36 
House & Garden 
WAR GARDEN ACTIVITIES in the SMALL TOWN 
A Practical Program Whereby Garden Clubs Can 
Raise the Food to Win the War 
T HE possibilities of war garden activities 
in a small town can be realized only by 
those who, like myself, saw last summer a 
few enthusiastic men and women undertake 
to “do their bit” by carrying through such 
movements to a successful finish. 
The first step in one place was taken about 
the end of February, soon after the Govern¬ 
ment began to talk about food shortage. A 
woman’s garden club in a Long Island town 
invited a lecturer from the nearest state school 
of agriculture to speak one afternoon on the 
subject of home gardens in the back yard. 
Such enthusiasm did the speaker create that 
practically every woman went home determined 
to dig up every available bit of space and, 
moreover, to hurry matters by starting seed 
in the house. Furthermore, the speaker was 
urged to come again towards the end of March, 
and give an illustrated lecture at night which 
should be open to the public. 
Interest spreading rapidly, in April rep¬ 
resentatives of the various social, religious, 
charitable and business organizations of the 
place formed a committee to push community 
garden work. One group undertook to secure 
all the vacant property available that could 
be subdivided and used for small gardens, 
and to find the people that would like to work 
such plots. Others arranged for getting the 
ground plowed and harrowed, undertook to 
secure seed in large quantities, see to the 
publicity work, look after the educational end 
of the project. 
So much territory was volunteered, and so 
many applications were received for the land 
that it became necessary finally to employ a 
regular secretary to answer questions and keep 
the records straight! Plots were allotted as 
desired, ranging in dimensions from 20' x 40' 
to an acre or more, and prepared even with 
fertilizer as long as that was obtainable. A 
fee of one dollar was asked to help cover the 
initial expense, but that included seed and 
membership in the association. Where peo¬ 
ple could not afford to pay, they were given 
land and seed free. Then, in order to pro¬ 
tect the gardens, which often were some dis¬ 
tance from their gardeners, printed notices 
were issued in five languages, giving warning 
of the penalty for molesting growing crops. 
A free course in agriculture was made pos¬ 
sible at the same time by the state school’s 
agreeing to send a lecturer several times a 
week as long as necessary, to give instruction 
about soil conditions, planting of early and 
late vegetables, intensive gardening, and last 
of all, the harvesting of the crops. Of those 
taking the course, many cheerfully agreed to 
act as teachers and supervisors at the com- 
OLIVE HYDE FOSTER 
munity gardens, a large number of which were 
being undertaken by working people with 
little time and no experience. 
B Y the end of May fully 5000 such back 
yard and community plots were under 
cultivation, and many of these yielded produce 
worth from fifty to one hundred dollars. Over 
25,000 bulletins from the U. S. Department of 
Agriculture, the agricultural colleges and the 
Mayor’s Food Committee of New \ork, were 
distributed throughout the vicinity, and people 
everywhere were eagerly seeking information 
as to the best methods of gardening. 
June found the volunteer leaders and their 
student gardeners working harmoniously to- 
HIS year it is even more im¬ 
perative that home gardeners 
raise their hit than it was last sea¬ 
son. The time to begin is now. Co¬ 
operative work through the medium 
of a garden club will give better re¬ 
sults both to your garden and your 
neighbor's. Soldiers train and fight 
side by side. The gardeners of Amer¬ 
ica must work side by side. Join the 
garden club of your town. Or if you 
have none, start today and form one. 
1 emember what Kipling said 
“It ain’t the guns nor armament, nor funds 
that they can pay, 
But the close cooperation that makes them 
win the day — 
It ain’t the individual, nor the army as a 
whole, 
But the everlasting teamwork of every 
blooming soul.’’ 
gether. Many who had never touched a tool 
or handled a seed, became enthusiastic as the 
tiny plants pushed through the earth, and the 
magic combination of sun, rain and soil made 
the seedlings flourish like the proverbial green 
bay-tree. Society women of wealth and po¬ 
sition seemed to forget everything but their 
desire to help the country by increasing pro¬ 
duction, and going into the poorest quarters 
of the town, labored among the foreign popu¬ 
lation in a spirit of real brotherhood. 
With the coming of July, new problems 
arose. The vast quantity of produce suddenly 
ready for consumption had to be taken care 
of. Canning became the topic of the day; and 
while the later vegetables and fruits still de¬ 
manded hours of regular cultivation, the time 
had io be found to put up the perishable stuff. 
The Long Island Canning Special that ran 
through all the small towns, had its bands of 
fashionable women teaching side by side with 
Government food experts. 
So all through August and early September 
of an unusually hot summer, a canning kitchen 
was kept in operation. Once a week volun¬ 
teer workers—themselves students of the new 
wa y S — me t in the recreation room of one of 
the churches, which had been provided with 
chairs, tables and the necessary equipment for 
the latest approved methods of canning. Peo¬ 
ple throughout the district, especially the many 
big market gardeners supplying the city, were 
urged to contribute whatever they could spare, 
that nothing was wasted. Women wishing to 
save their own delicious peas and beans, toma¬ 
toes and corn—women who never before had 
attempted to can vegetables—brought their own 
materials to this public kitchen where, for the 
small charge of one cent a jar (to cover the 
cost of gas consumed) they were allowed to 
use the equipment. 
Such a quantity of produce was donated 
during the season, however, that even after a 
considerable number of jars had been sold at 
35 cents each for the Red Cross, one hundred 
went to the local hospital and a quantity for 
the benefit of the French War Relief. 
T O prevent interest from flagging during 
the season when heat and mosquitoes 
might discourage, when the call to seashore 
or country might prove almost irresistible, 
a big war garden show was advertised at an 
early date. Prizes were secured from Wash¬ 
ington, New York City and the home town. 
Children as well as grown-ups were invited to 
exhibit the product of their gardens, indi¬ 
vidually or collectively, single specimens or 
arranged groups, fresh or canned. The one 
stipulation made was that the preserved prod¬ 
uct should have been grown by the exhibitor. 
The prize in this particular exhibit was 
won by a woman who from a garden 60' x 60 
had herself raised and put up 26 varieties! 
She told me later that although in poor health 
all summer, she had done the work even to the 
cultivation, with no help but that of her house¬ 
maid, and had grown all the fresh vegetables 
the family needed from the middle of June 
to the first of December. Moreover, she had 
bought and canned enough extra stuff, in¬ 
cluding preserves and jellies, to last until early 
spring, when her cold-frame lettuce and 
radishes will be ready. 
The canned product exhibited, however, 
represented only the more delicate, perishable 
vegetables. The root crops, harvested later, 
(Continued on page 56) 
