In honour of NationalPotatoDay, here is today's rooted fun fact!
Did you know that...
“Before 1907, CPR gardens and others were mainly cultivated as a form of recreation by station agents and foremen, with minimal support from the companies seed and sometimes prizes for the best gardens in informal competitions. The CPR, by 1907, had recognized the economic benefits of the increasingly popular activity, and decided to regularize its participation. A Forestry Department was formed to take charge of wind-break plantings along the right-of-way, and station grounds improvement. The department established two nurseries, one at Wolseley, Saskatchewan where trees, shrubs and perennials were grown, and the other in Springfield, Manitoba where bedding plants and other perennials were grown.
...When Canada entered World War I, the railway garden underwent a transformation influenced by patriotic horticultural displays and plantings. Campaigns arose promoting cultivating vegetables on any available land, public and private, to supplement supplies for Canadian fighting forces in Europe. These Greater Production campaigns had a direct effect on the railway garden. Railway companies plowed up lawns and flower borders along the right-of-way. Railway companies supported the effort not only by allowing their land to be gardened, but also by supplying detailed vegetable gardening instructions to participating employees, and, in the case of the CPR, providing free fertilizer. It was estimated that one-third of CPR war gardens were devoted to potatoes. Manitoba railway gardens were major participants in these Greater Production campaigns. In 1918 the station agent at the Stony Mountain station was commended for the amazing amount of vegetables he produced in a 100 foot square garden vegetables and potatoes, plus straw-berries and citrons.” (Baeyer, 2019)
References:
Baeyer, Edwinna von. (2019, Jan 18th) Manitoba History: The Rise and Fall of the Manitoba Railway Garden. Retrieved from Manitoba Historical Society: http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/mb_history/31/railwaygarden.shtml