SEYMOUR DURST When you leave, please leave this book Because it has been said "Ever thing comes t' him who waits Except a loaned book." Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library Gift of Seymour B. Durst Old York Library A. I. C. P. Notes. Vol. 1. DECEMBER, 1895. No. 1. Published hi-monthly toy tlie New York Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor, at 105 Cast 33d Street, and entered at the New York Post Office as second class matter. Yearly subscription Fifty Cents. Single numbers Ten Cents. If ordered in large numbers for distribution $5.00 per hundred copies. All subscriptions and communications should be sent to WM. II. TOLMAN, Ph.D., General Agent, 105 East 33d Street, New York City. VACANT CITY LOT FARMS. In the summer of 1894, when more persons than usual were out of employment on account of the hard times, Mayor Pingree of Detroit, conceived the idea that vacant land in and near the city could be cultivated by the poor unemployed, whereby subsistence could be obtained for the winter. A Committee was appointed, several thousand acres of land were offered, but for lack of funds only 430 acres (8760 city lots) were accepted. This land was plowed, harrowed and staked into lots of quarter to half acre each. Seed and tools were furnished by the Committee. 945 families received plots of land, which were cultivated under the direction of a volunteer Superintendent. The above are the outlines of the " Potato Patch Farms," or the " Detroit Experiment," as it has been termed.* This success of this trial, in which, at an expense of 83.60 each to the Mayor's Committee, nearly one thousand families were enabled to support themselves through the winter by their potato crops alone, was brought to the attention of Mr. Bolton Hall, a son of the Rev. Dr. John Hall, in 1895. Realizing that the scheme not only sustained the workers, but trained them and relieved the charities from the strain of constant applications, he secured the co-operation of Mr. N. S. Rosenau of Detroit Idea. New York Conference of Charities. * Full reports may be had by writing to Mayor Pingree. 2 the United Hebrew Charities, Mr. C. D. Kellogg of the Charity Organization Society, and Mr. R. Fulton Cutting. Through their influence, the subject was brought before the monthly Conference of Charities, and subsequently before the Federation of East Side Workers. After the matter had been thoroughly discussed it was decided that a new organization was not needed, so it was determined to place the management in the hands of some large philanthropic society for the sake of utilizing its experience and machinery. The Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor was accordingly asked to assume the management, under the condition that its President should be Chairman of the Vacant Lot Committee. lmmittee ^ Committee was appointed, consisting of Mr. R. Fulton Cutting; Mr. Jacob H. Schiff ; Mr. Thomas M. Mulry, of St. Vincent de Paul Society ; Mr. Nathaniel S. Rosenau, of the United Hebrew Charities ; Mr. Arthur W. Milbury, of the Industrial Christian Alliance ; Mr. Bolton Hall ; Mr. Francis V Green, of the Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor ; Mr. George Calder, of St. Andrew's Society, and Mr. William H. Tolman. On the organization of the Committee the following officers were elected : President, Mr. R. Fulton Cutting ; Treasurer, Mr. Jacob H. Schiff ; Secretary, Mr. Wm. H. Tolman ; Executive Committee, Mr. Bolton Hall, Chairman, Mr. A. W. Mil- bury and Mr. W. H. Tolman. The original idea was that vacant lots in the city proper should be cultivated, but this plan was abandoned on account of the expense of watching, particularly as the plots of land were so isolated. The Committee, therefore, availed themselves of land in Long Island City, comprised in three large tracts, of 138 acres (1656 city lots, altogether), and donated by Mr. Wm. Steinway, Mrs. John Lowry, Mr. H. B. Hollins and the Long Island Improvement Co. The Superintendent reported this land as well adapted for cultivation. An appeal for money to carry on < J lau an( j the work was then issued, in which it was clearly stated Scope. that the cultivation of the city lots by the unemployed was 3 not a mere charity, but a relief scheme which aimed to establish habits of self-reliance, to teach the poor to become prosperous, to make farming more profitable and to increase the sum of wealth, and that it was the opinion of the Committee that hundreds of families who would otherwise be a burden to the taxpayers and to the charitable could be made self-supporting at a cost of less than $10 each, help being given, where possible, as a loan. The plan, therefore, embraced a means of providing immediate work on a business basis for all unemployed, however unskilled, who might be willing and capable. Funds came in slowly, probably because the charitable failed to recognize at once that this was a substitute for many charities rather than a supplement to one. This lack however resulted in part in the healthy development of the Co-operative Farm, which bore its own expenses. Our main work and much of our expense of the year was devoted to the effort to call public attention, not only in the United States, but all over the world, to what could be done with Vacant land, and how it should be done. Considering that our city is a receiving basin for poverty and failures from all over the country, the large number of cities which were induced to undertake similar enterprises form a sufficient justification of the large expenses, even upon selfish grounds. Capt. Cornelius Gardener, to whose energy and capacity, freely devoted to his fellow citizens, the success of the Detroit " Potato Patches " in 1894 was largely due, wrote to us that until New York began to agitate the matter, neither public notice of their success nor funds to continue it could be had, the papers refusing to publish his articles, but that upon the announcement that a New York Committee was appointed, the same papers offered liberal pay, and he was overwhelmed with requests for full details from leading publications. Thus we repaid our social debt to Detroit. Many others, as for instance Minneap- olis, were decided, by our determination, to push the matter, and some, like Detroit, made a city appropriation in order later to relieve