62 Establishment of Village Industries. 



[APRIL, 



THE ESTABLISHMENT OF VILLAGE 

 INDUSTRIES. 



Sir John L. Green, 



Director of Rural Industries. 



In considering the matter of village industries County 

 Councils should have regard to the question whether the 

 results of any action on their part will directly or indirectly 

 improve the conditions of the agricultural industry and of 

 those dependent upon it. 



It is highly undesirable to draw away those now engaged 

 in purely agricultural work, bringing in due economic reward, 

 in order that they may engage in other forms of work not so 

 directly connected or, perhaps, not even connected at all, with 

 agriculture. The real object should be to seek to improve the 

 conditions affecting the agricultural industry, and any avenue 

 leading directly or indirectly to that should at least be 

 explored. 



Within these limits there can, in the writer's opinion, be 

 no doubt that there is a wide field for useful effort on the part 

 of County Councils, though the effective and permanent results 

 of such effort will naturally be more pronounced in some coun- 

 ties than in others. 



County Councils should first ascertain what is reasonably 

 possible or practicable, for instance, what rural industries — 

 apart from agriculture itself — really exist in the various 

 parishes, what their condition is, and whether they are capable 

 of improvement, and, if so, to what extent and in what way 

 can that improvement be brought about ? They should 

 further inquire what other industries can be started, and the 

 extent to which they can be fostered, and by what methods. 



It will probably be found that local conditions will in many 

 cases determine what it is possible to achieve. For example, 

 where osiers are available, where forestry is encouraged, or 

 where an " underwood " industry exists, there should be room 

 for the improved or increased production of baskets (both of 

 the fancy and utilitarian types), hurdles, spars, wooden toys, 

 etc. These represent industries which would appear to offer 

 great scope for development, since, in the main, they can be 

 performed when purely agricultural operations are slackest. 



There is no very great skill required in making baskets, and 

 these could be made under healthier conditions in the country 

 or country town than in a populous urban centre, while the 



