The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1943-03-12
on Home Front
Sufficient Vegetables Can Be Raised for
Entire Family on Small, Fertile Sites
VI Beginners Told Plan Plots Before Starting Seeding

However Hitler, HlrohltO ana
Mussolini may be kept guessing
about Allied offensives on the
fighting fronts of the world, they
can just as well be told right
now that there is no secret
about one of Americas great
drives on the home front. It's
the Victory Garden campaign,
already under way and expect
ed to set national record for
home food production.
When a national poll late last
month reported that 81 per cent
of the citizens interviewed were
intending to grow gardens this
year, newspaper readers of the
country became aware of the
proportions of this home-front
offensive. BY January, however,
it was no news to the govern
ment's garden promoters that
1913 bumper crop of home gar
deners was in sight. They were
already swamped with popular
demands for how-to-go-about-it
information and were meeting
them-with news releases, radio
programs, photographs and a
special 1943 edition of a publica-
ton called "Victory Gardens"
The garden authorities had seen
what happened in 1912 when an es-
timated 100000 Victory Garden
ers shouldered spades and hoes.
Since then they had seen the nation
al food situation change until by the
beginning of 1913 the department of
agriculture was saying: 'sThe ma
ton needs the help of everyone who
can grow good garden"
Will Educate Gardeners
The department of agriculture, it
may be reported, was precise in
making its appeal to everyone who
can grow a good garden. Getting
good gardens from inexperienced
gardeners thus became one of the
Department. war concerns. Fortu-
nately, its bureau Of plant industry,
in the agricultural research admin
istration, has been dealing with this
same problem in normal dimensions
for many years, and was all set to
meet the demands for information
as they might arise.
It is impossible, of course, to avoid
Trimmings Of some vegetables. Small
seeds like those of carrots, collards,
onion, parsnips, spinach, and tur-
nips must be sown three or four
times as thick as the plants will
eventually grow, because many
seeds fail to grow well. Surplus
seedlings then have to be thinned
out before the plants crowd each
other.
When the inexperienced gardener
begins to worry about not planting
his seed too deep or too shallow,
too early or too late, and realizes
the many other details that have to
be kept in mind, he will appreciate
truly the helpfulness of such publ
cations as the department Of agri-
cultures Victory Gardens" and
the other free bulletins that can be
obtained from the government and
from state agricultural colleges and
extension services. Most valuable of
all to him will probably be the one
published nearest to his home, for
from it he can obtain most specific
information on the times of planting
and on the varieties of vegetables
best adapted to his locality.
With such aids, $4,000, 900 Amer
leans and their helpers are this
year expected to plant Victory Gar
dens-6, 900, 900 of them on farms, the
rest in their backyards, on vacant
lots, or in community Victory Gar
dens. With the seed sown and the
tomato and cabbage plants set out,