their poor fund. The large file of newspaper clippings, open to those who are interested, at the office of the Association shows the Object Lesson for the Entire Country. Other Cities 4 extraordinary educational value of our work in riveting public attention on the essentials of true charity. The Association advanced a thousand dollars for seed, tools, fertilizer and superintendence, engaging the services of J. W. Kelgaard, a practical farmer, who had made a special study for the Association in connection with the causes of agricultural depression in New York State. The Superintendent at once purchased seed potatoes, and prepared the land for cultivation. Application stations were then opened under the care of various societies in different parts of the city, pplication * n ass *g nment - s > preference was given to men with families, as it Stations. was a part of the plan that the cultivation of the soil should tide a man over till he could get a permanent position. For the sake of conclusions at the end of the season, inquiries were made of each applicant in accordance with the following schedule : RELATIONSHIP TO HEAD NUMBER CAPABLE OF WAD V Number in family who should be at work, but unemployed AGE SEX W— White COLOR C— Colored. XT A 'I'TAV A T TrpV BIRTH PLACE LUUJN lKi rJUKiN pitv dad vr COUNTRY BRED CITY BRED OCCUPATION WORK HOURS PER DAY STEADINESS OF WORK LAST 12 MONTHS NUMBER OF ROOMS RENT PER MONTH LENGTH OF RESIDENCE IN CITY IN MONTHS AID Yes or no SOURCE OF AID EXPERIENCE IN FARM. ING IN MONTHS Can you get or pay for Tools, Seed or Fertilizer I CO ET 1 > I GO GO ° '■* ■8 3 » 5- w o g-a n C !»»:•» S * ~ 9- err 1 « » CO 6 After the schedule was satisfactorily filled out, the applicant was directed to meet the Superintendent, who assigned the land on presentation of this card : h 9) 4> .si <5> mo v. *** w *» s ♦* s fa <-> *** .Si v> \» si *>» v> Nut. Exp Can Dai App Applications for land were received very slowiy indeed, as the people seemed to distrust the scheme, from Distrust of , . , . Plan in some wa Y tne promised advantages were to be taken away from them after a season's hard work ; however, after the crops began to appear above ground, applications were received at the 7 rate of 40 or 50 a day. One result of the tardy applications was that the Committee found it had about 40 acres ready for cultivation but unassigned. As we were then out of funds, this land was used as a Co-operative Farm. 84 families, representing 261 people, received allotments. The average farm was an acre, but in cases of ex- treme poverty, or where the applicant had a practical knowledge of farming, the amount was increased. The Committee insisted that half the land at least should be planted with potatoes, because the risk of this crop was small. The Superintendent was aided by two assistants, so that the scheme was practically a farm school. This instruction, the plowing of the ground, tools and fertilizer were furnished without charge to the applicants. It should be stated at the outset, that the entire work here was experimental, hence only the close of the season could determine success or failure. It should also be stated that the work was freely criticised ; some of the criticisms were extremely captious, but as those who were so generous in this direc- tion offered no solution of the difficulties in the way, the Committee persevered in the policy which it had marked out. All experience must be paid for, the best sometimes proving the most costly. The Committee, therefore, begins the season of 1896 rich in experi- ence, whereby the expenses for the coming season can be lessened and the yield vastly increased. Its expenses will always be heavy, from the fact that these farms are situated across the river, and that the additional expenses of the ferry are considerable ; that the ignorance of the applicants compels minute inspection, and that the cultivation is on scientific principles. Although, with proper fertilizers and great care, as much as eight hundred bushels of potatoes have been raised on a single acre, we think it would be better to give less land to potatoes and more to early vegetables, and that all expenses should be repaid by the cultivators from the sale of their crops or by their labor. F. B. Livezey, of Sykesville, Md., who believes in* Farm Reform as a panacea, writes, "The truck farmers around Paris pay an average of $126 per acre rent for land, and yet Farm School. Criticism, Labor TVage?. Digitized by the Internet Arch i in 2013 http://archive.org/details/aicpnotesOOnewy 9 their support ; that the needy are thereby assisted, without creating the demoralization in the habits of the people that gratuitous aid always entails, and that much relief and real help may by this plan be afforded with small expense to charitable persons or to taxpayers." Thus as a " labor test" this plan is unexcelled. Here is an oppor- , e Natural tunity for honest, moderate and not unpleasant work, and for j^o,. ij egt> learning a useful rural occupation ; any who are able but will not work should not be helped at all. It is easier to get the people back to the land than the land back to the people. To show the practical effect of this enter- prise we mention two illustrations from the report of the " Doe Ye Nexte Thinge Society " for work among the poor : — " A sad instance of illness and starvation was brought to our notice last winter in the case of a man who had been unable to find work of any kind, and who, therefore, with his sick wife and four children, passed two whole days literally without a morsel of food. Their rooms were Cases scrupulously clean, but so devoid of the bare necessaries of life that there were even no sheets on the bed where the sick woman lay, and the starving children had scarcely rags to cover them."* Temporary aid was given and the husband, worn almost to a skeleton from want of food, and unavailing efforts to find work, was started in farming in the spring, on one of the vacant lots on Long Island, where he worked faithfully during the summer, and has now a position in this city at 818.00 a month." Another family is found in the most dis- heartening material and moral destitution. " Work was found for the woman, at $4.00 a week, in the house of a lady who took great interest in her. She came regularly to the Bible Class, and all through the summer her husband worked steadily on the vacant farms of the Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor, on Long Island, on which he raised enough vegetables both to provide food for his family during that time, and to have a small stock in reserve for the coming winter. With more comfortable rooms and better surroundings, this family can now look forward with more hopefulness to the future." Such instances could be * Annual Report of the D. Y. N. T. Society for Work among the Poor. 1894-1895. 