WOMEN LAND WORKERS

COMPETITIONS AT OAKHAM

On a wonderful autumn day the Woman’s Legion held their first organised agricultural competitions at Oakham, Rutland, on Thursday. Princess Helena Victoria presented the prizes. It was late in the afternoon when the Marchioness of Londonderry, the president, arrived, fresh from the Investiture at Buckingham Palace, and at the luncheon the Countess of Gainsborough took the chair. The Right Hon Walter Long, the Earl of Lonsdale, president of the competitions, and Viscount Chaplin were the speakers. Up and down Great Britain 200,000 women are proving their patriotism just as men are doing at the front, and 172 of these came from all parts to compete at Springfield. All prejudices against the appearance of the land workers have evidently been swept away. Women in the uniform of the Women’s Legion, others in that of the Land Service Corps, others, again, in the garb of private enterprise, were to be seen in every direction, and crowds of spectators had come to watch them at work.

Groups of women on horseback proved how easily the modern landswoman handles her horse and every detail of its equipment. If a few in elegant modern riding-dress had not even omitted the final touch of powder to the complexion, and if one or two owed the perfection of their mount to the care of a groom, there were others who could emulate the most proficient Canadian woman rancher that ever saddled a horse on the prairie.

THE COMPETITIONS

About 30 women competed in the butter-making section. Quality of the butter, cleanliness, tidiness, and quickness were the chief points regarded. The dairymaid who best fulfilled all requirements and carried off the first prize was Mary Marriott, Cottesmore, Oakham. No colouring matter was used, but the butter was of a most appetising deep golden tint, suggesting rich cream. For the milking prizes there were 50 competitors. The milkers not only proved their proficiency, but gave evidence of their training, for each had to milk with dry hands, and the judges noted carefully such points as the manner in which the milker approached the cow, the position she adopted, the way she handled the pail, methods of gripping the udders of the cow, and of controlling them. General cleanliness was of first importance.

Ploughing is a more recent accomplishment of women. Sixteen competitors turned up the rich brown earth, and of the best of these the judges spoke with hearty admiration. “See the beautiful, straight furrow she is cutting,” said one of the vice-presidents, “and don’t forget that these women are guiding strange horses, animals lent by the farmers in the neighbourhood.” Pointing to a Canadian officer’s wife who had been taught to plough in five days by Miles Hardy, of Grantham – a son of the soil who has taken more prizes than any ploughman in England – this gentleman gave her high praise, not only for her pluck, but for the way she cut her furrow. Some of the women were tall and strongly built, others small and willowy; but they set their ridge, ploughed half a rood at a depth not exceeding 4½in, and turned. The time allowed was 1½ hour, and the prize fell to Agnes Brackenbury, Lyndon, Oakham.

More than a dozen women trimmed hedges for the best part of an hour, and interested onlookers gathered round to see them clip a length of 11 yards on both sides. The gardener who best handled her tools and carried off a £5 note was Smwalker, Waltham, Melton Mowbray. Most picturesque of all was the pitching and loading of hay. “I could not have believed that women could do it!” declared a veteran farmer, standing to watch the couples as, rosy-faced from their exertions, workmanlike in breeches and smocks, the 18 couples went to work. Fkwass, Teigh, Oakham, and her sister took the special prize after an hour’s hard labour that left them short of breath, but with laughter in their eyes. Ten cwt of straw had to be pitched on a lorry, and as the lorry was narrow and the straw loose, there was not a farmer on the ground who withheld his praise for each couple completed the task within the time.

FRATERNITY OF THE LAND

Comparatively few attempted the driving competition. Each competitor had to harness a horse to a wagon, drive round the ring between a number of posts to represent gate-posts, back the wagon into position, and unharness the horse. This task was not easy. In the riding competition, Joan Neilson, care of Mr Wiles, Castle Farm, Wressle, Howden, Yorks, won the prize.

Strong bonds are being woven between the land and those who learn to love it. A type of the fine and vigorous womanhood that has stepped forward to help England in her time of need was the principal of a college. She wore the usual uniform, with a slouch hat, as she chatted, surrounded by students.

Women from industrial centres have gone to college to train in agriculture, and the majority of them will never return to their former occupations.