1921.] Agriculture as an Occupation for Women. 1061 



The day came, however, when our able-bodied men were 

 cailed away to a grimmer task than carrying sacks of wheat, 

 and the country was faced with the necessity of producing the 

 last possible ounce of food in our own land. It then became 

 obvious that if agriculture was to " carry on " under these con- 

 ditions, it must rely very largely upon the help of women. 

 Passing over the work of the Land Army, which has already been 

 dealt with by those better qualified to write of it. I would only 

 point out that the women of the Land Army proved that there is 

 no branch of agriculture that some women, at any rate, cannot 

 perform. Whether it is desirable that women should work 

 regularly, under normal conditions, at certain classes of farm 

 work is, however, open to question. 



Let us first consider the wage-earners on a farm and their 

 various duties. Among the cattle, a woman certainly should be, 

 and almost invariably is, quieter and gentler than a man, and 1 

 think many farmers would agree that young stock thrive best 

 under the management of a woman. Fatting stock, too, have in 

 many cases been found to do better when looked after by women 

 than by men. On the other hand, horse and tractor work is 

 unquestionably beyond the strength of the average woman, and 

 should, therefore, be left in the hands of men. Field work, 

 such as hoeing, singling, docking, &c, can be done efficiently 

 by women. It is not desirable, however, that women should 

 perform such work with men, they should work in a separate 

 group or gang, for a man's greater strength enables him to work 

 faster than a woman, who is apt to scamp her work in order to 

 keep up the pace, or else a man slackens off to the slower pace 

 of the woman and is thus not worth the higher wages he receives. 



Regarding the question whether agriculture offers a satisfactory 

 opening for the woman with a little capital, there appears to be 

 no reason why a woman should not succeeed in any branch of 

 farming, provided that she means to make it the one real interest 

 and aim of her life. She should find out how best she can fit 

 herself for her chosen profession, and which branch of farming 

 she is most suitable for. She should also find time to read the 

 current agricultural literature. It is useless to imagine that any- 

 one can play at farming and also make a success of it. The 

 woman who wants to potter about her farm in the morning, play 

 tennis or golf in the afternoon, and spend a few hours at the 

 bridge table in the evening, would be well advised to leave the 

 land alone, for the farmer's hand and eye must be everywhere if 

 success is to be achieved. 



