

FOR 
CTORY 
“This is the theme inaugurated at the National 
Garden Conference held in Washington, D. C., 
December 19-20, 1941. This conference was called 
jointly by the Secretary of Agriculture, Claude R. 
Wickard and Director Paul V. McNutt of the Office 
of Defense Health and Welfare Services.” 
Differing considerably from the emotionally dictated program of vegetable gardening in World War No. 1, the 
United States Government has lent its support to guiding gardening activities in this new and different war under 
the symbol illustrated above. Here is a program built around the thought of nutrition of the body by balanced 
feeding of proper vegetables and fruit, and nourishment of the spirit by gardening for beauty and cheer. 
In this new and much more intelligent concept of gardening in war times, we all have the privilege of ad- 
vancing our gardening enthusiasms in the common cause of winning the war. In addition to the very essential 
task of growing the proper foodstuffs to nourish and strengthen the individual and the family unit, and preserving 
the surplus for distribution among those less fortunate, the growing of flowers and the conserving of the beauty of 
the land—our heritage of trees and other natural and cultivated growths that are part of the America beautiful 
that our armed forces are fighting to preserve—the recognition granted morale is impelling and urging us to “Keep 
Them Growing.” 
Dr. S. W. Hamilton of the United States Public Health Service, speaking under the 
title of ‘“Mental Hygiene in a Garden Program” said: 
“Those who are guiding this movement for a vastly expanded program of fruit and vegetable production 
are evincing it seems to me, a very sane attitude toward the question of maintaining beauty. What they say 
about keeping our flowers, plantings, and shrubbery on our grounds and placing other things that engage the 
eye and induce a happy mood should be heartily upheld. There is no particular virtue in ugliness, and our 
soldiers will not fight one whit less vigorously for our country if they remember it as a place of lovely lawns 
and fragrant blossoms. There is plenty of good potato land without taking that on which our lilies grow, 
and all the vitamins we need can be raised without destroying the pansies. If the flowers are destroyed, some 
of our spirit goes with them. Is not life hard enough at all times, and particularly in the times that lie just 
ahead of us, without our making the homeland ugly?” 
Mrs. Ruth V. Strawbridge of Philadelphia, speaking under the topic, “The Spiritual 
Value of Flowers,” says: 
“These great forces of evil at war today can be overcome and we will be victorious by and from the powers 
of the spiritual. Let us not lose sight of the spiritual values in our great driving force for munition produc- 
tion. Let us preserve all cultural work. We must not destroy our landscapes, but must keep our flower gar- 
dens and continue to plant and develop all floral interests. In this time of war we must keep before us al- 
ways our spiritual values.” 
Flower gardening is just as necessary in these war times as vegetable gardening. Flowers are food for the 
soul, stabilizers of the emotions. 
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