THIS FARM LIFE

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIV, Issue 234, 15 September 1934, Page 13

THIS FARM LIFE

Checking Drift to Town HELPING THE WORKERS Tho drift of rural workers to the towns has for many years been a topic for much discussion, but seldom has there beeu any practical remedy suggested. The average city resident lias ouly a remote idea of living conditions on a farm. Leaving out of consideration the slavery of the dairy farm with tho long hours seven day B a week in all weathers, the farm worker, though in closer touch with social amenities than used tio bo tho case, can at best ouly look forward to a bleak future. For the time being ho is well fed and well housed, but what are the years ahead going to bring him? He is human enough to wish lor a homo as “even life’s derelicts are subject to human emotions,’’ and under present conditions of life on tho average farm there is little prospect of his being able to enjoy the comforts of having a nest of his own.

With all our boasted high standard of living, says an exchange, compare it with rural conditions in Britain, where wo are regularly reading of men being employed on tho same farm from 30 to 50 years, and there are no more contented workers in the world than the employees on British farms. New Zealand employers of farm labour can never hope to have loyal and continuous service until they provide something like home comforts for the workers, whether married or single. Give married men a cottage, a cow, and a garden, which can be done as cheaply as providing “tucker,’’ and it will be the first practical step towards stopping the drift citywards; also it will be raising children who are likely to develop into a race of farm workers for the future .