ON THE FARM

Evening Post, Volume XCV, Issue 41, 16 February 1918, Page 7

ON THE FARM

■A€COMMQDATJON FOB M&RBnf) '■'• "-"■■ -MEN. ■ " ' :

The question of' providing -tetter,, accommodation on farms for. married men, with, a view to reducing the "drift .of' farm labour from the country to tha town, wag' exhaustively dealt with at a conference this week between, the National Efficiency Board' and) the Board of Agriculture. /4 supplied report states that it was pointed out that owing to the largo increase of indebtedness qnd other burdens that have been taken by the Dominion the only chanc* .of rat taining the standard of living; would be by a rapid and sound expansion in the productivity of the country, andi thai a married' man, provided witli a, suitable house with moderate conveniences, having a plot of ground sufficient for vegetable garden,, and land Bufficient to keep a cow, pigs, and 1 fowl*, ie comparatively well off in rural districts, even if only earning a email actual 1 ca*h wage. A scheme to facilitate the erection ot cottages for married men on farms -whicji 1 had been drafted by Mr. Hunt on similar lines to the provisions as to workers' 11 dwellings in the town was adopted. A' further proposal to initiate some -jmaU village settlements in the backblocks'was formulated with' the View of securing advantages of friendly intercouree and mutual assistance between jihe families living in the village and so that, the individuals occupying" these cottages would not feel tied to a single employer and would, within moderate ' limits, bp able to carry their labour to the' best market, or at any rate, would have the. feeling that they could. Village,, .comv' nninities of this class' might have tlie advantages of having a .co-pperativs store,, school, and hall accommodation, and other facilities which would nofc lip obtainable by those resident in (ietachtid cottages aituatßitl en their employer's pro. pertjes.