10 many times multiplied ; but it is easy to see that, while conflicting with no charities, the Vacant Lot Cultivation will become a valuable auxiliary to them by helping to solve the problem of how to find work for the shiftless and unskilled. Encouraged by the number of other cities which followed our lead last year, we venture to make the following additional suggestions for extending the work, both in their hands and our own. The Cultivation of Vacant Lots must be put on a business basis. Volunteer service in superintendence must be secured and the aid of the city authorities availed of to the fullest extent. As an additional Charity, it will in the end be a failure. As an educator and a natural social development it can do, and under wide minded guidance will do, permanent and incalculable good. In future years it will be found that many philanthropists will refuse to contribute to miscellaneous charities until this plan is in operation in their district. It is best to get tracts of as many acres as possible in a piece, and if the land is poor, to collect the sweepings of the street to be carted upon the land in the spring or carried upon the land, from time to time, as collected, to enrich the soil. The cultivation being intensive, the people would carry the manure upon the land themselves, if it were given to them. At any rate, the collection of fertilizer will furnish some work during the winter months. A careful account should be kept with each cultivator, of all seed, fertilizer, and his pro rata share of the expense of superin- tendence, and so forth. This, except in cases of misfortune, can easily be, and should be, repaid to the Committee out of the produce of the " farms," or by labor expended on the co-operative branch, so as to eliminate entirely " alms " giving. BUT WHAT WERE WE TO DO WITH THOSE WHO NEEDED IMMEDIATE SUPPORT, WHO COULD NOT WAIT FOR CROPS TO GROW ? We plowed up and seeded about 38 acres and gave all workers ten cents an hour. We think that too high a rate, but it must be remembered that we have the very poorest, to whom we should have had to give necessaries, if we had not been able to let them have the opportunity of earning them at once. 11 Co-opera- In addition the workers were told that they were to have a half interest in the product of these acres. Although this was not begun till far too late for the best results ; when the crops were gathered, we found that the expense on this Co-operative farm was $966.75, and the value of the crops, which were disposed of to the various charities, at market rates was $1067.65. After deducting an allowance for rent of land, cost of tion. superintendence and interest there was left $53 to be divided among the workers. It is the opinion of the Executive Committee that this feature should be made the main one ; as it stimulated the men to friendly rivalry, created a public spirit against loafing, and whilst affording immediate wages to the cultivators, can be made to contribute largely toward the other expenses of the Committee. Where the scheme is already familiar to the workers, the plots small and the soil not too hard, there seems to be no reason why the able bodied workers themselves should not spade the land instead of having it plowed by the Committee. When it is known that all direct aid is to be paid for by work or by part of the crop, most men will prefer to do as much of their own work as possible. The Christian Industrial Alliance meal tickets will support a family of three for a week at a cost of ninety cents. These might be given in wages for work. The outlay is small, since men living so cheaply can afford to work cheap. If more apply than can be employed, of course those who are most in need, and will therefore work cheapest, should have the prefer- ence. ^ • , ^ • , , , Philanthro- Even if the Committee should have to «y ail( j ^ije pay a rental, based not on speculative value, but on what the land is Per Cent, worth for use, it would be a profitable investment to the taxpayers ; and as many cultivators would pay market rent for the land in later years, it would also benefit the land-owners themselves. Our experience has already shown that men will generally work when given the opportunity ; that hardly any capital is necessary for employment, and that over-population in this country is as chimerical as the exhaustion of the coal supply. Its bearing upon the questions of temperance and wages 12 Reasons f'oi Failure. Margin of Profit. will appear at a glance, since one, at least, of the cultivators who did best had been an absolute drunkard. Where the plan has failed in any city, it can be traced directly to three causes : 1. " That well-founded distrust of everything that looks like charity," which, to quote Mrs. Lowell, has been such a safeguard of the poor. This has kept workers from offering themselves, until a year's trial with a few has convinced them. 2. Active speculation in suburban lands, which made it impossible to get the use of lots. 3. Lack of ability in the Managers, who failed to arrange, for instance, to get lands further out and shelter the workers. Some of the cultivators who kept count of the number of days they worked, show the surprising conclusion that they earned, not farm wages (75 cents per day with board and lodging for the worker), but skilled mechanics' wages, 84.00 per day, for every working day : as, for instance, a stone cutter worked 50 hours and made $120.23. (See table, page 40.) The light work was afterwards done by his children, but as this could not have brought any income otherwise, he did not count it. Several families, encouraged by their experience, have already moved out to the country. It is to be regretted that more accurate and extensive figures on this point were not kept. The statement has been made by