St. Johnsbury Caledonian. (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1920-1920, 1920-05-19
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Daylight Saving

MI, Edltor:---
hank you for your Open Forum on
Daylight Saving. And | venture to
lcok at the question from another
angle.
The Boston papers last week called
attention to the seriousness of tl,c
cop situation and the New York pa
per-. arc doing the same. Farmers
everywhere are having the greatest
difficulties in getting any kind of
help because of the lure of big wages
in the cities. Says Mondays New
York Times: "FarmcrS are so handi-
capped by lack Of help and the back
ward season that acreage devoted to
staple crops, such as wheat, corn,
oats, rye and potatoes has been hcav:-
II reduced in every section of the
country" Peter Henderson report,
that sales Of seeds are far below no.
NAL. Down South, negroes fed by
war contracts will no longer work on
the farms. Farm production in New
York state will be II per cent below
last years. In New England 35 to IS
per cent below normal, and Chicago,
st. Lonis and Cleveland report the
same story. Mississippi valley needs
100000 men to work in the fields.
Now in view Of all these facts Their
is bound to be a coming food short
age. The situation is really serious.
One of the grand things about the
old war was the home cooperation,
helping, pulling together, an army D =
limo our heroes in France. We then
lad "war gardens" and STUDENT,
Smith college girls too, worked our
farms. Putting the clock ahead ono
hour ahead helped tremendously And
tic enthusiasm was great, the push,
the pep, the determination to do one 5
bit. The patriotism was overwhclm-
ing. And now that the victory is ours
we can recall the past with joy.
Today what are we going to do
about this food shortage?It is inivit;.-
Die! The papers are STATING the facts.
and the situation is really serious.
L. not the answer obvious. That We
must again cultivate our "war ga
Grns," every square foot of ground
must be made to product something"
But a contributing cause to the sue
cess of the war gardens two years ago
was what is called Daylight Saving.
BY this simple arrangement men had
another hour to till the soil and to
raise vegetables. But, someone says,
one can get up an hour earlier in the
morning and do this very thing with
out "monkeying with the clock"
Very true. But human nature does
not work that way. Most men do not
roll out of bed until the last moment,
just in time to breakfast and get u
work! We therefore advocate Day
light Saving for St. Johnsbury. Not
because one has more time after sup
per to go automobiling or play bail,
not because sunshine means health
and lower bills for gas and clcctri-
city, not because sunshine means
health and civic hapniness. But We
advocate it because of the serious
ness of the food situation. Therefore
we must again, every one of US, en-.
Enthusiastically cultivate war ga
dcns," and putting the clock ahead
one hour will be Il tremendous hclp
in the solution of this economic prop
lem. New York, Massachusetts,
Montreal and Quebec, Europe also,
find Daylight Saving an Economic
Blessing. Because of the food situ.-
ton St. Johnsbury must wake up!
We must do something! We ought to
fall into linz!
Alfred Poole Grint