Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1917-07-31
ARE WOMEN FARMERS? H-Britsh Daughters of Martha
By Frederic J. HaSkin

women and the man do all the work there Is
to be done a twenty-fve-acre farm
On a farm in another county a woman has re-
Gently been employed to look after the cows, of
which there are large number, dairying being
the principal means of income. The farmer who
employed this woman reported to the agricultural
and subcommittee that his cows had never been
in such good condition and had never yielded so
much milk as they had since this woman had taken
over the care of them Thus there is a widespread
recrudescence of the milk-maid in England.
Even before the war, agriculture was urged as
a profession for women by many people in Great
Britain. Women themselves suddenly seemed TO
develop an ambition in that direction. Various
agricultural schools for women were started by
. one person and another, very good one in par
ticular by the Countess of Warwick. In other
parts of Europe farming has always been one Of
the principal-if not, indeed, the principal-occu-
patton for women. Russian women for centuries
have titled the soil by the sides of their husbands;
in some cases have titled it alone while their hus
bands went to the cities and became cab-drivers or
porters In France, too agricultural work is shar-
ed equally by the women, who sometimes do the
Homework too In Germany the same is true,
while Monaghan women are veritable farm
drudges bearing the greater portion of physical
burdens You will sind yJapanes women carrying
burdens on their backs under which they are al
most invisible In all these countries however,
farm work is confined to the peasant class.
In Great Britain it has been different. The
majority of the country women conf1ne themselves
to housework while the of the family do the
farm work. Farming, therefore, being almost ex-
clusively masculine occupation, has appealed to
women of the leisure class. Recently they have
gone into agriculture large scale.
1t was couple of women in Thatcham who
introduced the first intensive farming into Eng
land. One woman in travelling through rural
France had come upon Frenchman and his wife
who making about twenty-five hundredadol-
lars year out of one acre of land. She returned
to England and explained her discovery to several
friends who agreed to go in with her a similar
project They leased five of land. They
would have bought it had they been able, but land
is rarely for sale in England, and when it is the
price is usually prohibitiveI Next, they bought
horse and cart and carted load after load OF ma
nure from a nearby stable, which they mixed in
the soil. There a clause in the lease which
provided that its expiration the essees were to
be permitted to dig up the soil and remove it to
a depth of eighteen inches, provision that was
only fair since they had practically furnished that
much new soil. Here they started their plants
under bel-shaped glasses known as clochers in
France and later transferred them to glass-cover
ed frames, or rather f1lm-covered frames. The
young could not afford to buy glass, so they
bought old films from Photographic establishment
which after cleaning, served the same purpose.
Around the field they built fence of zinc plate.
sunk for some distance into the ground, so as to
keep the nutriment of the soil concentrated in that
one field.
This farm is now yielding an amazing income,
although it is only two acres. The women let,
three acres go, since they found they were not
necessary. The secret of the success is that the
crops are cultivated ahead of the usual time, so
that they are always in the market ahead of the
At Heathfeld in the county of Sussex, there is
a farm colony of women known the Womens
Coeoperative Farmers, Ltd, which owns many
acres The central farm is school where pupils
are received at thirty dollars a month for boardA
lodging and farm tuition. Some former pupils rent
holdings They perfectly Independent OF the
school but they have the privilege of seeking advice
and help from the instructors; and they buy prov-
sons and market their produce through the school,
thus avoiding many pitfalls that await the inexpe-
rienced.
All of this feminine farming in Great Britain,
although partly inaugurated by the government
itself, has caused certain vague uneaslnesS as to
what is going to happen after the war. Will the
women insist upon sticking to agriculture, and will
the men have to continue to serve tea and silk in
the cities? In the vernacular, the British govern
ment appears to have started something it can't
finish