44 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



there is so much difference between our order 

 and the old-time secret societies, that tliere 

 is no similarity at all, except in name, and it 

 is very easy for a stern opponent of the latter 

 to become a Patron of Husbandry. The invent- 

 ors and early advocates of anti-Masonry were 

 women, who, chagrined because not eligible to 

 membership, and knowing that it is not good 

 for man to be alone, felt it to be their sacred 

 duty to oppose any doctrine which involved a 

 division of the sexes. Concerning our order, 

 there is no room for jealousy on the part of our 

 wives and sisters; and I feel certain that if the 

 old orders had admitted the wife and the grown 

 up children, there never would have been any 

 auti-Masom"y, and we would have been saved 

 the trouble of out-gi'owing our early impres- 

 sions, and of out-reasoning our strong preju- 

 dices. Again, I insist that the principal argu- 

 ments of those who advocated anti-Masonry, 

 and the churcli laws which denounced secret 

 societies, would not stand against our Order, 

 because they were not made with reference to 

 it. It is a new arrangement, gotten up for a 

 different object, with different principles, and 

 conducted in such a diti'erent manner that the 

 old arguments fall flat before it. I need scarcely 

 tell you, brothers and sisters, tliat the founders 

 of the Patrons of Husbandry were men of th^ 

 very first class; that the gentleman who wrote 

 out the ritual was Rev. A. B. Grosh, a native 

 of this county, a high-toned and very excellent 

 clergyman of Washington, D. C, and that the 

 members to-day are of the most advanced far- 

 mers. Wherever they are found, they are men 

 of progress, men of i)rinciple, men of honor, 

 men of religion, men who would disdain to do 

 a mean act, or to advocate an unjust cause, 

 and, as you well know, can have no possible 

 object in asking friends to Ijecome Patrons ex- 

 cept for their good. When I became a mem- 

 ber, I obtained all the benefits to be derived 

 from the order ; that is, a full right to the ad- 

 vantages that will accrue while I remain a 

 member; and have nothing whatever to gain 

 by introducingothers,except their thanks wlien 

 they come to realize the favor I have conferred 

 on them; and I assure you, I have received 

 many thanks that I believe to be from the heart. 

 I will not weary you with any remarks about 

 the money we have saved by our special ar- 

 rangements with wholesale merchants, for that 

 you know as well as I do; butat the end of the 

 year I will prepare a consolidated report, and 

 I feel assured that we will all be astonished at 

 the amount of it. But under the head of social 

 features, I desire to impress on your memories, 

 that to obtain the full benefit from any Asso- 

 ciation, whether it be church, school, lyceiun, 

 board of trade, beneficiary society or grange, 

 it is necessary to be an active member, to attend 

 as much as possible all the meetings, to know 

 all that is going on, to take part in the debates 

 and try to do one's full share of bringing in in- 

 teresting subjects for discussion and informa- 

 tion for the benefit of the other members; for 

 the most ignorant person living knows some 

 things that no one else knows. Ami if every 

 person in the world witldield his knowledge, 

 would there be any advancement ? Certainly 

 not; the world would go backward every day. 

 Selfishness is the greatest evil in the world; it 

 is the root of all evil, of all folly and crime, all 

 sin; it has no jjlacc amongst us. In its stead, 

 we must cultivate charity, meekness, liberal 

 views, the golden rule, the principles of true 

 piety and religion. Tlien and only then will 

 we fulfill the objects and intentions, and .sym- 

 bolize the three emblems of our order — "Faith, 

 Hope, and Charity." 



