Hansford: Mental Defectives in County. Indiana 101 
All attempt has been made to encourage those in need of 
help to raise their own garden vegetables. Seeds have been 
distributed to those in need with the privilege of using vacant 
lots for garden spots. In each case where help of this kind 
was furnished it was suggested to the receiver that the ex- 
pense was. met by the gardening association and was in the 
nature of a loan which was to be repaid when the products 
of the garden became marketable. However, by the time the 
vegetables were ready for use, most of those benefited had 
forgotten their part of the bargain or had decided that they 
would not be “cheated out of the fruits of their labor by 
them rich folks”. A few of the gardens were a success in 
themselves but were not very effective in relieving want. 
True, there was something to eat in the summer, but little 
effort was made to preserve the surplus for winter consump- 
tion, and the extra money on hand because of the summer 
saving was foolishly spent instead of being saved for the 
long, cold winter months. 
In the county seat there is now a very busy Public Health 
Association which thru its efficient visiting nurses is doing 
much in preventing disease and death among the poorer 
classes. In this way some of the township poor relief expense 
is cut down. Among the intelligent poor who are in their 
present condition because of accidental misfortune, there is 
much successful work being done in the way of improving 
sanitary conditions. 
An attempt has been made to teach the recipients of cloth- 
ing to do their own altering. Many people give slightly worn 
clothing to be distributed by the organization where it is most 
needed. Much of it needs refitting, and much of it in its 
present condition is unsuited for the needs of those who are 
to wear it. A sewing class was organized to teach the young 
girls to alter this wearing apparel. Every article remade was 
to be the property of the child doing the work. Here again it 
was only the bright children who profited by the instruction 
and the opportunity to contribute something toward their own 
support. To the others who w^ere invariably of those families 
who had been “down and out” for generations, the work was 
dull and uninteresting, so much so that in many cases it was 
impossible to keep their attention on it long enough to finish 
one garment. 
