other troubles. The men crave them and are more appreciative of 
them than of cigarettes and deHcacies." These statements remove the 
appeal we make to a higher plane than that of mere emotion and render 
a new form of service not only desirable but advisable. 
Not long since, the Society of American Florists offered to collect 
daily and give their surplus flowers in New York, if arrangements could 
be made to distribute them, to the war hospitals. The National League 
for Women's Service undertook the work of distribution and plan to 
extend this service through the United States for the duration of the 
war. An appeal has been sent to florists in seven hundred cities and 
towns where the National League has branches. 
At the present time this work is being carried on principally in 
New York where the majority of the newly arrived woimded are 
being cared for. There are many parts of the country that the National 
League does not reach and many where additional contributions will 
be needed. Certainly it is fitting that the work should be taken up by 
The Garden Club of America, and this appeal to non-professional 
gardeners is made to forestall the closing of private greenhouses and 
the abandonment of flower-cultivation during the winter. 
At the beginning of the war, the hasty cry arose among Garden 
Club members, "Let us abandon flower gardens and greenhouses. 
War is stern and deals not with such beautiful trifles. War is costly 
and we need guns and food." Many a patriotic flower-lover has with 
natural regret admitted that this was true. 
But it is not all the truth. Of late saner thought and wider knowl- 
edge are leading us to a different conclusion and we are now authorized 
as flower lovers and producers to substitute practical service for unne- 
cessary sacrifice. Our maturer decision should be, "Here I have an 
asset, a possession of definite use to my coimtry. Because war is 
• stern, I will find a way to mitigate even in slight measure its evil 
effects. Because war is costly I will aid in bringing health and hope to 
at least one of those whom war has wasted and thrown aside." 
The United States Fuel Administration wiU allow small green- 
houses using less than forty tons of coal to run at full capacity, and 
larger houses may use fifty per cent of the amount consumed last 
year. So plans may be safely made for intensive growing of hardy 
flowers for cutting, and costly plants may be saved. 
Every community, club, and individual to which this patriotic 
service is possible must work out a practical plan to satisfy the in- 
creasing demand. For as the months pass and hospitals multiply, the 
tragic misery that follows in the wake of war is coming nearer home. 
And when the gray winter shuts down on those who have returned 
and will return from that grim battle front, shall not some of us be 
