garden work by Col. Tomp- 

 kins, with Capt. Wm. 

 Bethke, subsistence officer, 

 and Wm. Ryan assisting him. 

 ( 'apt. Bethke, who was born 

 in Germany, set out a "baby 

 garden" of his own to serve 

 as a model for the larger 

 one. Bethke and Ryan 

 both equally enthusiastic 

 over the war garden, work- 

 ing side by side to help 

 America and the Allies win 

 the war that's the reason 

 the American Army is go- 

 ing to see this war through 

 to a finish, that's why it's 

 going to win the next war 

 now. 



Col. F. B. Beauchamp, of 



Photograph by La Tour 



BABY WAR GARDEN FOR SOLDI KRS AT CAMP DIX 



Capt. William Bethke in his baby war garden at Camp Dix, New Jersey, 

 which will serve as a model for the 400-acre garden to be planted to pro- 

 vide the boys with thousands of bushels of corn and potatoes, and to 

 give an example to the people of the country as to what your Uncle Sam 

 can do in raising food F. O. B. the kitchen door. The National War 

 Garden Commission, of Washington, sent nine truck loads of seed and 

 implements to the Camp for the garden work. 



which the National War 

 Garden Commission has 

 used in urging home food 

 production. He emphasiz- 

 ed the transportation prob- 

 lem and the saving effected 

 to the railroads, with thous- 

 ands of freight cars thus 

 released for other work. At 

 the camps, too, much fer- 

 tilizer is on hand, at the 

 stables and the short haul 

 to the garden does away 

 with the necessity of hav- 

 ing it carted or carried on 

 cars to farms or more dis- 

 tant points. 



As an illustration of the 

 gain from putting "slacker 

 land" to work in this way. 

 Col. Beauchamp stated that 

 many tracts had produced 

 food in excess of the value 

 of the land itself. The 

 cases which he cited are 

 not unique, nor indeed un- 

 usual, for a number of re- 

 ports have been made to 

 the Commission where land 



Photograph by La Tour 



SOLDIER BOYS TO BECOME GARDENERS 



Lieut. Champlin (right) gets the boys at Camp Dix busy unloading the trucks of seeds and implements given them for war gardening by the 

 National War Garden Commission. A tract of 400 acres is being put under cultivation to provide "Food F. O. B. the Mess Tent Door." 



