WOMEN ON THE LAND.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 64, Issue 1, 12 October 1943, Page 2

WOMEN ON THE LAND.

AN INCREASE IN NUMBERS. EMPLOYERS WELL SATISFIED. There has been a marked increase in the number of land girls seen on the streets of Ashburton lately, and tlie position has changed completely from the days when the smart brown uniform of the Women’s Land Service was an uncommon sight. An official of the National Service Department, on an organising tour of the South Island to stimulate interest in the Women’s Land Army, when passing through Ashburton yesterday, said there were 1000 women on the land in New Zealand. Although the current publicity campaign to obtain more x'ecruits had only J>een going a week, the results already were encouraging. He outlined the pains taken by the Women's Wiar Service Auxiliary to safeguard the welfare of the girls, and said that uniforms for the service were provided on a more lavish scale than anywhere else in the world. It must be remembered that service was not limited to the workers’ home districts, there being plenty of vacancies in the North Island. Demands for increased production had increased the responsibility of the farmers and placed them in greater need of assistance than ever.

Letters received from employers of land girls expressed nothing but enthusiasm concerning the splendid work they were doing, said the organiser. A typical letter was from a farmer who had lost three men to the services and replaced them with land girls. He considered they could do better work than youths of their own age, particularly on dairy farms, as they were more conscientious and took better care of the stock. Land girls themselves are well satisfied with their positions, if the opinion of one employed in Mid-Can-terbury can be taken as general. In an interview she said she had been a member of the service for a year and liked her job, being doubly satisfied with the knowledge that she was assisting with* vital war production. Her work included milking five cows, feeding calves, and looking after the vegetable garden. Although working on a farm well back toward the foothills, she had no feeling of loneliness or isolation.