THE WAR GARDEN VICTORIOUS 115 
toward bringing this about, to meet the urgent appeal 
of Mr. Hoover and to help feed a starving continent, 
the Commission realized that no relaxation was to be 
considered and its campaign for 1919 was on a broader 
and more vigorous scale than during the conflict. 
This terrific demand for food will be not a matter of 
one season only. For years and years we must con- 
tinue to supply unheard-of amounts of food. Indeed 
it would have been almost as easy to put Humpty 
Dumpty together again as it will be to restore Europe’s 
agriculture. The soil of thousands of acres has liter- 
ally been blown away by high explosives. Practically 
all the lands in the embattled nations have decreased 
in producing power through poor handling, neglect, and 
lack of fertilizers during the war. And of the host of 
farmers that toiled to feed Europe before the war, 
millions now lie beneath the soil they tilled, and other 
millions, maimed and crippled, can never again turn a 
furrow or harness a horse. As long ago as 1916 the 
shortage of cattle, hogs, and sheep in Europe totaled 
115,000,000 head; and without livestock to produce 
manures years must elapse before Europe’s produc- 
tion is restored to normal. 
Since American farmers cannot produce all the food 
needed, American gardeners must continue and extend 
their merciful work of helping to supply the food needs 
of the world. Instead of lessening their efforts, they will 
be called upon to add as much as possible to their pro- 
ductive capacity because of the additional mouths to 
be fed. They are offered a new opportunity to help. 
