THE WAR GARDEN VICTORIOUS 131 
selves to work for her at the cannery on a given day 
each week. In this way the supply of labor was 
assured. Usually there was additional help, for all 
volunteers were welcomed. 
In order that the work might be done scientifically, 
and the pack be uniform from day to day, everything 
was done under the direction of a paid expert. Visitors 
were free to come and watch operations, which were 
thus a continuous demonstration of scientific canning, 
and thousands of women who had come to market only 
to buy products also dropped into the cannery and 
learned the up-to-date methods. The educational 
value of this effort was beyond computation. The 
women of the entire city were reached. 
One of the most interesting conservation efforts 
reported to the National War Garden Commission was 
that of the employes in the shop of the Carolina & 
Northwestern Railway Company at Hickory, North 
Carolina. So great was their enthusiasm that they 
took the cylinder from an old engine and turned it 
into a canning plant. They coupled up this cylinder 
with the shop steam-boiler, put on a steam-gauge 
and drain-cock, and inside the cylinder placed three 
shelves of heavy wire to hold the jars of vegetables 
and fruits. Their community canning plant was then 
ready for operation. 
Reports to the Commission from all parts of the 
country indicated that in a great number of places 
arrangements were made to preserve surplus garden 
products through community canneries, and also 
