86 THE WAR GARDEN VICTORIOUS 
Committees should arrange for purchasing seed, ferti- 
lizers, and other necessary supplies for the entire group. 
This cooperative spirit will save time and money to 
all concerned and will bring better results. Reduced 
rates usually can be secured when garden supplies of any 
sort are bought in considerable quantities. 
In dividing a large tract into a number of individual 
plots, it should be remembered that an average size of 
forty by sixty feet is about as much as is needed for one 
family. This should give an ample supply of vegetables 
not only for summer use but to provide a surplus for 
canning and drying purposes and for winter storage. 
After a large piece of land has been divided and allotted, 
it must be understood that for garden purposes the lot 
assigned is the property of the person or family to 
whom it was given, and it should be protected as such. 
Each plot should be numbered. In assigning plots the 
fairest way is by drawing numbers. 
As a specific instance of organized community gar- 
dening, the story of garden production in Marshall- 
town, Iowa, in 1918, is of interest. Marshalltown is a 
city of approximately 20,000 people. Mayor S. H. 
Reilly, sensing the crisis in the food situation, called 
upon the county agricultural agent to determine the 
amount of space within the city that could be put into 
gardens. The county agent’s survey revealed a fine 
farm within the city limits, for the aggregate area of 
the unused vacant lots which could be put to work ex- 
ceeded seventy-five acres. The county agent found, 
moreover, 300 tons of stable manure suitable for fer- 
