THE WAR GARDEN VICTORIOUS 119 
British organization soon had eight hundred branches 
and collecting depots throughout the United Kingdom. 
Headquarters were established in London, with Admi- 
ral Lord Beresford as president. The patrons included 
many prominent people, but its members ranged from 
the owners of large estates, contributing regular sup- 
plies weekly, to the small schoolboy with only a ten- 
foot plot to cultivate. Not long after the work got 
under way, 300,000 pounds of fresh vegetables and 
fruits were being furnished weekly to the British navy. 
In speaking of this work and its value, Rear Admiral 
Lionel Halsey, third lord of the Admiralty, said: 
Those associated with the Vegetable Products Com- 
mittee can happily feel that this work is of priceless 
value, for without a vegetable food the men of the fleet 
could not have so thoroughly performed their work in 
the past; nor will they be able to do so in the future 
without a continuance of this splendid work as effici- 
ently and as generously as in the past. Its value may 
be realized when it is stated that these supplies are an 
invaluable factor in keeping the men in good health 
and fitness. 
What is true in the case of the stalwart men of the 
British navy, is true of all other members of society, of 
high and low degree. There is need for vegetable food. 
The body is kept in better condition if it does not de- 
pend too largely on a meat diet. Victory gardening will 
add greatly to the proportion of greens which will enter 
into the diet of the American people. 
The future of gardening, therefore, is assured. It is 
