124 THE GROtTNDSWELL. 



It is not even a secret society, except in the sense that 

 every corporation, and every business firm, and even every 

 family, are secret. The members simply do not tell the world 

 all they know. Corporations have their secret transactions, 

 known only to the officers. Every business firm has its 

 secret marks or cipher, known only to its members and 

 their assistants, by which they, and they only, know at what 

 prices they buy, and at what prices they are willing to sell. 

 Their books are not thrown open to the gaze, or curiosity, 

 of any one who may choose to pry into their business. 



And thus, dear reader, here you have, condensed in a nut 

 shell, what a grange is, and what it is not. It is a social and 

 business organization, for the promotion of the well-being of 

 its individual members. It is not a conclave, seeking to do 

 injury to any man or woman on earth. 



