296 Wisconsin State agricultural society. 
land grants from the government, and bonuses from cities, towns 
and counties, to the amount of one-half of the actual cost of the 
roads. 
The question now is, how shall we help ourselves ? I answer 
first by co-operation or organization for our mutual benefit and 
protection. The order known as Patrons of Husbandry seems to 
be especially adapted to our wants. 
The order is national in its character, organized as follows: 
1. Subordinate granges, which have organizations in the sever¬ 
al counties, called County Councils. 
2. State granges, the members of which are the master, past mas¬ 
ter and their wives, of subordinate granges. 
3. National grange—composed of masters and past masters of 
state granges. 
Our system of receiving and imparting information to state and 
national granges is through the secretary of subordinate granges,, 
whose duty is to communicate any information that we may con¬ 
sider for the good and welfare of the order. When such informa¬ 
tion is received at the national grange, if considered of sufficient 
importance, it is communicated to secretaries of state granges, and 
from state secretaries to secretaries of all subordinate granges on 
the continent. 
Through this system we expect to derive great benefits. For 
instance, should the order think best to collect crop statistics, it 
can be done more accurately and in much less time than it can by 
any other process. This matter of crops and farm produce statis¬ 
tics is of great importance to the farmer. Who has a better right 
to be thoroughly posted in regard to the supply and demand of 
the products of the farm than the producer? (The dealers may 
claim it.) The Patrons of Husbandry have it and can exercise 
that right and have the means in their hands to put this system in 
operation. Millions of dollars can be saved by the tillers of the 
soil annually through this channel alone. It would give the pro¬ 
ducer just as good an opportunity to decide when to sell his crops 
as the buyer has, and more, this system, thoroughly prosecuted,, 
would, in a short time, enable the farmers to make some esti¬ 
mates before crops are sown, of the probable acreage of the differ¬ 
ent crops, and arrange them on his farm, accordingly. 
