2 . BULLETIN 602, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
This bulletin sets forth results obtained from small plots of 
ground by over 500 families living in Southern cotton-mill villages. 
The facts and figures gathered in the study of the utilization of 
these plots for producing food are presented as suggestive of what 
the industrial establishment can do for the welfare of its employees 
by locating where the cost of living may be kept down by the home 
production of food. They may also serve to give the village or city 
dweller information as to the possibilities of raising food on small 
plots of suitable available ground. 1 
It refers particularly to the small plots of ground which may be 
used by village or city dwellers for raising vegetables, fruit, poultry, 
and even hogs and milk. The ground should be located conveniently 
so that the family may do most of the work. It is difficult to con- 
ceive of a laboring man's family using its' spare time to better ad- 
vantage than in cultivating the home garden or caring for a small 
flock of poultry or the family cow. The most productive garden or 
the most profitable flock of poultry, however, is the result of good 
management and intelligent care. If pride is taken in the garden 
and study devoted to its management, it will be a pleasure to plan 
for it during the winter and care for it during the summer. The 
man who finds recreation in fishing knows just what bait is best for 
each kind of fish ; knows just where the best fishing places are, and 
the season when he is most likely to make a big catch. The success- 
ful home gardener or poultryman makes a study of this form of 
recreation with the same kind of enthusiasm that animates the keen 
fisherman. 
The local retail prices used in this study were considerably lower 
than the prices current in large cities and towns at the time the study 
was made, and only one-third to one-fourth of the present prices 
(1917). The comparative cheapness of produce in these villages 
may be attributed to the fact that most families raise enough for 
their own use and a little over, so that in season the " store prices " 
of most vegetables or fruits are influenced greatly by the prices at 
which the consumer can buy them from a neighbor. 
THE COTTON-MILL VILLAGE. 
Southern textile companies furnish houses for the cotton-mill em- 
ployees. The mill buildings, surrounded by the operatives' houses 
and the few necessary stores and shop buildings constitute the mill 
1 United States Department of Agriculture bulletins, State experiment station bulle- 
tins, and farm papers give information pertaining to garden culture, the amount of land 
needed for a small flock of poultry or a family cow, and the kinds of feed to use. A 
talk with a neighbor who has had success Avith his garden or his poultry is suggested. 
He may be able to give some good information. Good seed catalogues also give certain 
information on garden vegetables. 
