IMPROVING COUNTRY LIFE.

Otago Witness, Volume 1851, Issue 3809, 15 March 1927, Page 70

IMPROVING COUNTRY LIFE.

One of the pressing problems of our days is to keep people on the land or draw them to it. In Australia and New Zealand, as in Britain, the towns attract too large a proportion of the population, and the resources of the land are not developed as they should be. In Britain agriculture has declined since the middle of last century, and the country has been in the dangerous position of depending for far the greater proportion of its food on overseas supplies. The danger of such dependence was driven home during the war; but even if there were no risk of foreign supplies failing, it is desirable in the interests of national health that a large proportion of the people should live and work on the land. Country people are of better physique, stronger, and healthier than dwellers in large towns. City life tends to be too feverish for the greater number of those who live it; less favourable to physical, mental, and moral soundness than life in the country or quiet country towns. So it is important that the attractions of city life should be counterbalanced as far as possible by removing disadvantages attendant or country life and rendering it brighter and more attractive. Monotony, dullness, lack of social intercourse and amusements, and lack of opportunities for culture and intellectual pleasures are disadvantages commonly charged against country life. It must be recognised that these disadvantages do exist, and, moreover, for women country life is apt to be too laborious. It is acknowledged that the small farmer’s wife is the hardest-worked of ell labourers. And it is women who are the chief sufferers from monotony and lack of society and mental stimulus, since their duties tie them

to the homestead, and they do not have the opportunities enjoyed by their menfolk for going abroad and meeting people.

What can be done to lessen these drawbacks? This is a thing for country people themselves specially to consider, but habit commonly inclines to passive acceptance of . conditions, and the majority of workers on the land are too busy with each day’s toil to take thought for means of rendering their lot easier and brighter. Combination is needed, and the initiative and directing power will come from a few.

Every year facilities for improving country life are increasing. The extension of roads, railways, telephones, and electric power are lessening the isolation of country life and rendering the work of the farm and farmhouse less laborious. Now, -except in the remotest districts, it is possible for country dwellers to co-operate for mutual benefit and pleasure in ways that would not have been practicable at an earlier stage of progress. One promising system of improving country life for women is afforded by Women’s Institutes, which I have made the subject of one or two former articles in these pages. The Women’s Institute movement originated in Canada and spread to the Mother Country, and in both lands it has been found extremely beneficial. It aims at bringing women together and providing them with instruction in household arts and crafts according to the desire of the members. There are periodical meetings in a central situation, where lectures and demonstrations are given and entertainments held. Competitions are instituted, and the sale of produce and things made by members is facilitated. In the North Island there are several Women’s Institutes, but for some -reason the idea does not seem to have caught on in the south. There is, however, a New Zealand scheme under the Farmers’ Union winch is similar in its objects. This is a Women’s Division of the Union, the membership fee of which is 2s Cd a year. I have before me a leaflet setting forth the aims of the organisation, which I will summarise for the benefit of readers who may not be acquainted with the work of the Farmers’ Union in this direction. How far women are joinino-

