288 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan. 



note a few of them. It is a secret organization, and secrecy 

 may be a cover for evil practices. Very true ; and it may 

 be a shield for the purest and choicest treasures of humanity. 

 There are interests which we all instinctively keep thus 

 shielded. Individuals have memories and hopes which they 

 keep to themselves, or share with the very few whom they 

 wholly trust. The privacy of the family circle is a sacred 

 one. There is use as well as a misuse of secrecy, and some 

 of the choicest bloom and fruitage of life can be perfected 

 only under its sheltering veil. Used as the Grange uses it, 

 its fruits are good, and only good. Another objection to 

 the Grange is the expense of maintaining it. That it does 

 cost money to run it, is a fact, but not a valid objection. 

 All good things cost something. Some one has to pay for 

 every desirable possession. If not he who enjoys it, then 

 some other person must foot the bills always. But this fact 

 amounts to an objection only when it can be shown that cost 

 exceeds value. If what you procure is worth to you more 

 than what you give in exchange, and also worth more than 

 anything else you could procure for the same equivalent, the 

 only wise thing to do is to give the price and make the ex- 

 change. Now, the Grange usually returns in kind for more 

 than the money expenditure required for its maintenance ; 

 while of that which money cannot measure, its returns, 

 always liberal, are sometimes such as can hardly be exagger- 

 ated in statement. 



The Grange costs to maintain it not only money, but time 

 and thought as well. And, in regard to these, the same rule 

 for selecting lines of expenditure prevail. "VYe want the best 

 return which can be had. Our capital is limited, ah, how 

 sternly ! We cannot afford to waste any of it. How can 

 we best use these precious years, days, moments, coming, as 

 they do, to us one by one, and never returning for use a 

 second time? Failure here is utter failure. We may lose 

 money, and still get along very well without it ; but, if we 

 waste time and thought, we are bankrupt indeed. And we 

 must use this capital in some manner. It cannot, like money, 

 be accumulated. It must be expended, if it is to do us or 

 anybody any good. Can the time and thought expended in 

 Grange membership and work be used to better advantage 



