Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1919-07-06
AMERICAN WOMAN FINDS
JOYS IN WORK ON FARMS
keen-Vfsioncd Girl Discovers Pleas
urcs That Escape Average
Man.
LOVE THEIR SURROUNDINGS
Boys Fear Loneliness, but Opposite
Sex Provide Their Own Entertain
mont and Stick to job Eight Hours
Daily.
ny MABEL JACQUES EICHEL.

should go on.
The fact OF the. matter is, men who
which they themselves have stated do
no, want farm work II there is any
other form of livelihood lying between |
them and starvation to be had.
We have already arranged TO place |
ZOO girls in one small county, Of Ne"
@somen for farm labor throughout the
state are being perfected as the
arc showered daily with applications
experience with the farinerai,es. ac
knowiedSe that every vcstige Of tho /
original prejudice they possessed To-
moved by the efficient and Intelligent
service these young women rendered
HiEh-tinss Applicants.
Every da: have scores OF appli- /
OF the highest character. and many
equipped With splendid educa,ion. ali .
Cor farm employment.
As New York MAS the first to in
auEurate tn" social element, in this .
farm unit system with the adoption /,
OF women farm labor. many applica-
ions come 10 US from girls IN neigh
boring States anxi ous - take up agri- |
cultural work in New York, where the /
sociai community center idea has 4
proved an enormous success
Wnie tho basis OF tn. UNI; system I
IN the wo'nens and army ~ labor. /
a. a. ne ne same tune the orportuni,y for
community life is so Erea, that IL can
scarsely be called secondary feature
social life Introduced by the units o,
young women farm laborers II, the ,
various communities IN the state
marks the beginning o: What believe
70 be the whole reconstruction Of rural +
life in th!e country.
Why, with tho vast crops Dronoscd
TO cultivate this year h. the big land t
owners. are young women so eager 10 I
aid while the young manhood Of the
propossai that they lend hand in this I.
This question has been pu. 70 me
, vast number OF times. /, is no, SO
dihicult TO answer.
boys Fear Lonciinen..
in I ,h, s soys,r who haze I'VE been in camp
been overseas for months have de-
neio,ped hat, mat highly human social
They have had their pals and thav
h iswsdv learned me- 70 cal each o,her
spirit OF friendship and sacrtacs mar
nave come out Of the battle fields oil
france are leg
when an cS-so!d!er con,cmplates the
aaPpail.ns socia! emptiness of country /
t .:e, as Viseweq from this high soc.a! ,
or the thousands OF men who have
been d!scharSet IN New York since I.
observed tina; the boys from the Far
Western S,atcs-california. WashinE
ton. Oregon. Idaho and WyomlnE-ar.
carry them back 10 thc!r native en-.
ployment on the ranch. the farm. the
Blu, from the Middle Yves, and
Eastern states comes trcmendou.
apreal from agr!cuitur!sts for farm
Now. why are so many girls who
spent ns la last season iiiinE and cui,ivat,
gathering, the hls harves,s. eager TO
return this summer 10 the land?
no.
merely lark for a lot .! girls bored
or Office routine"
Girls Happy In work.
Now. none of these answers is quite
correct. When young womanhooa OF
America. the finest the country has to
oner, as was eNemplitied in las, year.
WORK are happy in working e:gh,
hours day in the no, sun doing work
,hat has always heretofore been rated
by women in the same degree of ar
iection as that Of the household do
mestlc there must he something deeper
IN the UNDERLYING reason for this than
the superficial reasons offered By many
unintormed persons.
y large number of young women OF
course. were inspired las, year 10 do
ms "ork from high patriotic motives,
when farmers were desperately cryint
Ftarving world.
rms year Ne waited with no little
interest 10 what turn the situa
ion would take under the changed
condition of peace.
me siris always reported on time"
.s,, the usual summing up of the farmer.
Iney worked straight through the
light hours and finished their work
"itnout leaving at Intervals to take a
smoke or VISIT with passers- by" re-
lect the FARMER employers.
Love Their Surroundings.
And as for the girls. they grew 10
owe the country environment. On just
bout the same plane as the average
,oy farm laborers regarded il with a
feeling or horror and disgust:
In one OF the biggest land army
lamps In Clinton County. near Plat,s-
,urg. from which more than twenty
ecent Saturday night entertainment.
arranged by the young women or the
and army unit, drew more than 600
quests. numbering the farmers OF the
community. their wives and children.
The girls work on farms with girls
their own kind. They are never
have. been the ideal place for a com
nunity social center. but for some rea-
son never developed as such. The
hurch was suggested for the same
I. too, failed in this idea So far
he greatest success has been attained
~ the entertainments arranged for
he benefit Of the farming districts OF
>ew York by the girls of the land
rmy units
Provide Own Entertainment.
Many OF the girls possess unusual
ramatic and musical talent. and they
ave presented amateur thcatricals
or the entertainment of the country
ide. and again they have been sue
essfu in securing professional talent
rom nearby towns for the weekly
ocial evenings.
/ have never heard one complaint
rom the hundreds of girls engaged In
hrming that the country was a lonely
lace.
Many OF the girls have marriad
Dung farmers. and many others pos
essed OF means have bought farms Of
heir own, because they found the life
Interesting, as their social instincts
lade Ii so.
When practical examples OF this fact
an be brought home 10 our boys try
lg to readjust themselves to normal
ivil life again they will change their
ttitude Of scorn for farm life. When