THE QUESTION OF WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE.
[To en EDITOR or ens ntirsc-mon...) Sun,—What part can women take in agriculture ? Is there a living for women on the land P Can they to any extent take the place of the men who have gone to the front? All these questions at the present moment are clamouring for a solution, and from two entirely different points of view—the point of view of the educated woman and her livelihood, and the point of view of the farmers and their immediate need of workers, preferably of the uneducated class.
The second of these points of view is undoubtedly the more urgent, and needs very careful Lhandling. It is clear tint women can only replace the men who have gone to the front if their work be such that it will pay the employer to give them an adequate wage. Otherwise women cannot be encouraged to train for outdoor occupations, and their influence on the agricultural rate of wages, already far too low, would be disastrous. It would seem, therefore, as if Question 3 can only be answered in the affirmative if a satis- factory reply can be given to Question. 1 and 2.
Meanwhile some of us who know the difficulties already experienced by women of the educated close who are forced to earn their own living look forward with apprehension to the years following this great war, when for obvious reasons many more of them will have to depend entirely on their own efforts. Does the imperative necessity of raising all possible foodstuffs give any real opening to such women on the land? At present the answer to this question is very uncertain and contradictory. Out of confusion a few facts seem to stand out prominently. It may clear the ground to enumerate these (1) The land is a bard task-mistress. She exacts strenuous and unremitting toil. She offers to those who love her the most health-giving and rational of lives, but no easily made fortunes. (2) While there is no a priori reason why women should not succeed in the minor branches of agriculture as well as, or possibly even better than men, It is only a certain type of woman who is physically and mentally fit for it, and she needs a thorough apprenticeship to it. (3) Any young woman now wishing to take up agriculture as a profession is puzzled to whom she ought to apply for really sound advice and help. She is liable to be got hold of by well-meaning but mistaken philanthropists who have not the necessary experience to guide her. (4) Some carefully prepared report of what women have done in agriculture and horticulture, where and how they have succeeded, where and how they have failed, is greatly needed. Such a report, I am glad to say, is now being made by Mrs. Roland Wilkins (author of The Small Holdings of England), under the auspices of the Women's Farm and Garden Union.
It is of this Farm and Garden Union, better known as the Women's Agricultural and Horticultural International Union, that I wish to speak. It is the only organization at present in existence which has at its disposal the expert knowledge and information which give it a right to advise and direct. For some years this Society has been doing useful, unostentatious work. It comprises among its members nearly all the educated women engaged in practical farm or horticultural work, most of those whu own small-holdings: or nursery gardens and have done work on the land instead of merely talking about it. It knows what women have done and can do; it knows what posts are available for trained women, and which are the best places for training ; it knows how to advise and help those women who have a little capital. Since its organization in 1899 its membership has increased enormously. Among its members are some who farm three hundred to seven hundred acres, specializing as breeders of cattle, sheep, horses, exhibition poultry, or in dairying. Others having small-holdings keep a few cows or utility fowls, grow hardy fruits, or keep bees. Some take pupils. There are members with large apple orchards in Canada, some with an orange plantation in Florida. Several act as bailiffs on estates. It has as an Advisory Committee Mr. Edward Strati, Mr. Rowland Prothero, M.P., Professor Baffin, Professor Bottomley, Professor Wood, and Mr. Christopher Tumor. Obviously this is the organization we must all turn to at the present crisis for advice and direction.
While, however, the Union possesses all the qualifications to inspire us with respect and confidence, the very fact that its members are all busy women engaged in the strenuous work of wresting a living from the land, makes them unable to give much spare time to pushing the Union or to keeping it before the public. Some of us who have the interests of women of the professional classes at heart, and who know the dire need for some really authoritative body to which we could apply for expert knowledge and guidance, are making it our business to help the Union by raising fends which will enable it to have a larger staff, a better office, and generally to enlarge its usefulness.
The great crux of the moment is training. On the one band, the Union has constant applications for help and advice from the untrained who wish to make their living on the land ; on the other hand, we have at the present moment far more posts than we can fill for want of trained workers to fill them. Nor is there any need for establishing new training centres ; plenty of these exist, and, owing to the bard times, have not nearly their fall complement of pupils. What is urgently needed is help with the training of women in all agricultural and horticultural branches. By supplying such training a double benefit would be conferred. In the country districts workers of all kinds are wanted—dairy workers; poultry workers, workers in the field and in the market-gardens. The cheapness of our food supply will depend on finding these workers.
All those interested in the question of women and the land must, I think, realize that the psychological moment has arrived when this question must be faced and dealt with systematically and honestly. After the war women will be in a larger majority than ever, and more of them will need to earn their own living. We want to give women's work on the land a fair trial, but in order to do so we must know the facts and have at our command the experience and knowledge of those who have spent their lives in practical work of this kind. The best way to help is to become a member of the Women's Farm and Garden Union.—I am, Sir, &c.,
CAROLINE GnosTErrou,
chsdram: Farm and Gard. talon. 15 'Queen Anne's Chambers, Westminster. •
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