Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-09-07
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Vi august TO make list of the
war gardens" in and about Har-
risburg, but gave it I'D. Another
man man started to count those along the
.eenhsyIvanla railroad between this
CITY and Pittsburgh and pot tired
before the train passed Tvrons A.
otner man asked some one connectad
with the State COMMITTEES of PuhIic
oaIety now many there were IN the
state and he multiplied thousanda
IL may be months before a compIete
Ilst Is made and it may never he
mace, put there is one thing that is
settled. That is that there are NO.
ing to be more next year. In SOME
sectlons or this city owners of va
cant ground have been asked if thew
VIII allow it to be used for "war
Saroenlng' next year and other men
nave arranged to fertilize tracts
winch they will have for next sum
ing to Governor Brumbaugh. are
one or the best things that the war
mas mas brought to Pennsylvania and Or.
Nathan c. Schaeffer, state superin-
tendent of public instruction, and
Snarles E. Fatton, secretary of agri-
culture say that they have had a
St SteaC erect upon life in the state.
IIhey nave stimulated the industrious
Inclination of the people and they
nave taught old and young that
earth properly cared for will yield
us increase. DR.. Samuel G.. Dixon,
STATE ssate commissioner of health, says
enat working in gardens has had a
eoou erect upon health.
Observations of war eardens,' in
and about Harrisburg have estab-
!ilsheo the fact that while the ma
yoIlty Oh the owners are raising pro-
Luce Ior their own tables or bins
mere are good -Aany war garden
ers VINO nave been going into the
conllnerclal line. From all accounts
tney nave put the commercial truck
ers to flight. The men who used 10
20 around the country buying I'D
prouuce, especially potatoes. have
not been around since they offered
fancy prices last year and those who
are IN the business of securing the
rural districts for foodstuffs have
peeh atter eggs and chickens. Fix
ing OF the price of grain has put
that line of business to the bad and
the war gardens" have caused the
speculator pains. The way they work
is for a man who has raised more
than he needs for his Immediate
uses and who does not care to store
Ior the winter, as many are doing,
TO sell to neighbors. AS a result i
the green grocer does not have a
look in. The war gardener" has a
restricted market but there are
many gardeners, and quarters and
half dollars are rather plentiful.
Then, too, there is something of a
charm about nice, fresh produce
raised right at home, often as not
with dew on it.
One effect of the high prices which
Will be realized by Lancaster county
farmers for their tobacco, and they
nave tremendous acreage of the big
| Weed-llke plants, will be that there
Will be an extension of tobacco grow
ing next year, Just like there will be
more wheat and corn and potatoes
put out. Possibly, the extension of
the growing may come to a point
| Where 1T will bring back the busi-
| ness to Dauphin and Cumberland
counties. In years gone by Dauphin
used to raise much tobacco, espe-
cially around Middletown. One of
| the islands in the Susuuehanna was
as famous for tobacco as it is now
for melons and the Cameron farms
at Lochiel raised much of it. There
| were numerous tracts of it between
this city and Carlisle and in North
ern York county it was extensively
grown. In late years it has been
chiefly grown in the Garden coun-
| ty."
| The war garden" movement with
its back to the soil work for so many
men and women has been a boon in
| more ways than one, according to
the doctors. A number of instances
have been cited where men whose
health had given out and who had
| gotten to the stage when they would
simply sit on porches and watch the
| world go by devoted themselves to
| digging and delving in their gardens
Now they are only giving the doctors
u passing smile instead of their pulse
to feel. And in addition they have
succeeded in getting down the price
| of food.
|
| Some of the men who titled war
| gardens" are inclined to sing in a
minor key because of the way their
potatoes turned out. Numerous po-
| tatoes have been dug up which
were normal and even close to record
! size, but there have been no instances
reported where fields did not show
potatoes such as expected. This is
| declared to be largely due to in
sufficient preparation of soil, lack of
| fertilizer and even of hoeing. The
| fact remains that the men who
worked hardest have the best po-
tatoes to show for their trouble.
! sale or Unclaimed merchandise
often brings about funny situations
when an express, railroad, storage OF
other company sells to get what u
| justly due it. The other day at
sale man bid up to SO on a bale
of advertising matter. Another mar
risked a dollar on some antique
cheese and jute bags, old tires and
screens all brought odd prices. One
of the most amusing of the stories
about that sale is that a woman
bought what looked like a sewing
machine. She gave check for
and when she got the affair homi
she found it was only the frame o
a machine with no works inside. Sd
she stopped payment on the check
The way people disregard loca
draft boards is one of the puzzles o
the draft. They will travel mile
to attend a meeting of a distric
board when they could just as wei
do business with people at home
while others will burn up money cr
long distance tolls to draft head
quarters on purely local questions.