Report to the ... Zionist Congress and to the Council of the Jewish Agency in ... · 1935-08-01 · 8.1935 · p. Seite 345

A part of these groups succeeded in becoming permanent members either of smallholding settlements or of Kyutzoth, and a part settled permanently near the larger colonies, and owing to loans obtained from various public and private companies they also succeeded in acquiring small plots of land which supplement their income derived from working in the colonies. Apart from the fact that these training groups helped to solve to some extent the problem of Jewish labour in the colonies, they were mainly instrumental in training the rural worker for future colonisation. The Department spent a sum of £P. 15,340 on the training of Chalutzim. ■e. The Training of Women. The training of women in agriculture presented a unique problem. The seasonal work for women in the colonies is quite limited, and applies only to a few branches of work. On the other hand, in the training farms, the women had an opportunity of working in the vegetable garden, poultry coop and cowshed. However, the training centres were inadequate to meet the requirements of the increased immigration of women, therefore the Department established special farms for girls mainly in the vicinity of the larger colonies, where the new arrivals could be trained within a period of two years in all agricultural branches of work, and thus prepare themselves for the rôle which they would have to play in the farm. In five farms for girls the Department spent a sum of approximately £P. 25,000. The farms for girls have recently been taken over by the Wizo, which added to their number, and established two agricultural schools for girls, in which, in addition to practical work in the field and cowshed, theoretical instruction is given in all branches of agricultural and domestic work. f. The Agricultural Experimental Station. Simultaneously with the initiation of colonisation on a larger scale, the need was felt for more extensive information on agricultural matters. To meet this requirement, the Agricultural Experimental Station was established, followed by the Extension Service. The Experimental Station made researches in crops, plantations, fodder, vegetables, cattle-feeding, improvements of cattle pedigree, rational cultivation, rotation of crops, method of manuring, diseases of plants and cattle, etc. The Extension Service acted as a liaison between the Experimental Station and the settlers in order to carry out the results of the researches made by the Experimental Station. The establishment of the Experimental Station is comparatively recent, and it is too early to arrive at any definite conclusions regarding its work. The Experimental Station, the Extension 345