THE GOOD OF A GRANGE. 
niUKCT AND INDIRECT BENEFIT. 
Money Saved and Mora! Sentiment Gathered. 
“What is the good of a Grange anyhow?” This was 
said to me by a neighbor a few years ago, when I 
asked him to join the Grange. And this is what The 
R. N.-Y. wants to know; what good the Order has 
done, and is now doing both to the farmers and their 
families who belong to it, and to the farming com¬ 
munity in general. Now, “the good of a Grange” is 
made manifest in two ways; in the financial benefits 
and in the general uplifting of the farmers and their 
families in educational, social and moral lines. And 
as the farmers are really the breakers between the 
trusts and corporations on one hand and the mob on 
the other, or in other words, between capital and 
labor, the farmer representing both, anything that 
elevates the farmer helps the whole country. As to 
the money saved by the Grange, the insurance is gen¬ 
erally thought to be the largest saving. In a county 
with a large membership like Monroe, N. Y., the in¬ 
surance only costs us 50 cents for $100 for five years 
and $1 to the director who writes the 
policy. The Monroe County Patrons’ 
Fire Insurance Association has made 
but three small assessments in its life¬ 
time of nearly 25 years, has always 
paid all losses promptly, and is 
stronger to-day than ever. The State 
Grange makes arrangements with 
houses in the different cities of the 
State by which we can obtain a dis¬ 
count on almost anything we want to 
buy for cash, and as to selling our 
produce we can correspond with 
Granges in other sections who might 
need something we have to sell. This 
part of the subject has not been work¬ 
ed up as much as it deserves to be, 
and no doubt will be in the future. 
The Grange years ago broke down 
the price of farming tools, etc., when 
it was booming in 1873,1874 and 1875. 
Then came a dull time with the Order, 
but for the last 10 years it has made 
a steady growth both in numbers and 
infiuence. So much for tne direct 
money benefits, but the greatest good 
the Order is doing to-day is in Instill¬ 
ing a love for farming and country life 
into the minds of boys and girls and 
young farmers. I have alwaya said 
that the man who sees nothing in 
farming but the money he can get out of it, has no 
real love for farming, and will in the long run not 
get as much money out of it as the one who loves 
farming and country life with such a deep and abid¬ 
ing love that no bad seasons or low prices will ever 
be an inducement to leave the farm for a more lucra¬ 
tive pursuit. This is just what the regular meetings 
of the Grange do, by bringing together, twice a month 
generally, the old and young, boys and girls, farmei-s 
and their wives, to hold a short conference in the 
business of their lives. Our own particular troubles 
seem lighter when we hear what our brothers and 
sisters have to say about their failure. While we all 
need the Grange meetings, the women and boys and 
girls need them even more than we do. It oreaks up 
the routine and monotony of their lives, and gives 
them an outlook over a larger world. 
This has been the great objection to farming, its 
isolation and loneliness. But the true farmer feels 
more lonely in the crowd and tumult of a great city 
than in his own quiet fields if he has any sympathy 
with Nature in her various moods. It is impossible 
to imagine how many young farmers have been led 
to read and think from what they learned in the 
Grange; to improve their farms, to study the habits 
of weeds and insects, and how to subdue them. Dis¬ 
cussions on religion anu politics are not allowed, but 
temperance has always been advocated in our meet¬ 
ings; in fact, it is the best temperance society I know. 
But, says a practical farmer: “What do you do in 
your meetings, anyway?” Well, we take in new mem¬ 
bers and initiate them as fast as we can. In a new 
Grange this takes a good deal of time. We receive 
valuable information from State and National 
Granges, which the secretary or lecturer reads. We 
sometimes correspond with other Granges East or 
West. Last Fall our Grange (Wheatland Grange No. 
890) ordered the secretary to get the addresses of sec¬ 
retaries of western Granges, and get information re¬ 
garding the apple crop. They very kindly responded. 
The result was our members held their apples a 
while, and received more for them. Then the ques¬ 
tion box gives those who do not feel like speaking a 
chance to get any subject discussed that they are in¬ 
terested in. If we should fall short of business 
(which we never do) we could have the lecturer read 
one of the many bright and up-to-date articles from 
The R. N.-Y. The truth is that we do not have time 
enough in the Summer evenings to do all we would 
like to do in our Grange. In the Winter we hold the 
meetings afternoons, and take more time. 
