Learn to Drive a Motor Tractor.

From Woman’s Weekly, February 9th 1918.

Learn to Drive a Motor Tractor.

War-Work for Girls which Comes Next in Importance to Fighting.

“SPEED the plough!”  But how different the war-time plough from what will soon be looked upon as the pre-historic horse-plough!  How nice it is to think that with all the new, up-to-date methods of work, girls are asked to come forward and help in the very first place.
The new motor tractors for ploughing are a great success; so are the girl drivers, too!  They look so smart in land uniform, sitting on their seat on the tractor.  The girls were asked to come forward for the work so that the plough-men could fight the foes in foreign lands while the girls were preparing the ground for the harvest, and thus helping to fill the storehouses of England with food.
Their work is next in importance to actual fighting.

WORK MUST BE DONE.
THE land girl has to work in winter as well as in summer.  She must be prepared to stand heat and cold, rain or sunshine, for Mother Earth must be attended to if the crops are to grow, no matter what the weather is.  But the land girl never complains; no matter what mood the clerk of the weather may be in, she goes on driving her motor tractor undisturbed by anything.

PLENTY OF WORK.
OF course, sometimes our girl drivers may be called upon to help with other land work, if for the moment she is not wanted for ploughing.
In these short, dark days, an hour or so may be spent in the farmyard when it is too late for the open.  There is always plenty of work for a willing pair of hands to turn to.

LEARNING TO DRIVE.
TO drive a tractor is quite easy—when you know how; but, like most things worth knowing, it has to be learnt.  There are no fees to learn, and the course only lasts from four to six weeks.  At the end of that time a pupil will be an expert driver, and will know all about motor tractors that is worth knowing.
There is a special training school, hidden away "somewhere in England," where free board and training are given.  After the first four weeks, the pupil will receive 4s. a week for the fifth and sixth weeks.  Then she will be a fully trained motor tractor driver, able to take an appointment.  She will get 25s. a week at first, afterwards she may expect 30s. a week, if she is "all right."

HER "BONUS." 
THE ploughing world is very up-to-date, and after a month a bonus is given of 1s. for every acre ploughed, so that it is something to look forward to, if the work ever lacks in excitement!  There is no need to say how healthy the life is, for we all know there is nothing like an open-air life for making healthy men and women.  This branch of land work is not at all heavy either.
A nice, suitable outfit is provided free.  Breeches, two overalls, leggings, hats, and clogs are supplied twice a year.  A mackintosh is provided as well, but that is expected to last; so we see the driver has only to keep herself.
At present, board and lodging can be obtained in country places for 15s. a week.  Although some things are as expensive as in towns, home-grown produce is, of course, cheap.
The idea many people have that land workers are not required in the winter is quite a mistake.  So let the girl who wants to "speed the plough" inquire at the Food Productive Department, Board of Agriculture Office, in Victoria Street, London, and she will be able to gain any special particulars.

THE GIRLS SHE WILL WORK WITH.
ANY girl taking up the work must be willing to go to any part of the country; indeed, this is almost always the case with war-work.  The girl worker must not expect to pick and choose any more than the fighting man can. She will be sure to find a nice set of girls among the other land workers she is thrown in with, for only girls with grit in them turn to the land—the others are always on the look out for soft jobs.  Moreover, the authorities will only tale on a nice-class girl.  She must, of course, give satisfactory references as to character and so forth.  Town or country girls are taken on, provided they are suitable.  They must be strong, and willing to serve for twelve months.  The training is very interesting as during the four to six weeks' course they learn how to do all the necessary repairs to their tractor, as well as drive it.
There is no difficulty in obtaining accommodation in the villages as there is a system by means of which girls are suited.  There is a Registrar who can tell them where to go.

[I like the reassurance that only 'nice-class girls' would be allowed to drive tractors.   The 'class' of the girls seems completely irrelevant - even if the male tractor drivers they were replacing might have had more mechanical aptitude than most other farm labourers, they were still working class.]