56 THE WAR GARDEN VICTORIOUS 



what the superintendent of one of the Carnegie plants 

 wrote the National War Garden Commission: 



The plots were taken by men in all classes of employ- 

 ment. Laborers, skilled operators, clerks, and execu- 

 tives — a large number of them without previous experi- 

 ence — went into the work. A great variety of produce 

 was raised. A-luch spirit and rivalry developed among 

 the gardeners, this being increased by the offer of prizes 

 for the best gardens. In spite of the fact that the river 

 twice flooded part of the gardens during the growing 

 season, two of the prizes were taken by workers in the 

 flooded areas. The general average of the gardens was 

 above eighty per cent., and thirteen of them above 

 eighty-four per cent. Only one was adjudged a failure. 

 The committee of judges was compelled to revisit the 

 gardens twice after the first marking in order to decide 

 on the winners, and even then had to place several of 

 them on a par. 



The gardens were not only an assistance to livelihood 

 and a decided profit to the average worker, but were 

 also an inspiration and fascination, as well as a means 

 of pleasure and healthful education and exercise. 



From the rock-bound coasts of New England to the 

 far-flung shores of the Pacific, the war gardens of the 

 workers in industry stretched in an almost unbroken 

 line. The lumber camps of Washington and Oregon 

 and the mining settlements of Arizona boasted their 

 war gardens. The iron, cement and motor-car makers 

 of the Middle West had their garden plots. The cop- 

 per regions of Michigan, the shipyards of Texas, and the 

 roaring mills of the East, all beheld the sudden up- 

 springing of great gardens. 



