WOMEN ON THE LAND.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 93, 19 April 1919, Page 16

WOMEN ON THE LAND.

STATE FARM AT COWRA. INTERVIEW WITH A STUDENT. \ There passed through Auckland this week Misa Hazel Barton, student ot agriculture. State Kixnii, Cowra, New South Wales. In coin er-al ion with v •■Star" reporter Miss llarton explained tht! working of this State enterprise In teach women how to earn their living On the land. It has received a good deal t >l appreciative iiotiee ill the New Zealand Tress, and ha* drawn to itscli lu.im.-n from thin country hoping to learn M-icntitic agriculture. Miss l'.arton said she had always wanted to go "» (l 1 1" ''Hid. and as soon as opportunity came she took of it, unci joined the first farm opened for till! instruction of women at Windsor. New South Wales. This wnn tw«i y.tirii ago. She was there for seven mouths, when all the women students who wished to eoutinue their trainitu ' were dispatched to CoWTII, and here she finished her course in February last. After Miss Karton h:i>l been trained for I a year she was ottered the position of 'stink assistant to the Slate Farm, and continued her sUidies particularly aim;,' stock iines. At present there an- si\t. students at Cowra. two of whom went ' from New Zealand to obtain instruction These students, after finishing their course inletid in s,.ine raws to .start farms of their own. to take employment on farms, or to manage land wliieh they ha\e inherited. gncslioiiod us to tlie clianee of women obtainiiii: employment lon farms. Miss Harton. who is an AimItralian. .-aid k!j<- tl.ou-.-1,1 thai in the [.resent htati of public opinion h was very -mall. If a uirl hil 1 money enough !(.i start a farm sir- wnuld 1... i 11.!., with 'her training to run a small iiiirirnltnral j property, if she liml il in ln*r and was capable' enough. Iml she must love the i land. The present imur.ger of the Cowra I State l-'arm for women did not think it i was iit work for women, and with such a man at the head of the enterprise the ehnnees "f women wen , not very bright. I'.ut. in the opinion of Miss Barton, if a Igirl hull a small farm she eotlld do all j'the work. Tin' L'irl who took up t!ie «..rk I without capital would lni\e 110 chance, bcentw there was a lot of work on the jnverase farm that a β-nmaii eoiil.l not An. I The i_'irl students at I i «ra did nil the j harvest ii,..-. which consisted of -»00 a. res. of oats inn! wheat, liesides :i rrrinin I pen-ills, wliiili increased the labour. The pirl students do the orelmrdirm work and [11 io dairy work, which is in charge of a woman.' The herd consists .if :'.(* row-. J and the girls find the work hurd. Work Iheiiinß at a-quartcr to five in the summer I mornings and live o'clock in winter. The [middle of the day was their free time, except when butter was made, twice i I week. The smaller utopk carried by the i farm consisted of 30(1 sheeo. crossbred. iln this connection experimental work 'was undertaken. Nearly all the w. rk wns

done by the sixteen students, although they did not do the shearing; they yardud and drafted, and handled the wool at shearing time. Wool sorting was not 3 taught on the farm, as the Technical College held courses in Cowra on this subject, which were attended by any I who wished. In husbandry the girls were taught ploughing, but only after a light with the present, manager, who said that Held work, as it is called, was not lit for a woman, and when the student.-, insisted that it was part of their course, \ he set them to grub lSathurst Burr ill the paddocks all day long in the lierce sun. Hut. despite this attitude on the ! part of the manager, who objected to the women learning what they had left New ' Zealand to learn, and which was part of their course, they eventually took ploughing lessons. The lirst manager, who was in charge when the girls begun their course, encouraged the students, to study e\e;-ythiiv_'. and they appreciated him. ' although he was not popular, because of a hectoring manner. The girls were taught work amongst horses, and once a week the foreman gave a lecture on harness and the use of its different parts for the benefit of the students. For winter feed, bay was used, which was put into elnilf with the aid of an nil engine. All . this work was done by the women student*. Questioned as to what know-, '. litk-e was imparted in plnnt hrcedinaf. a ■ work for which women should be particu- ; larly fitted with their love of growing , tli'nies and infinite patience. Miss Harton J .\idainid (but part of the experimental plot.* were at Cowra and part at the women's trniniiiL , farm; but ns the poiirw , . was limited 1., a yenr ill most enscs, and . Mi.- plant experiments took four or five [ yearn before complete, the airla showed . little interest. Mr John Pridhum whs , chief id.int breeder for the Agricultural IVnxrtmeiit of New South Waler., and had built lip two or three new sorts of . mlh'iil which were proving very MiecesH- „ ful. Miss Mnrton believed he'had been , \.-rv i-iiee.-ssful likewise with barley, but , :i- little was urown near Cowra she had I oi.lv hearsay evidence. The orchard of tl-e farm had orisiinallv been laid down . t i demonstrate what kinds of fruit ln-sl v suited the Cowra district, and consisted t of imlv three acres of every kind of tree. , ehieflv at.ides and pears. The plnec also , possessed a ennninc plant anil part of a drvinc plant, but no instruction was t given in either. Last year was a had , vi-ar for fruit | H >.-ait<r 'of the droucht. The work ■■' the State Farm for Women , bad shown that the women were very ( , keen of aroiiirins knowledge, nnd onm. , , e\ru frnm Yew /ealand for this purpose, r but found the farm was run entirely on , unscientific principles, and that the man,J placed in charge did nearly everything , possible to diseouraoe the women ,", -tud.tits; neither did the farm compare I in inan.-i'/ement and upkeep with a good el::s-.. eouimercinl venture in New Z.-alnnd. Miss Harton. who is on a pleasure trip k to Knglnnd, where she will join her bro ; r ther. who is a member of the A.1.F., c expects to be gone a year. Cpon her -. return she intends to take up her own i farm, which she inherited from her >■ father, and which at the present time is I. a grazing property, and bring her experik .mc to bear in following mixed farming b oil s! ientifle lines.