many, including gentlemen farmers, that if such results can be demon- strated again they will go into the business, that " potato raising is pretty profitable." Again, it must be borne in mind that in addition to potatoes other crops were raised. The fact that the crops were sold at retail rates and that the product was choice, increased the rates. Many a planter was able to peddle his bunch of radishes, picked only a few hours previously, carefully put up, and a fine product, for five or six cents, whereas the wholesale price at market rate was only two and a half or three cents. The same was true of potatoes, which were sold in many instances by the quart or half- peck. Had the planter sold his entire crop of four or eight barrels at one time, he would only have received wholesale rates, and a large measure of the profit would have gone into the hands of the commission merchants. Too much stress cannot be laid upon the fact that those who made the most money were those who cultivated 13 the finest product ; proof that it was fine was afforded by the fact that the second prize at the New York City Live Stock Show was awarded to the exhibit of the Vacant Lot Farms. In the economic judgment of the Vacant Lot Farm managers it must be carefully borne in mind that every- thing was given the farmers : the use of the land and of tools, seed, fertilizer and instruction. Economically, an injustice is done to farmers who are obliged to calculate very closely the above items of expense, but the Committee felt that the small number of farmers on the Vacant Lot Farms would not do any appreciable injustice to the other classes, and that even for this, the increased supply of skilled farm labor would more than compensate. Were the Vacant Lot Farmers not at work on the land, they would have been on the lists' of the Association for charity, which would have meant the bestowal of money or shelter, food, fuel or clothing. Suppose $35 were given each family ; at the expiration of a few weeks, the money would have been spent and the family in question be in as bad condition as before, if not worse, because the inclination for self help might have been weakened by the granting of relief. On the Vacant Lot Farms, however, the farmers worked with a zest because they knew that they were to have the whole fruit of their labors, and they recog- nized that their efforts would produce results, because of the careful training. Subscriptions for the expenses of the coming year (which have already begun in the fertilizing of the ground with street sweepings turned over by Colonel Waring) are earnestly invited. Whatever is repaid by the cultivators will go to get land to make permanent occupation for involuntary idlers. The use of land for the season, especially on Manhattan Island or in the district just above the Harlem is also greatly needed. Surely this experience may point the way out of a social crisis so grave that even the Prebendary of St. Paul, Rev. Dr. Eyton, says, " What the next chapter (in our history) will bring forth no one can tell. It may be red as blood and confused as chaos." ''There is trouble on all sides," says the famous preacher of Italy, Agnostio di Monterfetro ; " the horizon is black with clouds." The Bishop of Winchester adds, " The zones of enormous wealth Second Prize. Relief by Work. Social Crisis. 14 and degraded poverty, unless carefully considered, will generate a tornado." Such warnings are not wanting among ourselves. Strikes, business paralysis, political corruption, crimes of Warnings. v i i ence> SO cial degeneration and increasing difficulty of making a living are the evils which, with a growing class of men, wanting work but unable to find it, threaten ourselves and our children. As long as United States soldiers will shoot rioters, we need not greatly fear actual insurrection, unless, indeed, a foreign war should leave a discontented trained soldiery of our own on our hands, but in one form or another the idle man is still the dangerous one, and the more intelligent and willing to exert himself he is, the more terrible he becomes. If we could but find a place for employing such men during the winter as efficiently as the Vacant City Lots could employ them during the summer, we would have gone far towards solving at once the labor question and the problem of undeserved pau- perism. 15 The following is the detailed statement of the Committee's own plot : Expenses of the Co-operative Farm. Seed, tools and labor $984 75 Less fertilizer on hand 18 00 Total cost $966 75 Receipts. Produce sold to Seaside Home $103 50 Sold to Relief Department at market prices : 606 bushels potatoes 424 20 2840 heads of cabbage 142 00 130 crates of tomatoes 130 00 173 barrels turnips 155 70 Sold to Convent Good Shepherd 22 65 " " St. Joseph's Asylum 7 50 " " Mt. Sinai Hospital 3 00 " " Governor's Island 4 10 Seed-beans on hand 75 00 Total $1,067 65 Statement of the Assigned Plots. In arriving at the value of the general crops, it should be stated that each planter was required to report to the Superintendent every day the amount taken from his farm and the receipts for the same. The value of the crops was estimated at the current market rates. Amount of Crops. Potatoes, 6,235 bushels. Tomatoes, 530 crates. Peas, 817 bushels. Corn, 1000 dozen. Beans, 1259 bushels. Fodder corn (not counted). Beans for seed, 50 bushels. Turnips, 1400 bushels. Cabbages, 19,119 heads. Carrots, 93 bushels. Lettuce, onions, radishes — Lowry Farm, $1,130.15. Lettuce, onions, radishes — Ravenswood Farm, $1,702.54. The unitemized report of the last-named vegetables is due to the fact that we supposed at first that such small things would amount to but little, and that much of them was taken away in very small quantities or consumed on the ground, so they were "lumped." 