132 THE WAR GARDEN VICTORIOUS 



showed the success that attended this effort. Typical 

 of the spirit that animated many of these reports is a 

 statement in a communication from J. D. Parnell, 

 secretary of the Chamber of Commerce, Vernon, Texas. 

 Mr. Parnell wrote: 



We have a community canner and are preserving 

 everything that we grow. We are also going outside of 

 our county into the communities where they are not 

 equipped topreserve perishable stuff and buyingsurplus. 

 We can it and sell it to those who have no gardens. 



Home demonstration agents of the United States 

 Department of Agriculture, women's clubs, represen- 

 tatives of manufacturing concerns, gas and electric 

 companies, and numerous individuals cooperated in this 

 community canning. "The Federation of Women's 

 Clubs and myself cooperating will supervise the mar- 

 keting and the canning of the surplus products of 

 the gardens," was the report to the Commission from 

 Miss Anna Allen, emergency home demonstration agent 

 at Independence, Kansas. Similar work was performed 

 in hundreds of places. 



The success of these community canneries is indi- 

 cated by many reports such as one from Dallas, Texas, 

 which boasted of 20,000 war gardens in 1918, with 17,500 

 cans of vegetables preserved after the plant had been in 

 operation only a few weeks. This same Texas report 

 told of community canneries at Austin, Beaumont, 

 Marshall, and Corsicana. The last named was in the 

 Odd Fellows Hall and was operated by the children. 

 During the first week of its existence the community 



