In rural areas, single women were courted assiduously by men from miles around, for to a struggling farmer a wife meant not only companionship on the lonely prairie but also improved prospects for his farm. Farm wives were expected to participate in the work of the farm to the extent of their strength and ability; and, it has been statistically shown that married homesteaders were able to keep larger numbers of productive livestock than their single counterparts.
Especially notable for their strength and endurance in the fields were the wives of settlers from Central and Eastern Europe. While they often took the place of animal power or mechanical devices until their men got better established, here Ukrainian women at Vita, Manitoba, are reaping grain with sickles in 1910, long after most other farmers were doing the same work with horse-drawn reaper-binders. At least one writer has suggested that Eastern European peasants considered any activity that involved stooping women's work. This may explain why the men appear to be supervising in this picture.
