Book Description

Excerpt from War Gardening: And Home Storage of Vegetables Americas responsibility for the worlds food supply did not stop with the ending of the war. In peace, as in conflict, this country must carry the burden of Europe's food problems. With the advent of peace these problems have become intensified. America is now expected to furnish the solution and this can be done only through the continued application of high pressure food production and unwavering food conservation. For two years of war the War Gardens of America produced foodstuffs which helped establish the balance of power between starvation and abundance. In the spring of 1918, General Haig declared, "We stand with our backs to the wall." Of that call to the civilized world no phase was more vital than its interpretation and answer in terms of food. During that year the answer was given by the American people with true American spirit. The war gardeners of the United States responded with a vigor which carried the War Gardens over the top to victory. By the addition of more than five hundred million dollars of crop value to this country's food production they made it easier for America to feed her own people and the people of France and Belgium. The Victory Garden is now as vital as the War Garden. Peace brings new food needs. In reclaiming territory from the enemy France and Belgium have greatly increased the number of their people who must be fed. By restoring these former expatriates to citizenship these countries have also assumed the burden of feeding them. This will mean a vast increase in the demands on America as the source of Europe's food supply in 1919. Europe cannot feed herself during the first year of reconstruction; Russia faced famine conditions in the winter of 1918 - 1919, and Mr. Hoover says that the worlds food shortage will last for another seven years. The war gardener's responsibility, therefore, did not end with the coming of peace. His War Garden must now be made a Victory Garden in the full sense of the words. It must help solve the problem of feeding people rendered helpless by years of ruthless and terrible war. The garden crop of 1919 must be even greater than that of 1918, and there must be more canning and drying for winter use. The people of America have a real duty to perform in this respect and the nation counts confidently on full measure of individual response. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.