SOME of the 

 most interest- 

 ing and practi- 

 cal war garden- 

 ing in the country is 

 being done in the 

 South. Take Atlanta, 

 for instance. It would be hard to find 

 more whole-hearted cooperation than has 

 been shown by the whole city — and very 

 capable and intelligent cooperation. Atlanta's 

 Garden Movement started in 1916, organized 

 by the City Federation of Women's Clubs 

 and a prize of #50.00 was offered for the 

 best vacant lot garden. Ten vacant lots were 

 entered in the contest. The next year (191 7) 

 the same plans were carried out on a larger 

 scale and 400 vacant lots were entered in the 

 contest. This year, up to the present writing 

 (June 1st), one thousand vacant lot gardens 

 are entered and entries are still coming in. 



As elsewhere in the country where the 

 garden movement has been so fortunate, 

 Atlanta's has received a strong impetus from 

 the backing and cooperation of a committee 

 of business men. The head of Atlanta's 

 Chamber of Commerce Committee being Mr. 

 H. G. Hastings, President of the Southeast- 

 ern Fair Association. Mr. Hasting's first act 

 was to secure the services of a man of practical 

 experience in gardening who should put in his 

 whole time and act as sub-chairman of the 

 Committee. The City Federation of Women's 

 Clubs had a very able promoter of the Garden 

 Work in Mrs. Alfred C. Wilson. Mrs. Wilson 

 secured space in the Chamber of Commerce 

 building for an office. Here literature was 

 assembled and from here the campaign was 

 carried on. The aid of the Ad Men's Club 

 was enlisted — a very clear idea this of which 

 other garden movement organizers should take 

 notice. The Ad Men arranged a huge garden 

 parade in which thousands of children and 

 grown-ups marched carrying hoes and rakes 

 and other garden implements — which suggests 

 Joshua's idea of marching around Jericho 

 with the lamps and the pitchers. At the end 

 of the parade was a plowing contest: Gov- 

 ernor Hugh M. Dorsey and Mayor Asa C. 

 Candler competed for the prize. The Gover- 

 ner won and carried off a basket of vegetables 

 and the honor of being the most capable of 

 handling a mule and plow! All Atlanta was 



interested. 



* * * 



With the opening of the office and the in- 

 auguration of the campaign, speakers were 

 secured who visited the school buildings and 

 churches and community meetings, outlining 

 the Garden Movement. Business houses, 

 implement dealers and seed stores were asked 

 to contribute supplies in order that needy 

 cases might be cared for, and no one in At- 

 lanta go gardenless who was willing to tend a 

 garden. The result was gratifying. About 

 one hundred families were fully supplied, and 

 several hundred more helped. One large 

 implement company donated the use of a 



tractor. 



* * * 



One of the best things done by the Atlanta 

 organization, and a thing any city or town 

 might well copy, was the opening of an office 

 as headquarters for the distribution of plants, 

 seeds and other supplies. Here was an op- 

 portunity for the public to get definite help 

 in garden difficulties: a place one could go for 

 assistance and information. The office was 

 open all day with sufficient help to take care 

 of the inquiries. The expenses of the office 

 were borne by the businessmen and The City 

 Federation of Women's Clubs. The head- 

 quarters acted as a clearing house for plow- 

 men, gardeners, sources of securing proper 

 implements, fertilizers and other gardening 

 necessities. Up to date 45,000 cabbage and 



UNCLE SAM'S GARDENING 



A News Feature of National Current Activities 



tomato plants, more than 1,000 packages of 

 vegetable seed, 500 packages of flower seed, 

 about 25 bushels of potatoes, corn, onions, 

 and peas, have been distributed free of charge. 

 Most of these were given by firms and in- 

 dividuals to be furnished to those needing 

 them. Other supplies were secured at nominal 

 cost. Quantities of pamphlets and bulletins 

 have been distributed. A sub-station for the 

 distribution of information, seed, and plants 

 has been established in another section of the 



city. 



* * * 



I have given the Atlanta method in some 

 detail for it is one that could be duplicated 

 with equal success in a small town or in a city. 

 One of the most interesting publicity features 

 is the contest of public officials for cincinnatus 

 honors. If other cities follow the example of 

 Atlanta, with the intense interest of women 

 in gardening and their increasing advent into 

 political life, it may come to be as important 

 for a candidate for public office to show his 

 ability for an honest day's work as to be gifted 

 in public speaking, and skill in running a tractor 

 may be as valuable an asset as running a 

 political machine. At all events a would-be 

 Senator for Oregon is running on a "war 



garden ticket." 



* * * 



Memphis has 34,000 war gardens, and Mrs. 

 T. F. Kelley, first vice-president of the Fed- 

 eration of Parent-Teacher associations, esti- 

 mates that 2,340 acres of food stuffs are being 

 grown within the city limits. 



Columbus, Ohio, has 5,500 war gardens 

 this year as against 1,500 last year. They 

 are handled through the division of public 



recreation. 



