Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-04-26
MAIN LINE LANDS
FOR WAR GARDENS
Committee Will Farm Spare
Acres and Sell at
Cost
TO BE SELF-SUPPORTINC
No Money Asked, Only Loan of
Implements and Donations
of Labor
TO BE SELF-SUPPORTINC

Unused land along the Main Line will ho
cultivated and made into a series of cow
munity war gardens under the supervision
5 of a committee of residents Of that section
The area covered will be all lands i,,inn
adjacent to and one mile north and south
of the Main Line tracks of the PennsyIyania
Railroad from Merton to Villanova
In persuance Of its plan. the committee
has issued the following statement.
The donation of staple vegetable seeds
and the loan of land labor, imp,ements
and horses is asked for in a call sent out
by Edward Box, chairman of the Main
Line community war gardens committeo 90
The appeal reads as follows:
This committee, acting in connection with
the Main Line Food Supply Department Of
the state Committee of Public Safety, has
undertaken to cultivate and maintain n
series of community war gardens on ali nm
used land along the main line of the Penn
eylvania Railroad
The area covered will be all'lands living
adjacent to and one mile north and south
Of the main line tracks from Merton to
Villanova.
II is proposed to cultivate the stan,s vege-
tables, such as potatoes. beans, cabbaees
carrots, turnips and onions. The products
will he sold at cost to the communities thus
relieving the strair on the PhiladeInhia
market. An entire absence of profit will be
rigldly adhered to.
The committee will finance itself Ru, q,
appeals to all landowners on the Main Line
for the following co-opera ton;
First The loan. for cultivation at the OK
pense OF the committee of all unused lands
from one to twenty-five acres adjacent TO
and within radius of one mile of the Main
Line tracks from Merton to Villanova.
Second. The donation of any labor either
Of full time or part time. now in the emplov
Of land owners. Your donation of from one
to three hours day of a mans time will
help materially.
Third. The loan. by the day. of all farm
implements or horses for the cultivation Of
land in your immediate vicinity
Fourth. The donation of fertilizer or
seed of the six vegetables indicated in any
quantity, large or small
The committee does not ask for money
1t appeals. for those articles that money
cannot buy, and the heartiest and fullest
spirit of cooperation is urged and hoped
for.
From information possessed by this COM
mittee. the great need of cutivating every
piece of unused land Is more than urgent
II the shortage of food that is certain to
prevail in this vicinity next autumn and
winter is to be met and minimized.
This committee will operate along lines
of business efficiency.
Kindly send all offers of loans or dona-
tons TO Edward Box. chairman, Main Line
Community War Gardens, Merton.
SAMUEL r. BODINE
q JAMES CROSBY BROWN,
WILLIAM S. ELLIS.
CHARLES H. LUDINGTON.
WINTHROP SARGENT
EDWARD BOX, Chairman
concrete form among the school children of
Philadelphia, and tonight at a meeting of
the Philadelphia School Mobilization Com
mittee, 1t is expected definite plan to or
ganize the resources of the schools will be
made
Plans include giving scholastic credit TO
university, college and high school students
who perform farm or industrial labor. for
which about 100000 workers will be needed
In this State. OF these, $4,000 will be
needed on the farms, according to E. B. Dor
sett, of the State Department of Agriculture.
Many girls of the Philadelphia Normal
School are registering for farm work during
the summer. Some of the girls are volun-
teering their services. which will consist
o. planting, cultivatng, pckling and can.
ming foods.
Opening of the school kitchens for moth
ers, use of parts of Fairmount Park for
war gardens and transferring teachers from
their regular work to teach gardening were
advocated by Robert l.. Burns district su-
perintendent of schools, at a meeting of the
Home and School League called by its pres
ident, Mrs. Edwin C. Grice. yesterday.
Methods of increasing the production of
food were discussed by experts. James II.
Dix, secretary of the Vacant Lots Associa-
tion, declared that all who refuse to allow
their unused land to be cultivated are un-
patriotic. Dr.. John p. CARRIER, superin-
tendent of schools pointed out a need of
competent teachers of gardening, which
was emphasized also by Miss Caro- Miller
of the school gardens, who said that her
department needed instructors more than
land