Caledonia, N. Y. s. w. cox. 
R. N.-Y.—Another thing about the Grange is the 
fact that it educates farmers in the theory of organi¬ 
zation.' Wherever there is a good Grange you will 
find the people working and thinking together, and 
always along helpful lines. The farm institute man¬ 
agers know that wherever there is a good Grange 
they are sure to have a good institute. The organiza¬ 
tion helps advertise the meeting, and the farmers 
have formed the habit of getting together for consul¬ 
tation. So, too, with the work of the experiment sta¬ 
tion and agricultural college. Wherever there Is a 
live Grange, boys go to the college, and there is a 
large circulation of farm literature. All these things 
have an indirect bearing upon farm education and 
contentment. The Grange has also been of great ser¬ 
vice to the older men and women on the farm. Many 
farmers’ wives, past the da 3 ^ of youth, “with lives 
broken on the hard wheel of labor,” have found in 
the Grange opportunities for mental and social plea¬ 
sures which were denied them by any other social 
organization. 
FACTS [ABOUT GRAPE JUICE 
HOW IT SHOUDD BE PREPARED. 
For Home Use or for Sale. 
During the past few years the business of preparing 
and selling grape juice has assumed large proportions. 
We have had so many questions about It that the follow¬ 
ing notes from an experienced vlneyardlst are pri nted : 
How to Prepare the Juice. 
Some of the correspondents desire information for 
domestic use and others for commercial ends. I 
would impress on the reader that the two are dis¬ 
tinct, and the domestic method cannot be developed 
into the commercial with profit. This Is an age when 
the household cannot compete with the well-equipped 
factory—at least in most things. Sixteen cents per 
gallon for juice gives a fair price for our Concord 
grapes. 'There is a wide difference between that price 
and 50 cents for a quart bottle with a fancy label. 
The expense involved from the press to the druggist’s 
counter is more than the Inexperienced will likely 
credit. The manager of a concern having an invest¬ 
ment of at least $50,000, and a number of years of 
experience, tells me that the price of bottles Is a 
greater factor In his profits than is 
the price of grapes. This statement 
may be surprising to us who have bot¬ 
tles under foot and consider them rub¬ 
bish, As with some other things the 
selling is more than the manufactur¬ 
ing. Theoretically, there are large 
profits in the business, and no doubt 
the long-established and well-man- 
aged concerns find good compensation 
on the investment, but the inexperi¬ 
enced person should count 10 before 
entering the commercial class. 
I unreservedly urge the preparation 
of grape juice for home use. The prin¬ 
ciples for preservation are essentially 
the same as for canning fruit. 'The 
greatest variation is the temperature. 
Fruit is often brought to boiling point 
before sealing. This would give grape 
juice a “cooked” fiavor. A tempera¬ 
ture of 175 to 180 degrees is as much 
as can be given. Keep the juice at 
this point long enough to heat the 
whole evenly. 
In making wine, culls and partially 
rotted grapes can he used for the rea¬ 
son that the wine can be “doctored.” 
Any “doctoring” of grape juice will 
impair its fiavor, and therefore only 
good and well-ripened grapes should 
be used. With us in the Chautauqua grape belt Con¬ 
cord is the variety commonly taken. Pick the fruit 
from the stems and crush into a pulp. Heat the pulp 
from 175 to 180 degrees. If one wishes the clearest 
juice regardless of economy of grapes, let the juice 
drain from the pulp. If one wishes the greatest 
amount of juice regardless of quality, squeeze the 
pulp. Be certain that the juice is of above tempera¬ 
ture before sealing the bottles or fruit jars. Fill so 
the juice will come as near as possible to the cork. 
Dead air space may contain germs that will cause fer¬ 
mentation. Cover the cork with wax. Jugs, if well 
glazed, may sometimes do, but glass is more certain. 
Commercial establishments use large glass fiasks 
or carboys for storage until ready to place the juice 
on the market, at which time the juice is siphoned 
from storage to the size of bottles required by the 
trade. The juice is reheated, and the canning process 
repeated. The market requires the juice to be as clear 
as possible. The sediment is the alloy. The siphon 
permits the clear juice to be drawn off without dis¬ 
turbing the muddy “settlings.” This second bottling 
is not strictly necessary for domestic use, provided 
THE DAILY “SEWING CIRCLE” AT HOPE FARM. Fig. .302. 
