The patriot., 1919-05-30

have astonished ourselves, for
example, by the way we have behaved about food
during the last two years.
When we entered the 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 new physical type,
the result Of favorable conditions of life and ade-
quate food. And this physical type proved
itself a little huskier and harder and deader at
the business of killing than any previous type OF
man.
But when we entered the war, at the mere sug-
gesti0n of the necessity that faced us, the 10000
coo of us curbed our appetites, denied ourselves
goodies. put ourselves on ratiCns and started in
'pon honor to conserve food-and stuck to II till
the necessity was past 1t was 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 spade
from a hoe some probably thought that potatoes
grew In the grocery store. Certainly lots of these
gardeners had no land But 1t 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 Ores
g0n, the mining towns of Arizona, the great fac-
tories Of the middle West. the shpYarGs of Texas
ali saw the upspringing Of innuaierabIe war gar
dens The second summer saw the first redoubled
It's too soon for uset6 begin to appreciate what
this war ratipningand this war gardening has done
In winning the war. feeding the world and bene-
ftihg the American people. But anyone inter
yested In getting a first glimpse at what this gar
dening has done for us should get hold of book
Just out sThe War Garden Victorious by Charles
Eathrap Pack. 1t Is not for sale, but it is being
distributed to libraries, and to organizations and
individuals identified with war garden work. Mr.
Pnck Is The organizer and president of the national
war garden commission and his book is a record
Of war garden activities and successes. dedicated
''fO 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 ittingly presented the
first copy to an American woman who is typical Of
the spirit that made the war garden victorious
Mrs. Thomas Edwards Of Oberlin 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 d book Of record and
reference on war gardens must necessarily be duh
reading. This isn't. It's good reading Any
renl American get patriotic thrills ont Of it-
besides learning lot. Mr. Pack Is not laboring
under the delusion 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 splendid success
AR Pack also appreciates what the press of the
country did Tor the movement. He knows that all
tie purpose. all the enthusiasm, all Of the ability
0f those iii 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 its 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
wns prepared and distributed.
s'The printed word. the most powerful force
known to civilization made war gardens possible
In no other wax could they have been made to
multiply 10 rapidly In all parts OF the land From
printers ink to parsnips and parsley is long
jump; but the newspapers and magazines made
tlanf Jump along With the others which they made
for Liberty loan tlle Red Cross and various other
war~work campaiens How much Of debt OF
gratitude the nation owes to II patriotic editors Il
probably VIII never be able to realize fully, but IL
does know that without their wholeheaffed sup
port and their loyal assistance II would never
hafe been able 10 arouse the people Of the United
States as whole to The strenuous efforts which
they exerted 10 back up the government and the
fighting forces NO NOTE of appreciation % the
editors az tine country could be overgenerous In Ifs
praise too liberal ID its expression of heartfelt
ihanks for their substantial aid
war aarden Commission
Tisaf me warIs faced d deficit n food and char
there existed an emergency which could he ,aes
h,.ly III she mi 81 mere food ~'as apparent
azf:iig the early months of 1g1T.
=