IIO THE WAR GARDEN VICTORIOUS 
which this war has demonstrated to be of value and 
benefit to mankind, it will last. 
War gardening will permanently establish itself be- 
cause its peace-time value will fully equal its war-time 
worth. This will be true at all times, but more partic- 
ularly during the first five or ten years of the great 
reconstruction period. During that period the matter 
of food production will be of the most pressing im- 
portance. It will be on a par with many of the other 
enormous reconstruction problems which face the world. 
It will require the continued application of broad 
thought and effort. There will be no decrease in the 
demand for foo,d; in fact that demand will really be 
greater, much greater, than it was during the days of 
actual conflict. 
This will be true because the coming of peace means 
the restoration of the freedom of the seas, and freedom 
of the seas means a restored commerce. German sav- 
agery and the frightfulness of unrestrained subma- 
rine warfare have largely driven the world’s ordinary 
commerce from the seas; and much of that commerce 
was traffic in foodstuffs. For decades, even centuries, 
Europe has been dependent upon the remainder of the 
world for food to eke out its own inadequate supplies. 
Before the war, for example, England, according to 
the United States Food Administration, produced but 
one-fifth of her own foodstuffs, while France raised one- 
half of hers, and Italy produced perhaps two-thirds of 
what she consumed. What was true of these nations 
was true of the remainder of Europe. Unless food could 