I cannot say, but if I were living in the country I certainly should join. The motto of the union is “Principles, not Party.” It aims at bettering the conditions of women and children living on the land. Following the statement of"'th is general aim come special objects included in it—improved schooling for country children, improved medical and nursing facilities for country women, more frequent medical inspection in country schools, the provision of domestic help on farms, and of rest rooms in country towns. It is also desired to provide through the co-operation of the university home science department and agricultural colleges instruction for country women in dressmaking and various domestic arts, and on health, child welfare, and prevention of disease—this supplying the educational benefit of Women’s'lnstitutes. General social aims are the development of community spirit and ideals of good citizenship, and the promotion of the welfare of home, and Empire. Improved conditions of immigration and the welfare of young migrants to the Dominion are among the aims. Certainly much good can be done by working along these lines. The provision of domestic help and of better nursing and medical facilities are most important objects, the attainment of which would do an immense deal for the health and hajfpiness of country women and their children. At present it is next to impossible to secure household assistance on farms. Girls will not be induced to go into the country, or, if they should go, to stay any length of time. The wealthier landowners may tempt them for a time with high wages and ample holidays, but ate liable to be left in the lurch, while the country housewife, whose home is not provided with all modern improvements and who cannot afford more than one girl must go without help, whatever be her need. Whatever amount of unemployment there may be in other directions, in household service it is and has long been the other way; there are far more places offered than applicants can be found for. It is certainly an urgent matter 'to remedy the lack of domestic helpers. This must be aimed at by raising the status of domestic service and providing a thorough course of practical training in housework for girls willing to undertake it. Girls thus trained would be certificated, and would be entitled to standard rates of pay according to the work undertaken. One reason why many girls dislike domestic work is that they cannot do it well. They muddle along, and take no pride in their work ; their employer shows her dissatisfaction ; they lose heart or take offence, and seek an easier place, or give up domestic work for employment in a shop or factory. Increased immigration of domestic workers from Britain may alleviate the trouble temporarily, but one doubts whether much can be hoped for this way, for there is a sufficiently keen demand for qualified domestic workers at home. Proper training and a social status equal to that of the trained nurse or school teacher are essentials for the supply of domestic help worth having. And another need is provision of household help in times of special emergency for those who are unable to pay standard wages. This might be secured by a department of social workers who might either provide their own domestic helpers or pay other qualified persons. This would be a great boon when the mother of a young family is laid aside through illness. Lately much attention has been directed to the statistics of maternal mortality in New Zealand, which, though not high in

comparison with many other countries, are much- higher than they should be in a country where the standard of living is as high as in ours. It is shown that our maternal mortality is higher in country districts than in towns. This certainly points to a need for better medical and nursing provision for country women. And it may be that over-exertion during critical periods is a contributing cause of this higher maternal mortality amongst country women, who often have so much heavy labour to perform and are unable to obtain domestic help when they most need it. It is full time that something be done to save country women from the perils, suffering, and chronic invalidism to which they are liable from want of due medical attention and skilled nursing, and of assistance when rest and care are es-‘ sential, and it is well that the Farmers’ Union is providing machinery to satisfy these needs and otherwise to lessen the disadvantages of country life for worn in.

HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS. Turpentine will soften shoe polish that has become hard. Marrow retains its flavour much better; if cooked with the skin on. Lemon-juice can be used as an emergency polish for black or brown shoes. Carpets can be freshened up by wiping with a strong solution of salt and water* Furniture and polished floors will never shine if polish is applied with a soiled cloth. When washing sateen or any cotton goods with a satin finish, rinse in borax water to give a gloss. Finger marks on paint can be removed with a soft flannel wrung out of water to which a few drops of ammonia have been added. Always rinse scrubbing brushes after use, and turn them on their sides. If the bristles are always wet the brushes will not wear so well. After blankets and heavy woollen articles have been washed and dried, it improves them to beat them lightly with an ordinary carpet-beater. After washing cretonnes dip them into thin starch just strong enough to give them a slight stiffening. This will also help to keep them clean. When making dripping cakes, add a teaspoonful of lemon juice to the other ingredients, and the flavour will be greatly improved. To prevent cakes from becoming stale, put a thick slice of bread in the tin in which they are kept, and renew it every third day. .When cleaning knives, mix a pinch of bicarbonate of soda with the bathbrick, and they will polish more easily. If the blue bag is twirled round the water in which glasses are to be washed they will sparkle when dried and polished. To remove coffee and tea! stains from white flannel and all sorts of woollen materials, apply a mixture of yolk of egg and glycerine. This may afterwards be washed out with warm water. If a heavy piece of furniture must rest in the old-fashioned way upon a carpet, it is a good plan to pepper the part thickly to keep moths away. The water for cooking eggs should be at boiling point before they are put into it. Wet each egg thoroughly in cold water before putting them in, and there will be less chance of their cracking. Powdered borax is the best thing for exterminating beetles. Use it freely in the places they frequent, and they will disappear. If new silk stockings are washed in very hot water before being worn, they are less likely to ladder, for the washing toughens the silk. Never fill a kettle overnight to save time in the morning, or with water direct from the tap. Water that has been in a lead or iron pipe all night is not wholesome.