THE WAR GARDEN VICTORIOUS 159 
Some of the unused product was on hand at the begin- 
ning of the European war, and when opened, was found 
to be in a perfect state of preservation. The British 
soldiers in South Africa could not distinguish between 
the dried vegetables they were eating and the food 
to which they were accustomed, and they throve 
exceedingly well on it. John Hays Hammond, the inter- 
nationally renowned mining engineer who took such 
a prominent part in the development of the South 
African territory and who is a member of the National 
War Garden Commission, is familiar with this matter. 
In discussing it he said: 
The supplies of dried vegetables which were shipped 
from Canada to South Africa during the Boer War were 
found to be just as palatable, just as nutritious, as any 
of the other rations. I doubt if a single one of the men 
could have told the difference between this part of their 
mess and the other edibles that were furnished them. 
Certainly this is borne out by what a close friend of 
mine, Dr. Charles L. Lindley, of Lakewood, New Jersey, 
himself born in South Africa and an army surgeon dur- 
ing Lord Robert’s campaign there, recently told me of 
the experiment. His experience with dried vegetables 
confirms every claim that can be made for them as a 
valuable part of a soldier’s rations. 
It was largely due to the successful results obtained 
during the Boer War that the British War Office was led 
to adopt dried vegetables as part of the soldier’s supply 
during the recent war. Since the outbreak of the Euro- 
pean struggle the British and French governments have 
purchased no less than 50,000,000 pounds of dried foods 
