294 THE GRANGER MOVEMENT 



of state and local granges in other parts of the country, especially 

 in New England, and where they previously existed under the 

 control of other organizations, the granges gave them hearty 

 support and tried to make them something more than mere 

 horse-racing exhibitions and collections of side-shows. 1 In 

 many granges also, and especially in those which owned their 

 own halls, attempts were made to form permanent museums 

 composed of specimens of farm products and other objects of 

 interest. A " National Farmers' Museum " was projected by 

 the National Grange in 1875, and a nucleus of specimens 

 was collected in Louisville. 2 It was thought at that time that 

 permanent headquarters of the National Grange would be 

 established at Louisville and so there would be an oppor- 

 tunity for the preservation of such a collection. In a short 

 time, however, the National Grange resumed its migratory 

 habits and nothing further was heard of the "National Farmers' 

 Museum." 



One great desideratum of the farmers of the United States 

 has always been a complete and reliable system of crop reports. 

 Farmers believe that if they have at their disposal information 

 relative to the amounts, conditions, and probabilities of the 

 different crops in all parts of the country they can decide more 

 intelligently what proportion of each crop it is desirable for them 

 to grow, and what prices they should receive for their produc- 

 tions. The bureau of agriculture of the United States govern- 

 ment was making some efforts in the direction of the collection 

 and dissemination of agricultural statistics, but its reports are 

 said to have been unreliable and slow in coming out. When 

 the order of Patrons of Husbandry was spreading rapidly all 

 over the country, it seemed to many that it might furnish a most 

 excellent medium for the collection of such statistics. 3 Several 

 of the state granges, especially in the southern states, early 



1 National Grange, Proceedings, xvi. 38 (1882). 



2 Ibid. viii. 105, ix. 42, 48, 146-149 (February, November, 1875). 



3 On this subject in general, see state grange proceedings: Alabama, ii. 33; 

 Iowa, vi. 51; Michigan, i. 37, iii. 16, 94; Mississippi, v. 29; Missouri, iii. 47, 66-70; 

 iv. 60, 114; New York, ii. 46, iii. 18; North Carolina, iii. 31; Ohio, i. 9, ii. 16; 

 Tennessee, ii. 26; Virginia, i. 23. 



