74 THE FARMER AND THE NEW DAY 



only in the location of factories but by helping to pro- 

 vide plans, credit, supervision, and education. The 

 provision of workingmen's homesteads promises to be 

 one of the great social movements of the New Day. 



The Factory Garden. This is, in America, purely a 

 war development. The manufacturer sets apart or 

 rents a considerable area, perhaps ten to forty acres, 

 organizes it as a unit of management, and allots parcels 

 to individual employees to till. This plan requires ex- 

 pert supervision, as well as the preparation of the 

 ground, the purchase and application of fertilizers, and 

 probably the purchase of seed, by the employer. This 

 scheme has proved substantially helpful in increasing 

 the food supply of the workingman, but it is likely to be 

 rather temporary as a large movement. It may, how- 

 ever, play quite a part after the war for those working- 

 men who are for any reason barred from garden cities 

 and yet who wish to work parcels of ground. 



Use of Vacant Land in Cities. Twenty years ago, 

 the mayor of Detroit, Michigan, caused a national 

 smile by advocating the " Pingree potato patch " ; but it 

 was a good idea. An enormous amount of absolutely 

 idle land within the confines of every city is worse than 

 useless because it is usually unsightly, it spreads weed 

 seeds, and in a day when thrift is again coming to be 

 a virtue, one rebels at the thought of waste anywhere. 

 Again we may learn from Europe where, to a much 

 greater extent than with us, these idle lands have been 

 put to use. Generally speaking, this plan should be 

 handled by municipalities. It cannot be very successful 

 or widespread without invoking a compulsory law to 

 bring such land into use under terms that are fair to the 

 owner. The use of these plots needs organization and 

 superintendence because most of the workers are not ex- 



