62 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



are at ^vo^k, and in twenty of these states active work has been 

 done in placing women on the farms. In the eastern states, as 

 well as in the far west, the Army has been particularly active and 

 in several instances the women are credited Math ha\ing, through 

 their enthusiastic work, saved the crops of entire counties and 

 thousands of dollars to the farmers that otherwise would have been 

 lost, besides furnishing vast quantities of food to the world at a 

 time when greatly needed. 



The Land Army has opened a new channel to thousands of 

 women who view life from a new angle, especially with reference to 

 its applications to outdoor pursuits, and what is more, they have 

 gained in mental \'ision and in physical strength, in happiness as 

 well as achievement, to a degree far in advance of their sanguine 

 expectations. 



These women worked on about three thousand different places — 

 farms and estates; fifteen thousand of them at an average wage of 

 $2.00 a day for approximately two months each. As conditions 

 again approach the normal are not these women destined to place 

 their impress upon the new era of gardening? 



The Schools' and Children's Gardens. 



I have already referred casually to the work of the children. 

 Perhaps some figures concerning the United States School Garden 

 Army will also be suggestive of the possibilities of the times that 

 are ahead of us. This organization which was established just a 

 year ago, in the spring of 1918, was able to show 1,500,000 children 

 in home or school gardens by the end of the season; 1,500,000 

 garden lesson leaflets, manuals, and posters distributed; and a 

 return, on a fair basis of estimation, of $15,000,000 in vegetables 

 produced for home consumption, and a great quantity of them 

 canned for winter use. These figures are official. 



A few typical cities will interest you. In Lexington, Kentucky, 

 8,000 garden army children raised $100,000 worth of vegetables; 

 Fresno, Cal., 3,100 children, $48,000 crop; Rochester, N. Y., 

 3,200 children, $16,246 crop; Chattanooga, Tenn., 5,000 children, 

 $62,171 crop; Riclimond, Va., 1,597 children, $43,936 crop; 



