Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-04-12
MAKE THE HOE
PENNSYLVANIA'S
EMBLEM OF 1918"
Food Administrator II in Z
Appeals Increased Produc-
ton This Year

3 Let us make the hoe the 1918
emblem of Pennsylvania patriot
ism"
This was the keynote and appeal
to the citizens of the Commonwealth
issued to-day by Howard Heinz,
United States Food Administrator
for Pennsylvania, at the beginning
of the season when home and war
garden activities are opening up. The
advent of warm spring days makes
Mr.. HeinZ's appeal particularly time
ly. Mr.. Heinz said:
LAS springtime approaches. with
promise of an early planting season,
preparations are actively in progress
for the inauguration of war gardens
on a larger and more comprehensive
scale than a year ago. An earnest
appeal is made for the universal
adoption of the war garden plan for
increased food production by every
community in the state.
"The influence of the war garden
on. the food situation is three-fold.
1t is a potent help to the general
food supply, it reduces living cost,
and it saves transportation, by en-
couraging the consumption of per-
ishable food at point of origin.
while it is true that the aver
age home garden produces only suf-
ficient for the family that maintains
it, furnishing little or no surplus for
distribution, the aggregate of mil
lion such gardens in our urban COM
munities is a material addition to our
food resources and every encourage
ment should be given to the planting
of every foot of tillable soil avail
able.
Plenty of Vacant Land
There are many large vacant
tracts in our towns and cities the
soil of which will grow vegetables
successfully, these should be pre-
pared and allotted to the use of fam
lilies having no space for home gar
dens. Community associations should
he formed to supply seed, fertilizer,
and proper supervision of culture
methods.
"A still larger opportunity for
growth exists in connection with
open land in the vicinity of indus
trial plants, which can be prepared
and farmed on a cooperative basis
by employees, under the jurisdiction
and supervision of owners: and as
the food demand will be greater and
the shortages more acute in 1918
than a year ago, none of these op-
portunities should be neglected
In all this, we should profit by
the mistakes of year ago, in at
tempting to cultivate land that is
unsuitable and in parcelling out COM
munity tracts to irresponsible per
sons, whose enthusiasm is on the
surface and who. after the first
planting. neglect the work and not
only obtain no results but cause Il
waste of valuable. seed and fertiliz-
ing material. Remember. that three
or four inches of top soil, superim-
posed on bricks or ashes. may, If
well-watered, maintain lawn grass.
but it will not grow corn. beans and
potatoes. The digging up ef back
door yards and vacant tracts of this
kind of soil is worse than wasted
effort.
Grow Root Crops
I'm planting war gardens. the rails
ing of the less perishable crops
should be encouraged, rather than
the devotion of too much space to
lettuce, tomatoes, etc. of small food
value and poor keeping qualities.
The labor involved in cultivating a
garden will be better repaid if the
planting is more largely of beets,
carrots, turnips, onions. and, where
soil is suitable, potatoes with corn,
peas and beans as surface crops.
The daylight saving plan now in
effect makes it possible for every
man and many women to devote the
necessary time to operate a garden
plot successfully and the army of
home gardeners should be large.
Let us make the hoe the 1918
emblem of Pennsylvania patriotism"