1G STATEMENT OF VACANT LOT ACCOUNT. Receipts. Through Jacob H. Schiff, Treasurer $2,580 65 From R. Fulton Cutting 200 00 " Wm. E. Dodge 100 00 " Percy R. Pyne, Jr 100 00 " Wm. E. Bond 50 00 " Francis V. Greene 50 00 " Sale of Products 992 15 " Beans (seed) 75 00 " A. I. C. P 673 93 $4,821 73 Expenditures. Superintendence, labor, seed, tools, fertilizers, ferriage, cartage, printing and postage $4,821 73 Money Value of Crops. Planters' Plots $5,970 82 Co-operative Farm 1,067 65 Ravenswood Farm 1,702 54 Lowry Farm 1,130 15 $9,871 16 In striking a balance, it must be remembered that no rent was paid, and in addition, the instruction, seed, tools, fertilizer and preparation of the soil were supplied free. t 17 The following report of the Superin- tendent to the Committee presents a general view of the scheme with details and incidents from his view point : The work of our farms began at all hours. Some of these people had some work or chance of work during the day and would come over and work on the farms in the afternoon or evening ; others would come over early in the morning, before their regular work ; others mornings and evenings ; others had irregular days, just as they had the time to spare ; others were there all the time. Those who were unable to secure any work, spent nearly the whole of their time on their farms. All of them seemed to be endued with wonderful earnestness. Ignorant as they were of farming and farm work, they made up by zeal for their lack of knowledge, and watched the tender shoots as they came from the ground with the glee of a child finding a new toy. Each plant received the care almost as though it were a child itself. Being called to a certain planter's lot one day, he said some one was stealing his cabbage. I went over his cabbage plot and could find none missing, but he was very much exercised and declared that his cabbage was being stolen. I said, " Why, I do not see any cabbage stolen ; all the plants are here." " Yes, but see here," said he, stooping and showing from the under part of several plants where a leaf had been broken off. His care over each plant was so close that he missed even a leaf. The men who operated the farms were not of the class that are looking for charity ; most of them were men who had once occupied good positions, but through force of circum- stances had gotten among the rocks, did not know how to extricate themselves, and took hold of this as a new hope. When we remember that these poor people left a cheerless home in the morning and were willing to work on these lots all through the day (looking to the harvest for their reward) and return to homes just as cheerless in the night, sometimes with no food and hungry children looking to them for bread, some of them so poor that they could not pay their ferriage, there will be no question raised as to their need. Farm Hours. Cabbage Culture. Tenement Homes. 18 Farm. The Vacant Lot Farms were a phase of charity that was new, inasmuch as it put these people in a position where they did something for their self-support, and so could maintain their self-respect. The majority of them were anxious, at the close of the experiment, to go to the country and take hold of agriculture in a true and permanent way. An interesting feature of the Vacant Lot Farms was what we called the Co-operative Farm. This farm was Cooperative conducted entirely by the planters of the other farms, the only difference being that on the Co-operative Farm they were to pay back all expenses and divide the remaining profits, the idea being not only to help these people but to find out if co-operative farming would pay. We started late in June with about forty men, some of them hale, strapping fellows. Six secured work shortly after and left. The older ones, the infirm and those who on account of their physical disabilities were not able to go out and secure posi- tions, were left on our hands to carry on the Co-operative work. Notwithstanding the fact that this class of labor was unable to do in three days what a good man would do in one, the Co-operative Farm, I am glad to say, was a success. There were many touching as well as amusing instances in our farm work. Some had the idea, and it was hard to get them over it, that the more seed they put in the ground, the more crops they would raise. They went on the principle that if two eyes would make a dozen potatoes a hundred ought to make a hundred dozen potatoes. Each man was very careful that no one trespassed on his lot, and was also very careful that every bit of space was fully utilized. It was intensive farming on the closest scale. One man, a stone cutter, with five days' hard work by himself and two daughters (making fifteen days in all), took from his lot $120. Another, who lived in a large tenement house in New York, was an expert gardener and was given nearly four acres of land, moved over to the neighborhood of the farms, rented a small house, and made 8430. He and his wife spent their whole time on the land, and were always careful to have one crop succeed another. One woman, whose husband was working for a small wage, in her Intensive Farming. 19 desire to help to improve their condition, took one of the lots and did all the work herself ; not only this, but dug the weeds from lots of some of the other planters, dried them in the sun and placed the ashes around her growing crops, thus making a high grade fertilizer out of that which before was doing harm. We had one man who had been an habitual drunkard. He was always being sent to jail for five or ten days as an old drunk. He applied for a lot, and one of the police officers said that if the farms did no other good that they certainly had done a great deal when they kept this man from the streets ; for he was on his farm all the time, tending his crops carefully, his interest being so great that it seemed as though he had discovered something that was higher and better than anything he had before, and was going to devote himself earnestly to it, so that not once during the whole summer was he found intoxicated. But just as soon as his crops were harvested and disposed of he became his old self and went right back to drink. One day, in going over the farms, I found a man trembling, the perspiration running down his face, and I thought possibly he had been drinking. I thought this very strange, as he was a man who was far above the average, a college graduate and who spoke three or four languages fluently, and as I had never seen him under the influence of liquor, I questioned him rather sharply and closely. I saw that he did not want to tell me what the trouble was before the others, so I took a walk down in the fields with him and he said, " I did not want to talk before the other men, but the fact is I have had nothing to eat all day. When I left my home this morning there was only five cents in the house. My little children had had no breakfast and I left the five cents to buy bread for them, and, though I have never done such a thing before, I begged my fare across the ferry this morning." I found another man, poor, emaciated, weak. When I inquired into his circumstances and condition, I learned that he had been subsisting on radishes for three days. One poor woman, whose rows were very crooked, would not take time to make them straight, although she had been told time and again. She finally said, " My husband lies Work and Temper- ance. College Graduate. 