* * * 



Youngstown, Ohio, landowners made avail- 

 able for gardening almost every bit of vacant 

 land in the city and the Chamber of Commerce 

 arranged for the plowing. 



From Akron, Ohio, the Firestone Tire 

 Company, come statistics which should en- 

 courage any manufacturer in establishing 

 war gardens. This concern plowed a large 

 tract, sold seed to their employees at cost, and 

 installed a time clock to keep tab on the time 

 employed by each person who operated a 

 garden. There were 265 separate tracts 

 worked. The number of hours put in by the 

 gardeners was 15,313. Average time per 

 garden 57. Average hours per man a week, 

 2 hours, 29 minutes. The value of the prod- 

 ucts was #14,205.59. The cost of seeds, labor, 

 watching, plowing and other expenses was 

 #2,924.56, netting the employees #11,181.03. 

 Net value per garden #56.60. 



Uncle Sam is going a-gardening on his own 

 account, and gardens are being rapidly estab- 

 lished at the different Camps. Camp gar- 

 dening is no matter of mere "chores." The 

 soldier-farmers are formed into a regular com- 

 pany with enough drill and physical exercise, 

 aside from having to keep up the military 

 spirit and morale. Opportunities will be of- 

 fered to the men to study farming systems, 

 and the work will be in effect a farm training 

 course, which will enable these soldiers, after 

 the war, to become practical farmers. At 

 that time, the demand for farmers, both here 

 and abroad, will be greater than ever in his- 

 tory. 



21 



Even more far 

 reaching is the plan 

 for reconstruction 

 work to be carried on 

 by the Sanitary Divi- 

 sion of the Surgeon 

 General'sofnce in con- 

 nection with vocational training of convalescent 

 soldiers at General Army Hospitals. Garden 

 work is preeminently suitable for reinvigorat- 

 ing the victims of war's injuries. 



Women have a certain definiteness and di- 

 rectness — limitation, if you will — of view that 

 bids fair to have an interesting effect on the 

 whole profiteering system. They are perfectly 

 willing to save, but they are blest if they will 

 savewhilecommission men are allowed to throw 

 good food on the dump. And their interest 

 in the food situation is so keen, their knowl- 

 edge of it growing accurate so rapidly that 

 our profiteers may find existence as difficult 

 as their kindred, the cabbage worm and 

 cutworm. Mrs. William Maclay Hall, Chair- 

 man of the Women's Committee of the 

 Pittsburg War Garden Commission, is very 

 definite on the subject. "What is the 

 use," asks Mrs. Hall, "of all our work to or- 

 ganize women of the country for a Land Army 

 when such things are being done? Last year 

 when we presented the food conservation cards 

 to the women, we were constantly being met 

 by the same inquiry — 'what's the use, when 

 the commission men throw away the food as 

 they do?' I determined then that something 

 should be done, and since then have asked 

 that I be informed of any food stuff being 

 dumped out, and it will be secured, if possible, 

 and distributed free to the public." 



This dumping of perfectly good food is no 

 myth. Three carloads of onions secured in 

 this way will be distributed by the Pittsburg 

 War Garden Commission, at the rate of 600 

 bushels a day. "These onions," says Mrs. 

 Hall, "are both the Silver-skinned and the 

 Yellow Danvers, the same as sell for 15 or 

 20 cents a quarter-peck in the stores, and there 

 are also onions for planting. There seems 

 to be something wrong with the food distribu- 

 tion, for when we give away these onions the 

 price does not go down." An interesting 

 remedy for such anti-social practise which 

 one would like to see Uncle Sam try, would be 

 to interne, as an enemy-alien, or undesirable 

 citizen, any one detected with so feeble an 

 appreciation of what the government is trying 

 to do, as to throw away food. If "food will 

 win the war," the dumping of carloads of 

 onions is an act of aid and comfort to the 

 enemy. The culprit should be sent to one of 

 the farm-camps, where, if throwing away 

 onions was his crime, then onions he should 

 plant, and hoe, and weed, and later dry and 

 store. After one summer's work in the onion- 

 patch he should have too great a respect for 

 the humble vegetable ever to so misuse it. If 

 not, he could have another season. If I mis- 

 take not, this is the sort of remedy that Wo- 

 men's War Garden Committees will soon be 



prescribing. 



* * * 



The Bureau of Markets (Department of 

 Agriculture) is going to give the house- 

 wife every possible market information which 

 will enable her to keep a close tab on wholesale 

 and retail prices, and the American housewife 

 will be patriotic and clearheaded and deter- 

 mined enough to see to it that any glut in the 

 market is utilized for canning or drying or 

 distribution to the needy, not thrown away in 

 a dump or convenient harbor to keep the 

 prices up. To the housewife there is neither 

 patriotism nor democracy in letting any one 

 "get away" with that sort of thing, and this 

 year it won't be tolerated — not by women 

 whose sons, or brothers, or sweethearts, are 

 giving their lives. Frances Duncan. 



