NEW WORK FOR WOMEN 79 



Not only has it been their lot to stoke the green- 

 house fire, but they must run a trolley to the station 

 laden with boxes and baskets of flowers and vege- 

 tables that later have to go by rail. There prevails 

 amongst them a wish to prove to the world that in 

 an emergency they can do manual work in the 

 place of men. Usually their position, when fully 

 trained, would be that of directing, foreseeing 

 heads, able to undertake pruning, watering, and 

 tending of plants with intelligence. They would 

 be called upon to supervise all trenching, digging, 

 and heavy operations, whilst men, who excel at 

 such work owing to their superior muscular strength, 

 would actually execute it. Plants need to be 

 treated like small children, so helpless and de- 

 pendent are the poor things, for in a greenhouse 

 they are unable to get food or water without help. 

 This lighter side of gardening, which needs so much 

 patience, is best understood by women, but the 

 moment has come for them to show that they are 

 also capable if need be of doing rough, hard work. 



In the early autumn, after war was declared, my 

 young women realised that, at last, their chance 

 had come, and that if they could work with pre- 

 cision and method, those doubts so often cast 

 upon their capability would once and for all be 

 dispersed. The feeling that many were looking to 

 them for a supply of fresh vegetables gave new 

 impetus to their endeavours. We who had studied 

 that all-absorbing subject of marketing, only to be 

 learnt and carried out when early years of practical 

 instruction are surmounted, knew that vast changes 

 were to be brought about in consequence of the war. 

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