BACK TO CITY

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 303, 22 December 1943, Page 4

BACK TO CITY

THE FARM WORKERS SUCCESSJ^jSCHEME (By D.W.8.) In some camps there was drill, in our camp, I'd like to say we had no time for drill. Too much work But that would not be quite right Certainly we have worked pietty hard and have been up long hours (5,15 a.m. to 10 p.m. generally> but not all those hours were filled with toil There were pictures, concerts, eave and certain slack periods. And here were the ones who did[plenty of work and those who-well just didn't. On the whole, though, I think the farm working scheme, to judge from the first chapter which concluded this week with the demobilisation of the hundreds of territorials affected, can oe marked down as a successWe have been told by the farmers, and we could see for ourselves, that our services were invaluable. Perhaps the harvesting could have been done by several farmers co-operating. That would have meant longer hours for farmers already over-worked and, in many instances, this method was being adopted as much as, pos sible as ft was. One farmer helped another with his hay-making, and then the first helped the second Pooling of machinery, too, was sens ble- there seems a fairly strong case for depots where machinery may be pooled and then hired out. Tough on the Back I lived with a hundred other young chaps in a camp outside of Auckland. Country life was good and each morning as we drove out from the Juriris, totaras and pines surrounding the huts there was a sense of anticipation renewed daily until the last week when six of us were Posted to picking up potatoes and packing them in bags. Picking up potatoes is monotonous and tough on the back. Pay conditions, too, were bound to cause dissatisfaction. A fast workei can bag SO bags of potatoes m a day. The incentive for this total is usually a payment of 6d for each bag picked Tliis works out at £2 a day compared with our Army pay of 7/6 a day, plus 6d an hour bonus. The faimei paid the Agriculture Department 2/6 an hour for our services. We received Gd of that half-crown. Hours worked were eight a day, for six days. Potato picking was not all we did, however. Most of us were on haymaking, and at the peak period the demand far exceeded the supply. Hay-making was taken to easily enough with a few accidents and a few curses from exasperated farmers Most farmers were thoughtful, and for these we worked hard and would gladly have gone back to do their work all over again. Others—in the minority—were not so understanding. For these, of course, we didn t work so hard._ Difference in Methods A cause of some confusion as we travelled from one farm to another was the different methods adopted on different farms. On the first farm I visited, for example, the men on the stack wanted small loads of hay on the grab. "What d'you think I am? A—— machine?" they would say, when the grab went up with a big load. So we gave them small loads. And then, at a second farm we sent up small loads and they wanted to know when we expected to finish the stack. Very confusing. I'd like to submit my preference, too, for the modernised farm. I like the placidity of the old horse, but horses can be exhausting. There was a stubborn old mare at one place which stopped ever so often and wouldn't budge, even when you pulled tight on the bit. Maybe we swapped jobs, too often so that the old horse was no sooner used to one stranger than there was another beside her. We all wanted to try something, and were all very keen. Clerks, plumbers, carpenters, cooks, journalists, a bee-keeper, jockeys, a champion pole-vaulter—every type of "city slicker" getting into the feel of the land, and liking it. Yes, the mechanised farm is the best. Some farmers had sweeps attached to the fronts of cars or trucks, others relied on horses. Often it was the older farmer who se-emed to have a sentimental fondness for such things of the past as the horse. Younger farmers were enthusiastic about tractors. One told me his farm was completely mechanical, and he was able to do his work much faster than the chap we were working for. He needed little labour assistance. Manpower Only One Problem We learned much about, farming problems while in our four weeks in camp. Manpower is only one. I was surprised at the almost unanimous anti-Government attitude of the farmers. There are plenty of problems they want cleared up—petrol rationing, gumboots, fertiliser supplies, guaranteed prices. The farmers learned a little from us, too. Thev though we were all making bier wages in the city, and that was one reason why few young chaps weer going on the land. They were surprised when we informed them that the majority of us were around the £2 a week mark. There is a lot of talk about the looseness of youth, but nearly every youth I met in camp was learning a So profession and was liking his work wanted to get back to his job Farm' work was good, but so was his ow ■I was offered a job on a farm at £2 a week. I declined, with thank* ii§9M

The Vegetable Gardens cia P te°TiS£ V SS S ™y awe. conditions are good TH llght - the Ilfilil schoolboy-workers wH? S V^ the Daplfne and aUtB .e° s ? k wi,, Bernie: "ate all the help they c"^aLf- appre - The "holiday'is over T? ™ experience, but no holidav iuT as an attraction. y s atul the bi S