BUSINESS COOPERATION 255 



houses were recognized as Grange agents in return for offers 

 of special rates to Patrons. 1 



It appears, therefore, that state grange agents for distributive 

 cooperation, of one sort or another, were established in the 

 decade of the seventies throughout the United States from 

 Maine to California: in the Middle West every state had a 

 regular Grange purchasing agent who was himself a member 

 of the order, and some had also arrangements with bonded 

 firms in different commercial centers; on the Pacific coast the 

 interest centered in schemes for direct shipment of grain to 

 Liverpool, but the state agents of California and Oregon also 

 did a considerable business in purchasing implements and sup- 

 plies; in the South the efforts were directed mainly toward 

 securing reliable firms for handling the staple crops at reasonable 

 rates, and making arrangements for the purchase of fertilizer, 

 but the state agencies of Maryland, Kentucky, and Louisiana 

 did an extensive business in purchasing implements and general 

 supplies; in New England and the Middle States, the work 

 of the state agencies, except in Vermont, was inconsiderable. 

 As a general rule these agencies made their appearance in a 

 state within a year after the organization of the state grange, 

 did a flourishing business for a few years while the order was 

 growing rapidly, and then either came to a disastrous ending 

 or gradually lost ground with the decline of the order itself in 

 the later part of the decade. While they were in active opera- 

 tion they undoubtedly effected great reductions in the cost of 

 implements and supplies and saved the Patrons a considerable 

 amount in commissions on produce; but in this connection 

 the work of the local agencies, county and district associations, 

 must not be forgotten. Less ambitious and generally with 

 less capital, if any, they often served their immediate neighbor- 

 hoods more effectively than did the state agencies. 



1 Massachusetts State Grange, Quarterly Bulletin, January, 1876; Proceedings, 

 v (1877); New York State Grange, Proceedings, ii, iii (1875, 1876). 



