66 THE AGRARIAN CRUSADE 



a local Grange would make a bargain with a cer- 

 tain dealer of the vicinity, whereby members were 

 allowed special rates if they bought with cash 

 and traded only with that dealer. More often the 

 local grange would establish an agency, with either 

 a paid or a voluntary agent who would forward the 

 orders of the members in large lots to the manu- 

 facturers or wholesalers and would thus be able to 

 purchase supplies for cash at terms considerably 

 lower than the retail prices. Frequently, realizing 

 that they could get still more advantageous terms 

 for larger orders, the Granges established a county 

 agency which took over the work of several local 

 agents. Sometimes the Patrons even embarked 

 upon the more ambitious enterprise of cooperative 

 stores. 



The most common type of cooperative store was 

 that in which the capital was provided by a stock 

 company of Grange members and which sold goods 

 to Patrons at very low prices. The profits, when 

 there were any, were divided among the stock- 

 holders in proportion to the amount of stock they 

 held, just as in any stock company. This type of 

 store was rarely successful for any length of time. 

 The low prices at which it sold goods were likely to 

 involve it in competition with other merchants. 



