374 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



The grange is so interwoven with the social, educational, 

 agricultural and home life of New England, that there can 

 be no fair analysis of existing conditions which does not in- 

 clude the work of this organization. Its field is peculiar. 

 It cannot take the place or do the work belonging to any 

 other agent. It holds by the bonds of sentiment, it helps 

 by kindling enthusiasm. It must ever be the ally of every 

 agent set for the promotion of the farm home and home 

 farm, and for these reasons every consideration of economy 

 should urge the individual farmer to unite in this farmers' 

 organization for those enduring results which are not to be 

 obtained through any other channel. A live, earnest, work- 

 ing grange, loyal to its declarations of principles, is one of 

 the strongest promoters of fidelity and enthusiasm the 

 country home can have. 



May it not be that the evident drift of all forms of busi- 

 ness into what are termed trusts furnishes a good illustration 

 of that spirit of practical co-operation which must extend 

 over the farms before the avenues of waste can be checked ? 

 The writer is familiar with a section fifteen miles from mar- 

 ket, where ten farmers living on one road and in one school 

 district spend one day every two weeks in going to market 

 with their butter, cheese, eggs, potatoes, etc. One man 

 could do the business for the whole by going weekly, as 

 each has his regular customers. The loss to this school dis- 

 trict amounts to two hundred and eight days yearly, less the 

 extra expense to be paid for delivering. The manufactur- 

 ers have accepted the inevitable lesson, and combined. 

 Why should not the farmers? The principle is sound. Its 

 application may be extended in many directions. It must 

 come in the not far distant future, in order that all that is 

 possible may be realized from their labors. It suggests 

 almost limitless possibilities along the lines adopted by our 

 corporate interests. 



Economy is not parsimony, and therefore to realize most, 

 one must expend wisely. My thought is that good business 

 demands the application of the same spirit of enterprise by 

 the farmer as by the manufacturer. If a new machine will 

 do more and better work than the old, reducing cost in any 



