Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-04-30

MlLL1oNs of back yards and
lVl vacant lots await the hoe
and the spade on the on
coming and swelling ranks of the
amateur gardener. Everywhere
ground which has been an eyesore
will bud and blossom.
The Department of Agriculture
has placed the stamp of its approval
on the home and club garden move
ment by appointing II. NJ. Connolly,
of the States Relations Service, to
direct the work in the City of Wash
ington. He will tell the thousands
of amateur grubbers what to do and
how to do it.
The city will be divided into dis
tricts, and in each district a number
of gardens, some of them boys and
girls club gardens, others home
gardens, will be selected and treated
as models. Mr.. Connolly will visit
these model gardens at regular in
tervals, giving instructions and dem
onstrations as to how to plan gar
den, what to grow, and how to plant
and care for vegetables. All gar
deners in district Will be expected
W dllGHu llltSc COllGl CllSCot dlh
each will be asked to keep a record
of the results obtained.
The government is doing some
thing along this line in the states
through the 1900 county agents
who are the joint representatives
of the Department of Agriculture
and the states, and also through
aid lent to boys garden clubs.
THE average cramped back yard
in a large city, hardly big enough
to hang out the family washing in,
is worth as much to it's owner as a
81 900 government bond, while the
larger areas surrounding suburban
and small city and town homes are
worth two or three such bonds.
The back yards and vacant lots
of the country, if capitalized, ought
to yield something like one billion
dollars year-more than the giant
wheat crops of 1915 az its high price
brought to the farmers-a pretty
addition to the wealth of the people.
If we take into account the fun and
the benefits to health that the own
| ers will get out of digging, their
! back yards will give a greater re-
turn than the bonds.
Translated into terms of cabbage
and potatoes and carrots, the back
yard means the groaning dinner ta-
! BILE dear to the hearts of our grand
mothers; into terms of domestic
economy, lower grocery bills. 1t
means better health, and clearer
and in some cases cleaner minds.
| To the nations business, increased
I production and better satisfied, more
stable and more efficient workmen;
/ to the country, q nearer approach
to national elf-suff1cIency.
Until, however, the business man
saw what was in the back yard, 1t
remained one of the greatest of our
undeveloped resources. Curiously
4 enough, what he saw were increased
dividends for himself. The profits
| to the owner of the garden were in
cidental. So the business man set
about establishing garden clubs. II
! his employees didn't have back
! yards. he provided space in vacant
| lots. And the idea grew and grew
until il has become an American in
stitution with European ones pat
termed after it.
Inside the office, found one of
thousands who toll in and about the
great buildings of his plant.
Yes, he said, leaning back in
his chair, the club is a great sue
cess. 1t has done wonders for us.
The men out in the plant, the boys
in the Office and the families at
home imagine that it is a straight
out piece of philanthropy, guiltless
of any commercial value to us. But
we are the ones who are getting the
best of the bargain. 1t has lifted
loads off our shoulders and returned
/ bigger dividends in dollars and
cents. as well as in satisfaction, than
anything else on our books.
only the other day one of our
senior clerks came to me with his
confession of faith in the club-how
it had saved him. For more than a
year his strength had been falling.
He was going back. 1t was appar-
ent in his work. at home. every
where. Worry added to his trou-
bles. lie was denoted and his sal
ary materially cut. Finances began
to pinch. That was the beGnning
of the end.
In desperation he sought a way
out of the ruin into which he was
slipping--a way back to health for
himself and comfort and happiness
for his family. Then one of his as
sociates suggested the club to him.
"a paid missionary, If he but knew