Our discussions on Agricultural and House- 

 keeping siilijects are calculated to do us all 

 good, and the only reason that we have not 

 had more timetod'evole totliem, is on account 

 of the time required to give instruction to the 

 new members at every meeting; Ijut we can 

 look for Ijctter times liefore long, because all 

 who are eligible will be within our fold, and 

 then we will have more time, and can make 

 more rapid strides in tlie scientific investiga- 

 tion of advanced Inisljandry, horticulture and 

 pomology, in household economy, and ways 

 and means whereby we can make our money 



procure for us the greatest amount of comfort, 

 and how we shall obtain the most enjoyment 

 and benefit from our social meetings, and con- 

 trive ways that we may have time from our 

 work to enjoy more of them. Human beings 

 were never created to be slaves, and those 

 who, actuated by avarice, or enveloped in the 

 clouds of ignorance, make slaves of themselves, 

 disgrace the divine form they wear, and offer 

 an insult to the All-wise Creator. Brothers 

 and sisters, farmers and farmers' wives, we 

 will rise from the ranks of slavery ; we will be 

 free men and free women ; we will honor the 

 divine form given to us, and in our contact 

 with each other and the world ever be guided 

 by our sacred emblems. In conclusion, I will 

 quote a stanza from the farmer's poet, Geo. F. 

 Root, of Chicago : 



" Brothers of the plough ! 



The power is with you ; 



The world in expectation waits 



For action prompt and true. 



Oppression stalks abroad, 



Moiioplies abound — 



Their giant hands already clutch 



The tillers of the ground. 



Awake ! then, awake ! 



The great world must be fed, 



And heaven gives the power 



To the hand that holds the bread." 



The Number of Granges. 



There are 490 Granges of the Patrons of 

 Husbandry in this State, of which there are 

 eiglit in Lanca.ster county. The following are 

 their nominal and numerical designations, with 

 location of Grange, names of Master and Sec- 

 retary, and their post-otHce address : 



Ko. 3, Octoraro, Octoraro : Master, Jesse 

 Brosius, Octoraro; Rec. Secretary, Harry 

 Davis, Octoraro. 



No. 62, Strasburg, Strasburg : Master, J. H. 

 Breckbill, Strasburg ; Secretary, E. C, Mussel- 

 man, Strasburg. 



No. 6(5, Fulton, Fulton : Master, J. G. Mc- 

 Sparran, Green P. O, ; Secretarj', Day Wood, 

 Goshen P, O, 



No. 80, Oak Hill, Little Britain ; Master, 

 B. S. Patterson, Oak Hill ; Secretary, W. R. 

 Wright, Oak Hill. 



No. 87, Union, Colerain: Master, W. N. 

 Bunting, Colerain ; Secretary, J. R. Jackson, 

 Colerain. 



No. 161, Sadsbury, Christiana : Master, C. 

 B. Moore, Christiana ; Secretary, W. P. Brin- 

 ton, Christiana. 



No. 224, Donegal, Marietta: Master, Colin 

 Cameron, Marietta ; Secretary, John A, Gar- 

 ber, Maytown. 



No. 441, Silver Spring, West Hempfield twp: 

 Master, Jacoli H. Hershey, Silver Spring ; 

 Secretary, WeKster L. Hershey. 



If we liave omitted any in the foregoing list 

 we shall be pleased to supply the omission and 

 also to give the time of the stated meetings of 

 the different Granges. 



The growth of the Order of the Patrons 

 of Husbandry throughout the south is remark- 

 able. In Alabama there are reported to be 

 641 Granges, with 32,000 members ; in Florida 

 108 Granges, with r),r)00 members; in Arkan- 

 sas, .521 Granges, with 21,000 members ; while 

 in other States there are numerous lodges 

 with large membership. 



LETTERS, QUERIES AND ANSWERS. 



The Fronclin Apple : In the February 

 issue of The Farmer an error occurred in 

 Mr. Engle's ])aper on "Lancaster County 

 Apples," (page 23) where one of our native 

 varieties, not located by Downing, printed 

 Franklin, should read Fuonchn. 



An Echo from Tennessee. 



Through the kindness of Mr. C. H. Stoltzfus, for- 

 merly of t he old Keystone State, I had the pleasure 

 of [jerusing the January No. of " The Farmer," with 

 which I am greatly pleased and deeply interested. I 

 am requested to ask, through your very valuable and 

 ably edited journal, that some one or more of the in- 

 telligent larmers of Lancaster county will write a few 

 articles for The Farmer, giving a general description 

 of the farm barns of said county ; the mode of mak- 

 ing, treating and using manure ; mode of burning and 

 applying lime, and the general system of rotation of 

 crops. 



