Canada: Archives Uncovers Victory Garden Papers
Public Archives Canada, Dec 7, 1979
Terry Cook
Archivist
Natural Resources Records Public Records Division
Dear Mr. Levenston:
In reply to your letter of 17 October 1979 regarding Wartime Victory Gardens, I am pleased to say that I have located a great deal of material in the Records of the Department of Agriculture, Record Group (RG) 17. These records are far too voluminous to search extensively on your behalf, but over several hours I discovered that the kind of specific documentation you are looking for is probably not included.
In summary, as the enclosed complimentary photocopies reveal, the federal government until the end of 1942 was not at all keen on Victory Gardens. Gardening on such a small scale invited inefficiency in its opinion, due to a wastage of seed, fertilizer, tools etc., and led to possible overproduction of some crops. They adhered to this opinion despite scores of letters received urging the federal Department of Agriculture to support Victory Gardens and the very active Victory Garden movement in the United States of America (from which many brochures came to Ottawa’s attention).
The federal government also felt that the provinces were better suited to encourage and oversee such local endeavours as Victory Gardens. By 1943, however, problems of shortages of food supplies for the Allies (although not domestically in Canada itself) inclined the federal government towards Victory Gardens. Although the active organization of these gardens was still left to the provinces, the federal government now acknowledged the need for such Gardens and published, as it had been repeatedly asked to do, a pamphlet encouraging Victory Gardens and giving useful hints for the gardener. This “how to” pamphlet was distributed by the thousands through provincial departments of agriculture.
The enclosed copies of documents are taken from File 1500, parts 4, 5, and 6, “War Files-General”, RG 17, Vols. 3373 and 3374.
1. Dr. H. Barton, Deputy Minister of the Department of Agriculture to R.W. Mayhew, Victoria, 6 August 1942, showing his Department’s reluctance to support the Gardens. (RG 17, Vol. 3373, File 1500, Pt. 4)
2. Victory Garden Brigade, Victoria, to J.G. Gardner, Minister of Agriculture, 1 October 1942, urging the establishment of Victory Gardens and a change in federal policy. (RG 17, Vol. 3373, File 1500, Pt. 4)
3. Barton to Elizabeth Mackenzie, 19 October 1942, answering no. 2 and again outlining the Government’s position. (RG 17, Vol. 3373, File 1500, Pt. 4).
4. Austin Spencer of the Vancouver Sun to Gardiner, 7 December 1942, stating another British Columbian perspective favouring Victory Gardens. (RG 17, Vol. 3374, File 1500, Pt. 5)
5. Barton to Spencer, 21 December 1942, replying to no. 4 above. (RG 17, Vol. 3374, File 1500, Pt. 5)
6. Gardiner to F.W. Warren, Hamilton, 16 February 1943, indicating a more favourable attitude towards Victory Gardens combined with the belief that such a campaign was a provincial responsibility. (RG 17, Vol. 3374, File 1500, Pt. 5)
7. The leaflet, Home Gardens in Wartime published by George Bush of the Ontario Department of Agriculture in April, 1942, indicates provincial activity in this area. The italicized portion on page one states the reasons why governments were at first reluctant to encourage home gardening on too wide a scale. (RG 17, Vol. 3374, File 1500, Pt. 6)
8. The pamphlet, The Wartime Garden, published by the Agricultural Supplies Board of the federal Department of Agriculture in the spring of 1943, was widely distributed and was the apparent apex of federal involvement in the Victory Garden idea.
Because the provinces were largely behind the actual gardening campaigns, their records may well contain information regarding the success of the Victory Gardens, economic analyses of their impact on food production, and so on. For further details, you might wish to contact the Provincial Archives of British Columbia, 655 Belleville Street, Victoria, B.C., V8V 1X4, to check their agricultural records. A colleague here, Miss Barbara Wilson, our military specialist, confirms that the vacant lot gardening in World War I was a provincial campaign; see her book Ontario and the First World War 1914-1918, (Toronto, 1977), p. XCVII. She reports that the same was true of the Second World War.
Magazine such as Canadian Horticulture and Home carried many articles on wartime gardens and you may wish to pursue such sources, which any good research library should have.
I trust that the above information is helpful and that your work with the City Farmer prospers.
