36 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O. 



reached its lowest ebb. It is significant of this 

 state of discouragement and lethargy to note 

 that this annual meeting, which closed on 

 January 25th, 1912, was followed by no further 

 meeting until December 17th, 1913, an interval 

 of almost twenty-three months between annual 

 meetings. 



The union of the Grange and Farmers' 

 Organization brought about in 1908, and from 

 which so much had been hoped, had failed, and 

 the old saying that "Farmers would not stick," 

 had apparently again been demonstrated. 



Perhaps, however, on examination, and with 

 this distance of time between ourselves and the 

 event, we may be able to see the causes which 

 contributed to this failure. In the first place 

 the old Grange, admirable as it was and still is, 

 as an organization, was antiquated and out of 

 touch with more modern thought. The fact 

 that it was a secret organization with a ritual, in 

 itself constituted objections in some quarters. 

 The further fact that the Grange organization 

 had once been very powerful, but had fallen upon 

 evil days, helped to lessen the public faith in it. 

 It was in fact, not abreast, in thought or in 

 repute, with the times which it sought to serve. 

 The farmers had been seeking to fight a modern 

 battle with bows and arrows. The organization, 

 through which alone the general farming popula- 