These are considered practical questions, and vital 

 to the ultimate succcess of agriculture in all sections, 

 and particularly in the State of Tennessee. If you 

 will lay this subject before your readers, you will 

 confer a very great favor. — John G. Caulkins, 

 Knoxville, Tenn., Feb. 1.5, 1875. 



Herein is an ample opportunity for some of 

 our intelligent farmers to imitate the example 

 which we endeavored to portray in the leading 

 editorial of our present number. The farmers 

 of Lancaster county occujiy an elevated posi- 

 tion in the esteem of their brother farmers all 

 over the Union, where Lancaster coimty is 

 known ; and their experiences upon the sub- 

 jects enumerated by our correspondent would 

 have as much — if not more — weight than com- 

 ing from any other district in the country, es- 

 pecially among tliose who "were to the manor 

 born. " We hope, therefore, that for the benefit 

 of those who may need it, both at home 

 and abroad, the above suggestions will meet 

 with a ready and cheerful response. Our torch 

 of intellignnce will not burn less brightly by 

 lighting the torch of our neighljor. Every 

 man on this earth has a mission to perform. 

 Twice happy is he who discovers, even faintly, 

 what that mission is liefore his career has 

 ended, and thrice happy if he attempt to per- 

 form it when the discovery is made, however 

 feeble and imperfect the effort may be. We 

 are not the special advocatet of " much speak- 

 ing" merely for the sake of speaking, but 

 we woidd have men tell what they know on 

 any and all subjects connected with the health, 

 happiness and prosperity of the human family. 

 Without the products of the farm, human 

 society could not possibly exist. Practically 

 the vegetable kingdom is the basis of the 

 animal kingdom, and upon which the latter 

 subsists. 



The Potato Beetle : The illustrated 

 article on this destructive pest, which will 

 appear in our next issue will alone be worth 

 more to any potato-grower than a year's »ul)- 

 scription to The Farmer. Now is the time 

 to subscrilie. Form clubs. Ten farmers club- 

 bing to etiier can get it a year for only 

 seventy-five cents each ! 



About Farmers' Wives. 



I NOTICED in the last numberof your valuable jour- 

 nal an article dated from Elizabethtown. That name 

 always excites my interest, not because of anything 

 remarkable having transpired at that place, but be- 

 cause it is my native town ; and, though I have long 

 since lost all special interest in the place, I never catch 

 sight or sound of the name but what a crowd of pleas- 

 ant memories chase themselves through my mind, 

 memories of the careless, happy days of my boyhood, 

 and I seem to live over again those bright, joyous days. 

 And reading over the article merely for this cause, I 

 became interested in it for its own sake, or rather for 

 the sake of its ** fair author," LcoHne. She withheld 

 her consent to have her husband discontinue The 

 Lancaster Farmer, and deserves to be warmly 

 credited for the firmness and sensibility exhibited in 

 that attitude. Her fortunate husband has reason to 

 be proud of his wife. I wish we had many such far- 

 mers' wives. Would not our agricultural interests 

 nourish ? How many more such wide-awake farmei's' 

 wives are there in old Lancaster county, who will use 

 their intluencc in getting husband, friend or neighbor 

 to subscribe for or continue The Farmer, or other 

 agriculttiral papers? In many cases, wives have a 

 great inlluenee in such matters, and it often becomes 

 necessary for them to use that influence. Surely all 

 farmers eet back the worth of their money, and more 

 than legal interest to boot, in i;ivinga liberal support 

 to the agricultural journals of the country, and espe- 

 cially the " home journals." I take quite a number 

 of these agricultural papers, and find their cost trivial 

 compared to the ample remuueration received by their 

 careful perusal. I was asked by some one to-day. 

 Don't it cost awful to get so many papers ? ,\Iy reply 

 was, It costs awful not to get them: they contain too 

 much valuable information which would be a loss for 

 us not to know. Ihope " Leoline " will give us some 

 hints also, in reference to the managing of her house- 

 hold all'airs, her vegetable and flower ganlens. I ven- 

 ture to predict they will be worth reading. We shall 

 look for them. — T. il., Mercersburg, I'a., Feb. lOth, 

 187.5. 



We liardly know which to connnend most, 

 " Leoline " or " T. M." Both are highly com- 



