Women's Land Service

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 69, Issue 2, 15 August 1944, Page 176

Women's Land Service

AVERY interesting booklet, extracts of which will be of interest to all Land Service members, has just been received from the Ministry of Information, London. , Nine out of ten unmarried women in Britain between the ages of 19 and 45 are in the uniformed forces, munitions factories, or essential war work. One in four of the married women of the United Kingdom is employed in war-time industry. Single women in Britain between the ages of 19 and 31 have been liable to conscription for the Women’s Auxiliary Forces. Recruiting was reduced to a minimum in July, 1943, for the Services and the Women’s Land Army. Women are now directed principally into aircraft construction. Behind the scenes at Britain’s Ministry of Food five women nutrition

Arrest That Rat! IN the lovely Sussex Downs is -a training school for rat exterminators. The trainees are girls of the Women’s Land Army in Britain, who in times of peace worked in homes, shops and factories. They are combating the vast army of 50,000,000 rats which devour the nation’s food. The girls are volunteers from all parts of Britain and are trained by Major N. Phillips, a Ministry of Agriculture expert, one of the most successful rat exterminators in Britain. He teaches them all he has learnt in

CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL COURSES OPEN TO LAND GIRLS LAND SERVICE members are advised that the same privileges are available to them as to members of the Armed Forces with respect to courses taken through the Correspondence School of the Education Department. A deposit of 10/- is required before text books are issued to pupils, but this amount is refunded when the books are returned at the end of the course. The Correspondence School Branch has full examination courses in academic subjects, and practical courses in needlework and allied subjects, drawing, arts and crafts, also a full course in agriculture and farming. There are short or long courses. Write direct to the Headmaster, Correspondence School, Clifton Terrace, Wellington, and mark envelope Land Service member.

British Women at War

experts aid in the battle of food pro- • duction. Women domestic science ex- , perts staff the Ministry’s experimental • kitchens for testing and producing new recipes for foods in plentiful supply or for utilising new types of 1 food. The Women’s Land Army in Britain, numbering 5,000 in 1939, has now i multiplied 16 times. Recruited from volunteers, mostly without agriculL tural experience, women from 17 to . 40 are employed on farms and market gardens, and in forests. ■ For women who are willing to do ■ part-time work on the land near their • homes Emergency Land Corps have 1 been set up in most counties in Bri- ■ tain. Through voluntary Land Clubs ■ other women spend their weekends and holidays in farm work.

years of rat-huntinghow he recognises rat trails, how to track down their lairs, and how to exterminate them. He shows them the timehonoured method of working with dogs, then initiates them into scientific methods, which are far more effective and account for rats in thousands instead of tens. When the girls are trained they are placed in “pools” ready to travel to all parts of their county and clear rat-infested . farms and fields, and in this way assist in the war effort, as rats destroy enormous stocks besides what they actually eat.

Dress Uniform Measurements * N increasing number of dress uniforms and topcoats are being , returned by Land Girls as a result of i being a bad fit. This necessitates the •i sending of a fresh measurement chart “ which when received is checked ; against the original chart and also . against the garments themselves. In the majority of cases the garments 1 are found to be a bad fit as a result ! of the member giving incorrect measurements on her original chart ; and it is very rarely that a mistake is found to have been made by the tailors. j Land Service members are asked to be very careful in furnishing correct

measurements. Measurements should be tight measurements and the tailors when making the uniform will make the necessary allowances. If at all possible it is preferable that the measurements should be taken by a tailor. Any alterations necessary as a result of incorrect measurements may result in the members' being charged for alterations. i

Attractive Club • ONE of the most attractive clubs for women in Britain was that for Land Girls on leave in London, stated Mrs. P. Fraser, wife of the Prime Minister of New Zealand, who has just returned from overseas. When the president of the British War Relief of America visited Britain he was greatly impressed with what the 70,000 Land Girls were doing. His enthusiastic references when he returned home resulted in two big labour organisations sending over £14,000 collected by voluntary subscription. The club and two resthouses outside London resulted. Mrs. Hudson, wife of the Minister of Agriculture, designed the interiors and commissioned a Danish artist to paint typical pastoral and dairying scenes in the panelled dining-room. Even the black-out shutters when closed for the night reveal charming decorative motifs.

RELAXATION . TT is of great value to be able to reA ■ lax the body at will, as it saves energy, and therefore prevents fatigue. Very few people know how to relax. This is how to learn: Lie on your back on the floor, stiffen every muscle until you are perfectly rigid, then quickly “let go” and relax every muscle so that you are lying quite limp. Remain like this for one or two minutes. Repeat three or four times.