4 BULLETIN 602, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
The operatives are almost exclusively native people of the South. 
Many of them were formerly farmers in western North Carolina and 
South Carolina who were drawn to the mills by the steady occupa- 
tion they offered to the whole family. Their farming experience 
naturally aids them in the village gardening and in the proper feed- 
ing and care of the live stock. 
THE GARDEN. 
The most important of the small enterprises conducted on the lots 
is the garden. It furnishes throughout the summer a great variety 
of food which can be gathered fresh each day. With proper care 
and planning, a garden of average size in the regions studied will 
Fig. 1. — Comparison of the average value of vegetables raised on 548 gardens. 
The average size of these gardens is 723 square yards, or about one-seventh 
of an acre. 
furnish fresh vegetables for six months during the year, and even 
longer if winter gardens are planted. 
The average value of vegetables raised on the gardens visited was 
$29.87 (see fig. 1). This includes returns from some very poor 
gardens and some very good ones. In one of the villages, for in- 
stance, where a large number of families were visited, one-third of 
the gardens produced vegetables to the average value of $48, and 
