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===Labour farms and the Dreadnought scheme=== Despite the paucity of the soils for agriculture, the government persisted with endeavours to assist the needy by putting them to work on the farm at Pitt Town and in 1896 a Casual Labour Farm was established on the site of the Cooperative Farm. Here the poor and unemployed worked collecting firewood or tending pigs, for a small wage, for a limited term of three or four months. In 1905, dairy cattle were added to the farm's livestock. A scheme was introduced to train young men in the skills of raising livestock and farming. The Pitt Town Village Settlement and later Casual Labour Farm. tell a resonant and significant story in the history of NSW as they were radical and often controversial government responses to social problems experienced by families and individuals in the economic depression of the 1890s. As such, they were a significant early example of government intervention in the welfare of its constituents.<ref name=nswshr-1817/> The Farm Training for Australian Boys scheme ran until 1910 when under the vision and management of [[William Schey]], Director of Labour and Industry in the first years of [[Federation of Australia|Federation]], the farm was established as a training farm for young British Migrants who arrived in Australia under the [[Dreadnought scheme]]. The scheme was a State government incentive and offered the boys 13 months of training in all aspects of farming, dairying, livestock care, care and use of farm equipment orcharding and cropping. After the training, the boys were placed with a NSW farmer. Many of the existing facilities were retained to accommodate the boys and facilitate the training and farming activities although Schey oversaw the construction of a number of new buildings. his was the first of several youth migration schemes in Australia established with the sole focus of bringing youth to Australia for training in areas of skills shortage such as agriculture and domestic work. Later schemes included the [[Fairbridge, Western Australia|Fairbridge Farm scheme]], the Barwell Boys scheme and the Big Brother scheme.<ref name=nswshr-1817/> The Dreadnought scheme at Scheyville ran from 1911 to 1915 when the outbreak of [[World War I]] saw a reduction in number of trainees at the farm from 800 in 1913 to 30 in 1915.<ref name=nswshr-1817/> By this time the agriculture sector, like other sectors of the workforce in NSW was experiencing a serve lack of skilled workers due to the enlistment of many men in the armed forces and their engagement in active service in the European theatre of war. The government decided to call on the women of Australia to fill the skills shortage. To address these problems in the agricultural sector the facilities and training course at Scheyville were opened to the women of NSW in 1915. While there was a significant increase in women entering the workforce between 1914 and 1918 (from 24% to 34%) these were mainly into areas women traditionally worked in, clothing, footwear, food industries with some increases in clerical, retail and teaching. This resistance to stretching gender roles and taking on work outside the traditional areas was reflected in the noticeable lack of interest among NSW women in taking up the offer of training in agricultural skills at Scheyville. Between 1915 and 1917 when the incentive was abandoned, about 25 women had trained at Scheyville.<ref name=nswshr-1817/> At the close of the war when the thousands of soldiers returned home many found that there were no longer jobs for them. In recognition of their service to the nation and to give them a helping hand the Commonwealth and State governments joined forces to put in place a soldier settlement scheme whereby, on application, returning soldiers were allocated by or leased land from the [[Government of New South Wales|State Government]] and financially assisted to establish farms by the Commonwealth government. Many of the returnees had no previous farming experience and so during 1917 and 1918, the Government Agricultural Training Farm at Scheyville was opened to returned soldiers who received basic agricultural training there.<ref name=nswshr-1817/> In 1919, the Dreadnought training scheme restarted and it continued to run up until 1929. The last five years of the scheme were funded jointly by the Commonwealth and State governments and also the British government.<ref name=nswshr-1817/> In 1928 plans were drawn up by the [[New South Wales Government Architect|Government Architect's]] Office for a handsome set of buildings in the Georgian Revival and Inter-War Mediterranean style. These building formed the "Quadrangle Precinct" and comprised an administrative block, kitchen dining room and two dormitories.<ref name=nswshr-1817/> While the Scheme was officially suspended in 1929 due to the looming economic crisis of the [[Great Depression in Australia|Great Depression]], the farm continued to train both Australian and Immigrant boys through the 1930s when it was known as the Government Training Farm. During the 1930s many changes were made to the farm facilities including the construction of a double silo, and a new dairy and tank base.<ref name=nswshr-1817/>
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