The herald., 1922-03-23

In his annual report to the President. dated No
vember 2l 1919 Secretary Lane called attention
to this situation, and said:
Somewhere and sometime, il seems to me.
new system must be devised to dispense the people
of great cities the vacant lands surrounding
them. to give the masses a real hold upon the
soil. and TO replace the apartment house with
home in garden. Such a system should enable
the ambitious and thrifty family not only to save
the entire cost of rent. but possibly half the cost
of food, while at the same time enhancing its
standard Of living socially and spiritually, we'll
as economically"
The World war, which illuminated many dark
corners, revealed the gardening instinct in all its
original vigor, and mobilized it for the service of
the country without the fOrmalty of the selective
draft. 1t was great light thrown upon the char
acter. the capacity, the aspirations of the Ameri-
can people. The National War Garden commits
sion was not. as most people suppose. a govern
ment activity, though 1t had its headquarters In
washington, and enjoyed the moral support of
federal authority. 1t was the voluntary undertake
Ing of number of patriotic citizens headed by
Charles Lathrop Pack of Lakewood N. J., presi-
dent Of the American Forestry association.
Millions of gardens-more than five millions
sprung into almost immediate existence
The total product of this war-gardenng scheme
between May, 1917, and June. 1919, reached the
Impressive figure of S1.25OOOO.OOO The plan
served its immediate purpose; but it's deeper sig
ni6cance has yet to enter the consciousness of
people
First, 1t revealed the affinity of our people for
the SOIL To my mind, this is one Of the
most valuable lessons OF HE experience-the teach.
ability of our people; the willingness to learn;
their eagerness to respond to dsinterested lead
ership. For. be II known, not less than 8 100000
of these families entered into direct communca-
ton with the National War Garden commission
at Washington taking correspondence lessons at
the hands of the best experts money could employ
patriotic fervOr command War gar
dening became science In many instances II
the war had lasted ten years longer, the nation
would have learned the greatest single fact i'm the
word-that man can make living from a very
little land. And when that fact is finally learned
in the length and breadth Of America there will
be neither homeless nor a hungry
child.
The war-garden episode, great as It was in its
immediate results, was only an example of crude
emergency work. Its value for the present DUR
pose Is to show that the country minded millions
in big cities can garden, and will garden IL they
have a chance; and that these facts have a very
intimate relation to cost of living. To accomplish
the best results, however, they must have a bet
ter chance than they found In vacant city plots
Sixty-twO years ago Abraham Lincoln In a casu.
al speech, scarcely reported at the time and the
tremendous import of which has not been sensed
by the people even now, used these prophetic
words:
of deriving a comfortable subsistence from the
smallest area Of SOIL"
OF all the persons mentioned I'm these napes
Mr.. Burbank is the most significant; and this not
merely because of his worldwide fame but much
more because he is dealing at first hand with the
very elements that enter into the daily life of the
home-ln-a-garden He is, Of course, the