20 Harvest sick in bed and cannot move ; the children are locked in the house with him. If the house should burn he could not get up, and so I hurry to get my crops in, in order that I may get home, because, sir, I am anxious all the time lest something is happening over there." But when the harvest came, there was a time of rejoicing. Potatoes being gathered on every side, some Home. selling in the market, others peddling, others taking home and storing in their cellars (such as had them) for winter use, potatoes, cabbages, turnips, beans and peas. They were like a lot of children who had reached a picnic grounds and were ready for a frolic, or like a people who had been travelling for a long time to get to a better land, and had at last reached that place of promise. It made me feel that if all the people who owned land could see that picture they would be ready to place it at the disposal of these people. The experiment has convinced me thor- oughly of one thing, and that is, if you will let the poor of your large cities get to the soil, and properly guide them for a year or two, they would become not only self-supporting, but would in a little while do much more. They could be so guided that in a few years they would own their homes, and a citizen who owns his own home is always the best kind of a citizen. (Signed) J. W. KELGAARD, Supt. Dec. 24, 1895. 21 OTHER CITIES. In the following schedule it must be noted that, as to some of the cities from which "no report has been received," we do not know that they ever did more than discuss the advisability of putting the idle men to work on the idle land in some way. Unless there is an energetic person to head such a movement, willing to suffer the consequent newspaper notoriety, such discussions usually come to nothing. Sis c 2 ; • ; g S b « C * ~ - ~ s 2 ©eli P ♦a £ I s a « d b >> co S . o *! cc^ © is a a o II Jit,, 5 ©« CO 6C P co 0.2-3 m o otT ■9 =3 tJ CO C5 CP •-s'O J . 3 £2 © © II ^.3 *J -~ 50 s ©^ 2 S> p ftp to ©-* « 3co fc > CO c a: CO o as w2 3 co 8© oo o C5 O © s » © 3 on ^ © O Ci 3 Soft ft£! 1 la g © 3 © CD O © ^3 . co c3 5* o 3 ^ O Ph CC OQ GC i5JD 3 23 (!) Brooklyn gave each man but 25x200 feet or one-eighth of an acre, which was plowed, and tools, seed and fertilizer fur- nished. We may remark that in such a case the most careful instruction and minute cultivation would be essential to good results. (2) Buffalo gave one-third to one-half acre to each family, which was plowed and three bushels of seed potatoes furnished. All the cultivators had received city relief in some form. City officials rendered much service. (3) Detroit gave one-third of an acre each for the majority and one- quarter acre for the rest. The plots were plowed and 3 bushels of seed potatoes and 2 quarts of beans furnished. City officials gave assistance by work valued at $500. (4) Minneapolis gave one-third to one-quarter acre, which was plowed, and potatoes, cabbage, tomato plants and small seed furnished. City officials gave services valued at $200. (5) St. Paul gave one-half acre to each person, which was plowed. New York alone seems to have furnished tools. Duluth is re- ported to have offered the bare land alone with no instructions or help. All reports complain of the phenomenal drought, but speak of the cultivation as " most thorough " except St. Paul, Minn., which found some lack of attention to 36 plots out of 118. . The plots in Detroit, Minneapolis and St. Paul were more or less scat- tered. The use of the land seems to have been permitted free everywhere except in Boston. 24 The following letters from those who were deeply interested in this movement in other cities, will amplify the tabulation on page 40. It is greatly to be regretted that full and accurate statistics were neglected, and it is earnestly urged that the utmost care be taken in this direction during the coming season, as the plan will then have far more than a local value. " 19 Smith Street, " Brooklyn, N. Y., December 18th, 1895, Brooklyn " Dear Sir : — I desire to state, in answer to your interroga- Drawbacks. tions, that the experiment in cultivating vacant lands has not been a failure in the city, but it has not met the success that we had anticipated for it for various reasons, among which are that we commenced too late in the season, and that we had not been suc- cessful in procuring a proper person to act as superintendent. We have experimented with two, neither of whom appeared to possess the essential requirements to successfully carry on the work. Among other reasons is the fact that we were not able to secure lands within easy reach of the people who desired to cultivate, making it necessary for them to expend car-fare in order to reach the ground. Notwithstanding many drawbacks, we have reason to feel pleased at the result. " We have not been able to obtain a complete statement from our superintendent ; but know that we have not lost any money, and have raised a sufficient amount in products to cover expen- ditures. " The people of Brooklyn responded very satisfactorily to our calls for contributions, resulting in our having between $500 and 8600 left over after the season's work. " We were not able to obtain more than twenty people who were willing to cultivate, although we employed every means in our power, by advertising, sending circular letters to clergymen and by using the means at the command of the charitable institutions, yet, Family Recreation. 