The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1919-06-06

HEAx%J EXggMN are truly q great people. Some
R~GNH%c%TSh9A times we are so great that we
H&4aFG9NAG astonish even ourselves. We
have astonished ourselves, for
example, by the way we have behaved about food
during the last two years.
When we entered the war we were the best fed
people on earth and had been for generations. An
incidental proof of this is that the American sol
der astOnished Europe with a new physical type,
the result of favorable conditions of life and ade-
quate food. And this new physical type proved
Itself a little huskier and harder and deadlier at
the business of killing than any previous type Of
man.
But when we entered the war, at the mere sug.
gestion OF the necessity that faced us, the 100000
VOo OF us curbed our appetites, denied ourselves
goodies, put ourselves on ratims and started In
pom honor TO conserve foOd-and stuck to it till
the necessity was past. 1t was a most astonishing
spectacle.
Not only that, but millions of us voluntarily
started In to- make gardens and raise food. Many
OF these voluntary gardeners hardly knew a spade
from a hoe; some probably thought that potatoes
grew In the grocery store. Certainly lots of these
gardeners had no land. But it made no difference.
The American people went to gardening. From
the Atlantic TO the Pacific the war gardens of the
workers stretched In almost unbroken line. The
cotton mills of the East, the lumber camps of Ore
gon, the mining towns of Arizona, the great fac
tories of the middle West, the ~shipyards Of Texas
III saw M uISprluSlnE or nnumeraDIe war gar
dens. The second summer saw the first redoubled.
It's too soon for us TO begin to appreciate what
this war rationing and this war gardening has done
In winning the war, feeding the world and bene-
hting the American people. But anyone inter
ested in getting "a first glimpse at what this gar
dening has done for us should get hold of a book
just out, "The War Garden Victorious" by Charles
Lathrop Pack. 1t is not for sale, but it is being
distributed to- libraries, and to organizations and
individuals identified with war garden work Mr.
Pack is the organizer and president of the national
war garden commission and his book is a record
OF war garden activities and successes. dedicated
ITO the war gardeners of the United States and
allied countries in admiration of their success in
adding to the worlds supply of food during the
worlds war" Mr.. Pack fttingly presented the
first copy TO an American woman who is typical of
the spirit that made the war garden Victorious
Mrs. Thomas Edwards OF 0berlin, o. She is nine
ty-five years Of age, but she enlisted with the
war gardeners at the first call and showed she
was not too told to learn by changing her lifelong
methods and adopting the cold-pack method of
canning.
Cooperation Wins Victory.
Some people might think a book of record and
reference on war gardens must necessarily be dull
reading. This one isn't. It's good reading. ANY
real American can get patriotic thrills out of it
besides learning a lot. Mr.. Pack is not laboring
under the calusion that his national war garden
commission was the whole thing. He knows it was
the loyal cooperation of the people that made the
war garden such a splendid success.
Mr.. Pack also appreciates what the press of the
country did for the movement. He knows that all
the purpose. oil the enthusiasm, all of the ability
Of those In charge Of the commissions activities
might have been the sweetness of effort wasted on
the desert air of Indifference had not the American
press got behind the movement with all it's power.
The closing chapter is devoted to an Illuminating
account of the tremendous enthusiasm With which
the American daily and periodical press RESPONDED
to the opportunity, and how the publicity material
was prepared and distributed.
The printed word, the most powerful force
known TO civilization, made war gardens possible.
In no other way could they have been made TO
multiply so rapidly in all parts Of the land. From
printers ink to parsnips and parsley Is a long
jump; but the newspapers and magazines made
that jump along with the others which they made
for Liberty loan, the Red Cross, and various other
war-work campaigns. How much Of a debt Of
gratitude the nation owes to 1t patriotic editors IL
probably will never be able to realize fully. but Il
does know that without their wholehearted sun
port and their loyal assistance it would never
have bSsn able to arouse the people of the United
States as a whole to the strenuous efforts which
they exerted 70 back up the government and the
fighting forces. No note Of appreciation to the
editors Of the country could be overgenerous in its
prise or too liberal In its expression Of heartfelt
thanks for their substantial aid"
War Garden Commission.
That the world faced a deficit In food and thar
there existed an emergency which could be met
only BY the raising of more food, was apparent
during the early months OF 1917.
M