FARMING THAT IS NOT FARMING 75 



perienced. They especially need protection from van- 

 dalism. To thousands of dwellers of the tenements, 

 the vacant-land garden would be a great boon. 



The Community Garden. The English government, 

 during the war, has made a multitude of allotments of 

 land to workingmen by which they can grow a portion 

 of their own food. It is understood that food produc- 

 tion in England has increased fourfold during the past 

 two or three years, and that this increase is largely due 

 to the small allotments to thousands of people who had 

 never before grown any part of their food supply. 

 Allotments may be handled by cities as just suggested, 

 utilizing the vacant land. Another development may 

 be the provision by the community, small or large, for 

 its own fruits and vegetables. This may be either by 

 arrangement with individual growers or by municipal 

 management of the enterprise. 



Several successful community gardens have been con- 

 ducted in Massachusetts during the past season. The 

 city of Worcester furnished a tract of land, plowed and 

 fertilized it, and divided it into plots of one-eighth of 

 an acre. Any one might secure one of these, pay for 

 the plowing and the fertilizer and plant what he wished. 

 A garden supervisor was provided by the county farm 

 bureau. The gardens have been counted as very suc- 

 cessful. The town of Newton adopted a somewhat 

 different method. The town furnished the ground, 

 plowed and fertilized it and supplied seed potatoes for 

 planting it. Any citizen of the town was allowed to 

 work upon this tract and according to the amount of 

 work each had done the crop was divided at the end 

 of the season, after the expenses of plowing and fer- 

 tilizer were deducted. This method likewise has been 

 very satisfactory. 



