AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES 99 



in schoolhouses, thus making the school property a community 

 center for adults as well as children. The interest of the 

 Grange in the school does not stop with the use of the school- 

 house as a meeting-place, but it lends its support to all measures 

 intended for the betterment of rural education, and particularly 

 to those involving a greater use of country-life subjects. The 

 Grange was for a time a very powerful society, but by 1880 its 

 power as a national organization was lost. 2 It declined rapidly 

 both in membership and influence until ten years later when it 

 began to revive again. 



The Farmers' Alliance was somewhat similar to the Grange 

 in plan and purpose. Its activity however was chiefly directed 

 toward securing better legislation favorable to rural interests, 

 mainly financial. Soon after the formation of the Populist party 

 little was left of the Farmers' Alliance as an organization. 



FOURTH PERIOD 



With more than a century of experience agricultural societies 

 are now being readjusted to secure for all interests of agricul- 

 ture and rural life advantages that may be secured only through 

 organized effort. They may be classified into three groups : 

 national, state, and local. A large number of each group is 

 devoted to some special agricultural interest, such as bee-keeping, 

 apple production, sheep-breeding, and the like, almost every con- 

 ceivable phase of agriculture being represented by an organization. 



Of the national societies the Grange is perhaps the most 

 important. Since 1890 it has emphasized social and educational 

 features, and has recovered from the decline of the previous 

 decade. Its interest and influence in educational matters are 

 greater than ever before. 



The rise and decline of the Grange is well illustrated by the number of granges organ- 

 ized each year in Illinois for a period of eight years: 



In 1869 2 In 1873 761 



In 1870 i In 1874 704 



In 1871 S In 1875 50 



In 1872 69 In 1876 27 



A. E. Paine, 'The Granger Movement in Illinois," Univ. of III., Bull. V, 2, No. 2 (1904), 

 p. 10. 



