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of tons of garbage collected. That simply meant that so many tons of perfectly good food had been saved for subsequent meals instead of being thrown away, and also that housekeepers had gauged their requirements more accurately and had thus had smaller surpluses to dispose of.

WORK ON THE FARMS

The need of increasing the productiveness of our farms was so pressing that President Wilson on April 14th issued a special address to the people of the nation on the subject, in which he said:

"I take the liberty of addressing this word to the farmers of the country and to all who work on the farms: The supreme need of our own nation and of the nations with which we are co-operating is an abundance of supplies, and especially of foodstuffs. The importance of an adequate food supply, especially for the present year, is superlative. Without abundant food, alike for the armies and the peoples now at war, the whole great enterprise upon which we have embarked will break down and fail. The world's food reserves are low. Not only during the present emergency, but for some time after peace shall have come, both our own people and a large proportion of the people of Europe must rely upon the harvests in America.

"Upon the farmers of this country, therefore, in large measure rests the fate of the war and the fate of the nations. May the nation not count upon them to omit no step that will increase the production of their land or that will bring about the most effectual co-operation in the sale and distribution of their products? The time is short. It is of the most imperative importance that everything possible be done, and done immediately, to make sure of large harvests. I call upon young men and old alike and upon

the able-bodied boys of the land to accept and act upon this duty to turn in hosts to the farms and make certain that no pains and no labor is lacking in this great matter.

THE GARDEN AND THE KITCHEN

"Let me suggest, also, that every one who creates or cultivates a garden helps, and helps greatly, to solve the problem of the feeding of the nations; and that every housewife who practices strict economy puts herself in the ranks of those who serve the nation. This is the time for America to correct her unpardonable fault of wastefulness and extravagance. Let every man and every woman assume the duty of careful, provident use and expenditure as a public duty, as a dictate of patriotism which no one can now expect ever to be excused or forgiven for ignoring."

SPECIAL APPEAL TO WOMEN

To this the Secretary of Agriculture added this appeal: "Every woman can render important service to the nation in its present emergency. She need not leave her home nor abandon her home duties to help the armed forces. She can help to feed and clothe our armies, and help to supply food to those beyond the seas, by practicing effective thrift in her own household.

"Every ounce of food the housewife saves-all food which she or her children produce and preserve-every garment which repair makes it unnecessary to replace-all lessen the draft on the insufficient world supplies.

MUST NOT WASTE FOOD

"To save food the housewife must learn to plan economical and properly balanced meals, which, while nourishing each member of the family properly, do not encourage

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overeating or offer excessive and wasteful variety. It is her duty to protect food from spoilage by heat, dirt, mice or insects; she must acquire the culinary ability to utilize every bit of edible food that comes into her home; she must learn to use such foods as vegetables, beans, peas and milk products as partial substitutes for meat, and she must see that nothing nutritious is wasted.

"Waste in any household may seem to be insignificant, but if only a single ounce of edible food, on the average, is allowed to spoil or to be thrown away in each of our 20,000,000 homes, over 1,300,000 pounds of material would be wasted each day. It takes the fruit of many acres and the work of many people, to raise, prepare and distribute 464,000,000 pounds of food a year. Every ounce of food thrown away, therefore, tends also to waste the labor of an army of busy citizens.

URGED TO DROP FASHION

"Clothing is largely an agricultural product, and represents the results of labor on the sheep ranges, in cotton fields and in mills and factories. Whenever a useful garment is needlessly discarded material needed to keep some one warm or dry may be consumed merely to gratify a passing fancy. Women would do well to look upon clothing at this time more particularly from the utilitarian point of view.

ENCOURAGE THRIFT!

"While all honor is due the women who leave their homes to nurse and care for those wounded in battle, no woman should feel that because she does not wear a nurse's uniform she is absolved from patriotic service. The home women of the country, if they will give their minds fully

to this vital subject of food conservation and train themselves in household thrift, can make of the housewife's apron a uniform of national significance.

"Demonstrate thrift in your homes and encourage thrift among your neighbors.

"Make saving rather than spending your social standard. "Make economy fashionable lest it become obligatory." The response of the American people, and particularly of American women, to this appeal was prompt and gratifying. Women not merely practiced economy in the kitchens, but thousands of them undertook the cultivation of gardens, while the men, released from that task, gave themselves to the heavier farm work. It was estimated that in Great Britain 2,000,000 women were doing work formerly done by men. It seems not unlikely that in the United States almost as large a proportion of women are at least engaging in special and unaccustomed labor of some kind in order to "do their bit" toward sustaining the nation and assuring its victory in the great war.

CHAPTER XXVI

ARMY AND NAVY ORGANIZATION

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Origin and Development of Our Military Arm The Present Chief Officers The Secretary of War and General Staff - Various Departments of the ArmyThe Infantry Organization - How the Cavalry is Organized - The Artillery Service - The Militia, Organized and Unorganized - Military Schools and Training Camps - The American Navy - Composition of a Standard Fleet - Organization of the Navy Department Its Various Bureaus The Naval Militia - The Marines, the "Soldiers of the Sea."

"ARMS AND THE MAN!" The army and navy are, after all, the center of interest in time of war. It is they that do the actual fighting. Let us see how they are composed, organized, commanded, and employed.

The army of the United States was created by the Continental Congress, and at the close of the Revolution its strength was fixed at one regiment of infantry of twelve companies, and one regiment of artillery of four companies, a grand total of 1,216 officers and men. The next year, 1791, an additional infantry regiment of 900 men was authorized. In 1798 a provisional force of 10,000 was raised in view of the danger of war with France, but it was disbanded two years later. Another such force was raised for the War of 1812 and was disbanded at its close. A regiment of dragoons was authorized in 1833, and two more in 1836, and ten years later, at the outbreak of the Mexican war, the army contained 7,244 men. During that war it was increased to 20,000, but at the end of the war it was reduced to its former size, with the addition of one regiment of mounted rifles. Two regiments of infantry and two of cavalry were added in

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