The Oskaloosa herald., 1917-03-08
WHY NOT A GARDEN?
PERTINENT SUGGESTIONS BY
DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR.


DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR.
In an interview recently DR.. p. P.
Claxton. Commissioner of Education
in the Department. of the Interior,
made the following statement re-
garding the high cost of living and
q partial solution of it: -
High cost Of living" is on the lips
of all people in all cities, towns, sub
urban communities, and manufactur-
ing and mining villages in the Unit
ed States. II is discussed in the
editions of every newspaper and
magazine. To millions of laboring
people and professional people on
small salaries it is very real thing.
To hundreds of thousands With large
families of children to support and
educate, it has come to be fearful
thing; to many, torture and death.
For the high cost of living there
are many causes. Two Of these are
! the unusual lack of food, and the fact
| that most of the food is consumed
! far from the place of production,
which makes the consumer pay the
| cost of storage and transportation,
and the profits of the middlemen.
many of whom in times like these,
take advantage of the wants of the
people to make profits larger than
they should. EE-
fl"Is there a remedy? There is
partial remedy at least, but not
wholly in investigations or legisla-
ltion. This remedy is so simple and
close at hand that, as is so frequent
lyj the case, 1t is overlooked. In the
schools OF the cities, towns, subur-
ban communities and manufacturing
and mining villages of the United
States there are approximately g.
000,00O boys and girls between the
ages of nine and sixteen. Most of
them are idle more than half of the
year. They are in school less than
1000 hours In the year, and allowing
no hours a day for sleep, are out of
lschool more than 4,0Co waking hours,
more than an average of nine hours
day, not counting Sundays. Ma
tional and State laws make it impos-
sible for most of them to do any
lprofitable work in mill, mine or shop,
and MANY of them are forming lfab-
its OF idleness and falling into vice.
Even during the vacation months
only about 10 per cent have any
Il profitable employment; only about D
per cent of them go away from their
4 homes except for a few days. Still,
i they must live and be fed and
4 clothed. 'Ha a1z. i.sF@ "@v.M 1tE"
""For four millions of these there is
access to back yards, side yards,
front yards, and vacant lots, which
might be cultivated as small gardens
for the growth of vegetables and
lsmall fruits. Many live where space
could be easily q had for chickens,
l ducks. or pigeons. And there are
not less than 100000 older boys and
j girls and adult men and women for
whom an hour or two of work each
1 day in garden would be the best
form Of recreation and rest from the
routine of their daily labor in Office
or shop or mill or mine, and who
might easily find the time fer it.
i With somq intelligent direction,
these school children and older boys
! and girls and men and women might
easily produce on the available land
an average of SIS each in vegetables
and fruits for their own tables or for
sale in their immediate reighbor-
hood; fresh and crisp through all the
growing months and wholesomely
canned and preserved for use in win
ter. This would add $7J0,000,000 to
the best form of food supply of the
country without cost of transporta-
ion or storage and without profits of
middlemen. The estimate is very
conservative as has been shown by
many experiments. "@'"s''sF
In addition to the economic profits
there would be for the children Realth
and strength, removal from tempta-
u tion to vice, and education of the
best type; and for older persons, rest
and recreation in the open air and
the joy OF watching things grow.
This might all be attained at COM
i paratively little cost by putting into
the public schools for every hundred
children between the ages of nine
and sixteen, one teacher skilled in
gardening and paid for all the year.
I One such teacher could easily direct
the work of 100 children, and of the
$50 older persons belonging to the
families of these children or living
in their community Thus 10000
teachers Of this Kind would be suffi-
cicnt for the entire country! These
teachers might easily be had for an
average additional salary of $500 or
a total of $2O,OOO,OO0. There would
be some cost for seeds and some for
fertilizers and tools. but after the
first year the cost of these last two
! item would be comparatively little.
The proceeds would represent prof
its to a greater extent than in any
other kind Of production. The mir
aCle of IN is In bringing tOonthar idla