25 there did not seem to be a very great desire on the part of our people to avail themselves of the opportunity offered. u Yours respectfully, (Signed) "J. W. ERREGGER, Chairman." "M. H. Birge & Sons, "Paper Hangings, "Buffalo, N. Y., Oct. 6, '95. " My Dear Sir : — Passing over the initial difficulties of Buffalo, rousing public sentiment in its favor, and organizing, the Association was finally launched with Mayor Edgar B. Jewett as President, Treasurer and Chairman of Finance Committee of fifty representa- tive men ; Wm. A. Stevens, Secretary, and Chas. Michael, Sup't. Sub Committees were appointed in four divisions of the city to assist in promoting the work. " Suitable land was obtained with some difficulty, as much of the soil about Buffalo is a heavy clay, better suited to making bricks than growing potatoes. " Such land offered as was approved was plowed, pulverized and marked into plots of ^ to f an acre and numbered plainly, this work being done by neighboring farmers and paid for at $3.50 a day. A printed circular offering a ' plot of land for gardening Garden Plot** purposes,' and instructing the persons receiving it, if they wished to use such a plot, ' to write their name and address plainly and send to the Mayor's office,' was mailed to each family who had received city aid the previous winter. " The Charity Organization Society was furnished with blanks which they mailed to such families appearing in their books as in their judgment could avail themselves of the offer. From these applications returned a register was made — by streets, not names, alphabetically — so that we could give neighbors adjoining plots and locate them on the land nearest their homes. " Postal cards were printed — day and place left blank — telling the receiver to appear at such a street on such a morning, bringing a hoe, basket and knife ready to plant potatoes. These cards were mailed in lots of from twenty to fifty, according to the size of the tract of land designed to be planted on the day named, and 26 the people came in troops, bringing the children and friends to help them. "The Secretary took up the cards of notification and issued a manilla card the size of a postal card, writing on it the name and address of the holder, also the number of the plot assigned them. The potatoes were delivered on the ground three bushels to a plot the morning of planting. " The Superintendent showed each one where their plot lay and Detailed how to cut the potatoes — in short, supervised all the work. We AI il II il IT t 1 ■ ment planted in drills twenty inches apart. The three bushels planted about one-half the plot, the remainder being left for other vegetables to be planted later. In this way 560 families were supplied, when we were obliged to cut short our work for lack of funds, having used about 250 acres. " Later, a postal card (printed) was mailed to each plot owner to supply themselves with white beans and such other seed as they wished to plant, and finish their plot. "Where families were too poor to buy the necessary seed, it was furnished by the Association. " When the time for hoeing came we found many of the plots neglected, so a circular No. 1 was prepared and mailed to the address of the negligent owners telling them 'their plot needed hoeing, and to clean it out at once' and 'keep it clean.' The inspection was made usually by the Superintendent and Secretary in company. On the next inspection such plots as were still unworked got circular No. 2, telling them that such negligence would not be permitted, and that if on the next inspection their plot was not in order they would forfeit all claim to it and it would be turned over to some one who would work it. To such as did not respond to this No. 3 was mailed, reading that their plot would be given away on Tuesday morning. When No. 3 failed we divided the plot in two and assigned it to families we had been obliged to disappoint from lack of funds, and so carried the number of families benefited up to 578. [Apparently only nine persisted in neglect. — Ed.] " The round of inspection went on constantly, circular No. 2 being mailed as often as it was found necessarv. Circular No. 4 was known as the ' bugging circular,' and was sent when necessary ; but 27 we were not troubled much with the pests. Each plot holder keeps a little book in which is entered a memorandum of all the crop Inspections. harvested. As a result of all this detail we are harvesting now from 20 to 52-J- bushels of potatoes to a plot, one-half planted to potatoes, and as high as ninety bushels where the whole plot was given to potatoes. A conservative estimate gives us a food product of a market value of twelve to fifteen thousand dollars — with a total outlay of less than two thousand two hundred dollars. "The Charity Organization Society investigated all applications that came to us other than through the regular applications, and furnished us a Polish interpreter as often as we had need for one. Other than that, the work was done entirely by the Superintendent and Secretary, there being no foremen or paid clerks. The Mayor's office furnished desk room, so we had practically no expense except printing and postage. The amount of good done all these people, beside the food provided them, cannot be estimated. And the gratitude a large majority of them show at being permitted to work the land is pitiful — I don't know how else to express it. " Very truly yours, (Signed) " W. A. STEVENS, Sec'y." Captain Gardener, U. S. Army, who was of a practical turn of mind and had some experience in managing gardens for troops, was placed in charge of the Detroit Farms. The Captain had taken a deep interest in the poor and gave up his leave of absence to devote himself to the work. He writes : — " Detroit, December 12, 1895. ^ 1A Detroit. "To the New York Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor. " Following our efforts here in Detroit, in 1894, it was New York which first saw the utility and common sense of the plan and adopted it in 1895. "After Mr. N. S. Rosenau came to Detroit to look into the plan and you took it up, the New York papers and your pamphlets gave the scheme wide circulation, so that it was rescued out of the domain of ridicule and flippancy to which it had been consigned by 28 many. I was so impressed with the great good that would result to our laboring poor, if this plan was generally adopted, that I wrote an article upon the subject, setting forth our methods and success. I had offered it to some of the leading magazines, by all of whom it New York's was respectfully declined. But after New York adopted the plan, Example. severa i f