of the importance of the Grange is due to its social functions (typified 

 by the enormous dinner which is always a feature of its meeting) it has 

 also economic importance. It provides an opportunity for discussion 

 of improved farm methods; it is a medium for the expression of opinions 

 on matters relating to the welfare of the community; its executive com- 

 mittee does an amount of cooperative buying for its members, of house- 

 hold articles, farm machinery, fertilizer, etc. 



(5) Farmers' Clubs. There are five Farmers' Clubs in the county; 

 three in the Sandy Spring Neighborhood, one in the Laytonsville Dis- 

 trict and one in the Colesville District. These clubs have had a very 

 important part in the development of farming in the county. Open 

 discussions of all matters connected with the business of farming, with 

 agricultural methods and with farm life are features of the meetings. 

 This has made possible a higher grade of farming and has induced a more 

 thorough understanding and more complete cooperation amongst the 

 farmers concerned. 



(6) Open Meetings. An annual Farmers' Convention is held in the 

 Lyceum Hall at Sandy Spring. Last year about 200 were in attendance. 

 These gatherings are more representative of Sandy Spring than of the 

 entire county, but at least they are a short step toward better and more 

 general cooperation, and every little step helps. 



The County Fair Association has an open membership of over 200. 

 It owns large Fair Grounds at Rockville, and holds an annual Fair in 

 September. The attendance is usually very good in spite of the fact 

 that rain is generally a feature. To the latter circumstance is due the 

 fact that the association is rather heavily in debt at present. The uses of 

 the County Fair are many, but are too well known to require comment here. 



(7) There is one interesting instance of cooperative farming in the 

 Colesville District, namely the Commonwealth Farm, which is owned 

 and operated by a syndicate of Washington women, who conduct their 

 affairs very successfully. It is rumored that they get on entirely without 

 masculine counsel or assistance. 



These instances of cooperation, scattering and insufficient as they are, 

 are nevertheless very significant. If it is true, as seems to us incon- 

 testable, that it is to organized cooperation that the farmers must look 

 if they would materially better their present circumstances, these present 

 beginnings are big with possibilities for the future and indicate a way 

 which must be more and more generally followed. 



(f) Stores, Banks and Other Non-Productive Business Agencies 



(1) Stores. There are 215 stores of various sorts in the county. Of 

 this number, nearly two-thirds are in the open country or in small vil- 

 lages. This is about one store to every 150 inhabitants, 



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