WOMEN FARMERS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2270, 15 August 1908, Page 3

WOMEN FARMERS.

SLAViKS OF TOIL.

Somo of tho women farmers of New Zealand deserve to bo immortalised (writes the AA’airarapa correspondent of the “Dominion”), as no doubt they should be in other branches ol Jile. The farm labor, however, which many of our women huvo to undergo, out ol sheer necessity in order to keep the financial pot boiling, or perhaps only simmering, is almost in one way a degradation to femininity. In tho course of years a woman working haul upon a- f irm loses iiiiaiiy of tlio cluuiuing attributes of her sox, but, as a set-oil' she gains tons of sell-reliance. Siio becomes mason lino in character and in stature, her hands become gnarled and muscular, and hor face loses its softness and gets tanned. There is no time to spend upon tier hair or tho frills and furbelows ot fashion. The whole business resolves itself into a matter of self-imposed slavery from early dawn till late in the night. , , , These reflections are prompted l>.\ a case which I saw wlioro tho breadwinner was a woman who worked tlio place for her husband, who was an invalid. The children were grow,n-up. and had drifted to many and the old couple were alone, save lor a pair of fatherless and motherless "Tandchildren. The. farm was one of only a few acres, running two dairy cow’s and a very small orchard, it the head of the house had not worn skirts, ono would not havo known that sho was a lonian. Her fare ami bent figure told their tale- of toil, and peihaps misery. Tho two very sharp eyes which peeped from benenth her old felt hat were an indication, however, of her vitality. She carried a reap hook, ami told her story simply: “1 am just cutting a little oats tor the cows/’ she said. “You see they must have something now, when teed is so soiree. I sow a quarter ol tlio orchard with oats at a time, and so I have always a crop coming along. No, I cannot go on to a larger urea, because I have rheumatism very badlv, and can only do a little work at a time. Cannot, dig; not enough strength in my arms. How do I prepare tho ground for the oatsr Oh, 1 just chip the earth with a hoe, and then scatter in the oats. They do not come up very well, but enough to feed tho cows. No, I have never had a holiday; that is at least- for tweiitysovon years. I don’t want holidays now; I just want God to preserve my health so that I can work for my man and myself, so that wo can end our days in our old homo, and without any holy from the charitable institution.”

This woman, providing forage crops for her cows, is an object lesson to ’many a dairy farmer on a largo scale.