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From the Poultry Yard.

Taf Fechan Reservoir. I

[No title]

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War and Politics. I

IBuilth Wesleyan S. School.

PEE¡f$ INTO THE PAST.'I

! Crippled by Leg Ulcers.

Nonconformist Unity.

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IS IT DEGRADING? I

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IS IT DEGRADING? I WOMEN'S WORK ON THE LAND. I SCHOOLGIRL'S REMARKABLE ESSAY. I In connection with the question of women's work on the land, a prominent feature in our last week's issue, we have received a pamphlet re- cently reprinted from the Journal of the Board of Agriculture containing a prize essay by Miss E. H. Forbes (of the Girl's High School, Shrews- bury) entitled "A Schoolgirl's Appeal to the Wowen of England." It is of much interest just now and we take liberty of reproducing it. Night after night the big ships sail out into the starlit darkness, carrying men, and yet more men, away from the peaceful shores of Britain to the reddened fields of France, or the sandy beaches of Gallipoli. Cheerful and confident, the men go forth to battle for us, and we women are left at- home, face to face, many of us for the first time in our lives, with anxiety, sorrow, and dire need. Few men are left, and they are needed in the arsenals and munition factories, therefore on the women of the nation falls the burden of produc- ing the food supplies. No longer is it true that "men must work and women must weep"-all must put their shoulders to the wheel, and answer the country's call in this her hour of need. Now that the highways of the ocean are less safe than of yore, it is imperative that more food should be produced in the country itself, so that the Army, the Navy, the wounded, and, above all, the child- ren, who will be the future men and women of the Empire, may be adequately supplied. At a time when the nation is being called upon to bear a tremt-ndous strain morally, physically and finan- cially, it is of the utmost importance that the food supply should be well maintained. But how I can this be unless the women lend their help? Women of England 1 here lies your great oppor- tunity, which may not come again! For years you have claimed equal rights with men, show now that you are worthy of them, and can fill a man's place! In some mysterious, indefinable way the woman- I hood of the country has become impregnated with the idea that work on the land is degrading. Some think it beneath them, others that it is too stren- uous, and others that it detracts from their femin- ¡ inity. In France and other continental nations this it not so; in fact, there are but few coun- tries where women do so little outdoor work as in England. But who has felt the breatn ot tne clover-scented air blowing on his face, and has j watched the first pink flushes of dawn stealing across the sky, and still could think such work degrading? Who is there who has stood in the twilight, watching the stars come out in the quiet sky, and has not felt fully repaid for his day of toil? Oh if only women could see that there is noth- ing derogatory in field-work, that it need not detract from their womanliness in the slightest degree, they would hasten "out into the fields of God," and there among the husking of the corn, Where drowsy poppies nod, Where ill thoughts die and good are born," they would find comfort for their weary hearts, while the companionship of the fields and woods would ease the pain of waiting, and the dull ache of their sorrowful spirits. It is not, however, only the women themselves who are prejudiced against agricultural work, but the farmers, in many cases, refuse to employ fe- male labour, on the grounds that women are in- competent, and are not sufficiently strong. Both these objections may be reasonable enough, for many women have taken up farming for the sake of the novelty it offered, while others have at- tempted tasks far beyond their strength. Much work on farms, however, is particularly adapted to women. Milking, feeding and tending the animals, belong to their proper sphere, so do sow- ing planting, and all the lighter kinds of work in the fields. It is not advisable for them to under- take such a heavy job as ploughing, since in in- volves too great a physical strain. Most women would derive much benefit from the regular hours, good food and open-air life of a farm, and this would be not only for their benefit, but for the ultimate good of the race. Such tasks as fruit- picking, harvesting and all kinds of market-gar- dening are pre-eminently suited to women, while anyone with experience of horses can render un- told service by learning to use one of the many horse-drawn machines now used in farm labour. She would thus set free any available male lab- our for the more arduous tasks. Nevertheless, there are some women who are bound by home- ties, and cannot do farm-work or gardening, but they, too, can do their part. They can cultivate any small allotment or strip of ground they may own, and thus provide vegetables for the family. They may, perhaps, be able to keep a goat or two, and goat's milk is a valuable food they might keep rabbits, fowls or bees; and some might even venture on the ever-profitable pig AH can do their share, none are too weak or small to take their part in the maintenance of the nation's food-supply. And who shall say that in the consciousness of helping others, and in the quiet simple life live very close to nature, our anxious hearts shall not be lightened, and the bur- den of grief lifted from many a laden soul. so that we shall look forward in calm confidence to the time when victory shall crown our efforts, and peace once more reign on the earth?

I Duck Shooting in India.

I National Children's Home…

--I War and Bread. I -I

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