these asked for it and offered pay, who had previously refused it when offered gratis. " It was published in the Charities Review. Since this time, I have been kept busy answering questions and writing about it. " This year we have met with remarkable success. We plowed and harrowed, and furnished seed for 1546 parcels of land to as many heads of families, in all 455 acres in \ and i acre pieces. We harvested in potatoes alone, not counting other produce, over 60,000 bushels, an average of 40 bushels per family. The total crops were worth $30,000, at an expense of $4,900 out of an appropriation of $5,000 for that purpose. " Our people were mostly shovel laborers, whose wages do not average a dollar a day and who have large families. It would do your heart good to see the gratitude and appreciation of these people. I tell you, Mr. Hall, it is the opportunity to help themselves that people want, and it does seem so wrong that in cities like this, people should at times almost die of starvation and yet thousands of acres lie idle within its limits which are held for speculation. It is a sort of a ' dog in the manger ' business. Poor people are often as sensitive about being considered objects of charity as you or I would be, and as a rule they prefer to work for what they get, in preference to receiving things for nothing. " We succeeded in getting our land for the purpose free this year. I predict that in a year or two the scheme will be universally adopted in the United States, for it appeals to common sense, and besides saving taxation, it teaches people to rely upon themselves and their own efforts. Direct giving makes paupers ; this method constantly reduces their number. " Yours very truly, Land and Food. (Signed) " C. GARDENER. 29 " Detroit, Mich., March 22d, 1895. " My Dear Sir : — The city poor-farm scheme as operated in this city last year was a great success. The poor, hard-working people see that upon a little patch of half an acre they can produce enough to half support themselves, and it sets them to thinking. They reason thus : ' If I can almost live on half an acre, I could make a comfortable living on a few acres,' and they begin to figure on getting into the country. " In answer to a question asked me, I asserted that at least one hundred families had sought and found homes in the country as a 1116 laities. direct result of their experience of last year. I fell far short of the mark, however, for one gentleman, the Hon. Joseph Waltz, of Waltz, Mich., (a small village in this county) writes : ' I see in the papers what you say about city farming and think you are right in the matter, as twenty-five families from the city have located here- abouts.' If twenty-five families have located in the vicinity of one little village, the number of families who have located in other sections of the state must far exceed one hundred. (Signed) " F. B. DICKERSON, " Superintendent of Poor." Under date of December, 1895, Mr. Dickerson writes again : — " Dear Sir : — I have no particular data about the number who have left the city in consequence of the ' Potato Patch Scheme,' but am constantly hearing of such cases. The interest in that direction has not abated, but, if anything, increased. "Very truly, (Signed) " F. B. DICKERSON." Definite figures on this subject would be most valuable. 30 Dulutb. Interest of the Churches. "Pro-Cathedral, Duluth, 23d December. 1895. " The movement in Duluth for the cultivation of vacant lots was successful in a certain degree. When I proposed in a public letter to carry out the plan, the newspapers gave it a clear approval, and the owners of lots told me to take any vacant places they had, for the work. " The agent of the Associated Charities, Mr. Miller, also took great interest in the charity and kept some account of the number of persons who took lots for cultivation. While many applied to me personally, others called on the owners of the lands and arranged with them in person, thus we have nothing more than a general idea of the amount of land taken. " Probably about 300 persons in all availed themselves of the opportunity. The priests in the various churches encouraged the poor of their parishes, but this first year the movement was of slow growth. " If this work be taken up next year by the Associated Charities, aided by the city, it will do much good. The general burthen of out-door relief will be lessened ; the poor will become more self- reliant, and the children will have a little spot of mother earth which, in cultivating, will bring them health and strength. We notice here as a good effect of the work that some have taken land on the St. Paul and Duluth Railroad property, and this is very encouraging. Yours sincerely, (Signed) "JAMES McGOLRICK, Bishop of Duluth." 31 CONTINUED SUCCESS. u The potato farms of Detroit, Mich., have been tremendous successes this year. There were 1546 allotments, or about 500 acres. This is 601 more allotments than last year. The estimates of the value of crops are : What was raised. Amount. Estimated value March to Au- (r 1] a t T»Tir > P«5 when most of the crops were consumed. Market value at present prices. 61,840 bu. $40,196 $15,460 00 1,000 bu. 2,000 1,280 00 Turnips 3,000 bu. 1,000* 750 00 1,000 bu. 400* 250 00 400 bu. 180 116 00 4,668 bd. 250* 117 50 Squashes 400 hd. 30* 23 80 Pumpkins 500 hd. Totals 67,240 bu. 5,568 hd. $44,056 $17,997 30 *No market quotations ; estimated. " These figures of crops were secured by Secretary McGregor of the commission. He sent out large numbers of postal cards to the people to whom land was allotted, asking them to write ' on the cards and return to the commission the number of bushels of potatoes they raised, specifying each kind. The cards were sent to about one-half the people holding land. They were filled out and returned to the number of 480, which represents about one-fourth of those holding land. From the results obtained, com- bined with the experience of the commissioners and of those in charge, the commission has been enabled to estimate the crops as a whole. In some of the cases the returns show that 60 bushels of potatoes were raised to an allotment. The commission, after com- paring notes on the total crop, have allowed an average of forty bushels of potatoes to an allotment. 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