Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1919-01-09

that would enable them to market
surplus Of perishable products, fruits.
vegetables, etc. Of which they have
not q sufficient quantity to bother
with" by rail. even were railroad
shippers less averse to small ship
ments. An enormous waste OF food
the city needs, and the farmer would
Be glad to market at a small PROFIT.
would be avoided. Such a system
must and will come eventually. but
is "lonE on the way."-Detro!t Free
Press.
We assume that Commissioner
Wheeler made his meaning clear and
that It was far different from that at
.ached to it by the newspaper in the
city Of countless fivvers. We have
no doubt, although We have not seen
the Massachusetts, commissioners re-
port, that he opposes the war gar
den" ninnyhammerism upon the same
ground that other reasoning human
beings opposed it at the start-be-
cause it would cost Ave times its re-
turn; because it would destroy all
reckoning upon local markets; be-
cause neither farmers. dealers nor
anybody else could know when the
war garden supply would be exhaust
ed and normal conditions could be
counted upon; because the saving
made BY IS out OF every 100 war
gardeners would be anywhere from
two to five times the cos, of equal
amounts Of better quality produced
by those in the business Of farming;
because the inevitable waste due to
disarrangement Of market conditions
would be more than all the war gar
deners could produce.
Under the stimulus Of govern
ment seeking to keep the people SO
busy they would not notice the inetfl-
cheney and double dealing Of admin
istra,ive departments and bureaus,
people all over the land worked by
eterically to add to the needed food
supply. Lawns were destroyed and
in most cases the cost Of restora.jL:
will be ten times all that has been
or will be derived from them. Ten
thousand other fool stunts were in
dulged in the name Of food produc-
ton, with an army OF government
inspired shouters vino knew about as
much Of raising vegetables as they
knew Of Sh!ntoism. urging the folly
on.
The result has been amazingly and
unrea sonably magnified by those who
urged il on, as defense of their
logic" AS the Detroit paper TN
derstands the Bay State commission
er, the idea" did discourage and
force farmers out Of business. partic-
ularly the Ycarke. garden farmers Of
Massachusetts, and sections OF ether
states supplying big city markets.
The loss by regular producers far ex-
ceeded all the increase Of the war
gardens. BY that we mean that the
total production OF food was un-
J doubted!y less because Of the war
garden nonsense.
The Free Press figures are as faul-
~ as its understanding Of the ques-
ton. Just how it reaches its conclu-
sion that five and a quarter million
war gardens at one dollar
apiece makes up total Of s525.h0o,-
900 is not plain. The 5,2o9,GJ9 war
gardens at an average value Of 81
each is probably nearer right than
any estimate thus far offered. The
525 million dollar value Of produce is
Of the Lathrop G. Pack variety.
The Free Press does not share this
Bay State commissioners alarm, but
it has a cure-all in the product OF
Detroit's automobile factories. No
matter whether there is a market for
produce or not. if you only have q
motor truck.