Enlistment in the armed forces and war industry jobs took many male farm hands and farmers off the land. For Canada to maintain a high enough level of agricultural output to feed her civilian population and carry on the war effort, additional labour had to be recruited even though farm wives and daughters in every province worked harder than ever before, some taking over the full management of the farm.
The Ontario Department of Agriculture created a Farm Service Force to mobilize all those from twelve years old and up who could help relieve the agricultural labour shortage. They were urged to devote anywhere from a few evenings a week up to twelve months continuous service. The Farm Service Force was divided into seven units, four of which tapped female labour: the Children's Brigade, which, in enrolling all children over twelve, included girls up to age sixteen to work on their family's farm or, with parental approval, on farms of relatives or neighbours; the Farmerette Brigade, which enrolled all young women students or teachers over sixteen to work in fruit, vegetable and truck farming during their summer holidays; the Women's Land Brigade, which enrolled all young women not in educational institutions to pitch in on a day-to-day basis or, when possible, to volunteer for year-round service (this photo shows such a volunteer); and the Farm Girls' Brigade, which enrolled all farm women up to twenty-six years of age to lend a hand when and where necessary. The work was not easy; the hours were long, nine to ten a day, and the pay low, 17.5 cents an hour in 1941. The YWCA set up camps for many of these female farm labourers, but not for free; camp board was four dollars a week. Other provinces also mobilized school children and female teachers during summer vacations, especially for harvesting berries and orchard crops.
Courtesy: Toronto Telegram Photograph Collection, York University Archives
