SHORTAGE OF FARM LABOUR.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1447, 23 May 1912, Page 10

SHORTAGE OF FARM LABOUR.

A FARMER'S VIEWS. Commenting further on tho shortage of farm labour, Mr. Garland, president of the Wainrate Farmers' Union, said that since his recent remarks on the question, he had had many inquiries from people wishing to place their sous or relatives on farms under some form of apprenticeship. Most of the youths offering were town boys who were not used to handling horses aud live stock. The only real sblution of tho question of farm labour supply, was to his mind the provision, on every major farm, of a cottage arid a few acres of ground for a married ploughman. If this were generally done, there would soon be found growing up a generation of lads and lasses not unaccustomed to farm work and the handling of horses and cows. These young people would become invaluable in the farming industry. Moreover, teams would not be obliged to stand idle, for there would be men enough offering to work them.

"Tho single-man system," continued Mr. Garland, "is the bane of New Zealand farming life. These men go just where and when the caprico takes them." He pointed out that wo might be nearer the end of the present scarcity of farm labour than we can reckon. What, he asked, if Australia is in for another drought cycle? The single men had gone across to tho "other side," in thousands,, just because things over there were comparatively prosperous, and there was tho lure of the larger cities of Melbourne and Sydney to boot. If Australia was to have another period of drought, as tho present conditions seemed to in- 1 dicate, Now Zealand would get enoughfarm labour for the next few years and to spare.

Mr. Garland also referred to.the scarcity of domestic servants, and spoke of this as an even more serious matter, "it is positively cruel," he said. "Our 'doctors tell us of cases where women—some farmers' wives, and other in the townshave lost their lives through continued want of housework help at a period when some outside assistance is ' indispensable."

Mr. Garland pointed but that if .every farmer would be content to work hard on his modest holding until sufficient finances accrued to enable him to put up a cottage for a married couple, instead of all this hurry and scurry to make a competence and retire to tho town to live, things would soon be very different. Many farmers and fanners' wives lived au unsettled life so far as their domestic surroundings were concerned, forbearing from purchasing home comforts because of the uncertainty of their tenure of their respective farms. Whilst this restless, spirit pervaded the agricultural community there could not be tltose happy, contented conditions of existence that ought to make rural occupations attractive to men and maid servants.