62 THE WAR GARDEN VICTORIOUS 



had much to do with stimulating the progress of the 

 undertaking. An exhibition was held in a shed at the 

 factory at the close of the season. 



In the first year of this work, 1917, there was grown 

 in 500 gardens covering thirty acres of land, food valued 

 at ^10,000. This added to the food supply of the work- 

 ers 4,000 bushels of potatoes, 254 bushels of beans, 

 223 bushels of tomatoes, five and a half tons of turnips, 

 more than two tons of carrots, three tons of cabbage, 

 and nearly a ton of parsnips, besides a large quantity 

 of other vegetables. 



Similar statistics were gathered by the Firestone Tire 

 and Rubber Company, of Akron, Ohio, as to the value 

 of the crops produced by the Firestone workers on a 

 tract of forty acres. The average value per acre of 

 these crops was ^280. The men raised ^14,205 worth 

 of food. The total expenses were ^3,024. The net 

 profit was ^11,182. It was figured out that the men 

 earned on the average almost a dollar an hour for the 

 time spent in cultivating their plots, the exact figures 

 being ninety-four cents an hour. 



Gratifying as these financial rewards were, the work- 

 ers were perhaps even better pleased with the realization 

 that they were aiding in bringing victory nearer. They 

 knew that they were cutting market and grocery bills 

 by raising a part of their own supplies; but they also 

 realized that to win the war, "food must be kept fol- 

 lowing the flag." 



No class of people in the country was in a position 

 to realize more fully the immense value of war gardens 



