WOMEN ON THE LAND

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 38, 14 February 1931, Page 18

WOMEN ON THE LAND

SCHEME FOR TRAINING

! Although the land has from time immemorial been looked upon as man's special domain, woman, even from Biblical times, has taken her definite, though possibly unrecognised, share in agriculture, remarks a writer in an overseas paper. In future, however, woman's position in the agricultural ■life.of the community will possibly bo recognised, and put upon a' more substantial footing, for Mrs. Margaret Wintringham, an • erstwhile member of the English House of Commons, suggests that training centres should be established in England in suitable localities, preferably by the . adaptation and extention of the 21 existing farm institutes, with the idea of establishing on small holdings, selected and trained women who are qualified and desirous of earning their living on the land. Mrs. ', Wintringham's ... scheme emanates from the Liberal plans-for tackling unemployment and. the British Government's Agricultural Land (Utilisation) Bill, which suggests,'the establishment of training centres of ■this description for unemployed men; and she rightly resents that this should be treated as an exclusively masculine industry. The small holdings colony for women, for example; started in England as an experiment by the Women's Farm and Garden Association in 1920, has held its own financially, in spite of the 'fluctuations in agricultural values, and as a matter of fact, even before the war many English women were small holders, and there is therefore nothing revolutionary in the suggestion of small holdings for women and their training for farm work. Then there is another aspect of equal importance that has to.be taken into consideration, and that is the training of women and girls who will find themselves on farms or small holdings with their menfolk. The slightest acquaint-' ance with country life is sufficient reminder of the intimate connection of the women of the farms, the small holdings, and the cottages with the work of the men. The country home is not simply a home as understood by towns people. It is the centre of the farm business. Wives and daughters are not merely housekeepers, they are co-part-ners, though often unpaid ones, in the industry of agriculture, and thoir part in farm economy is of paramount importance. The conversion of part cf the produce of the farm into the means of exchange often falls to their share, and their success in this direction is an asset to the industry. All the different methods of preserving food, too, curing, bottling, drying, canning, pickling, etc., offer special problems and responsibilities, and it is therefore essential that the women-folk should have the opportunity of learning up-to-date methods of rural housekeeping.