CHAPTER VIII 



SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL FEATURES 



THE founders of the order of Patrons of Husbandry believed 

 that they were establishing an institution, the primary purposes 

 of which should be the promotion of social intercourse and the 

 spread of knowledge among the farmers of the country. For 

 a time these purposes seemed to be overshadowed by the desire 

 to secure cheap transportation and the enthusiasm for business 

 cooperation, but they were present, nevertheless, and the per- 

 manence of these features of the movement, or rather, the per- 

 manence of the order where these features have been uppermost, 

 has demonstrated the wisdom of the founders. That there 

 was a real need of such an institution is almost self-evident. 

 The lonely and monotonous life, the lack of opportunity for social 

 contact and exchange of ideas, and as a result, the provincialism 

 of the average western farmer and his family of the period can 

 better be imagined than described. 1 Farms were so large that 

 the nearest neighbor was generally at least half a mile away; 

 cities were few and far between; and the crossroads villages, 

 even when accessible, offered no better amusement than lounging 

 in a grocery store or saloon. Rural free delivery of mail, rural 

 telephones, and interurban electric lines were things of the future, 

 and if a book or paper did make its way into the farmer's home 

 it was apt to be about as valuable and interesting as a last year's 

 almanac. Worst of all, this lack of social intercourse often led 

 to a distaste for it and the farmers refused to avail themselves 

 of the opportunities which were offered. Here was where the 

 business plans and the railroad agitation were of service ; many a 

 farmer, who cared nothing for the social and educational advan- 

 tages of the Grange, joined in the hopes of obtaining pecuniary 

 profit, but once in, these features had a chance to exert their in- 

 fluence upon him and in time perhaps to draw him out of his shell. 



1 See Martin, Grange Movement, 450-453, 459. 

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