The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1873-06-20

the good effects. As the ground get
harder, a weight should be PLACED
upon the harrow. Give it a trial
farmer readers of the JEFF, and lie
US hear how II works.
The Patrons Of Husbandry.
A GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF THE EEI
SECRET oRDER-ITs PLANS AND PUR
POSES.
A new secret society has sprung in
TO existence, apparently in the spac
ofa single night. The city of Wash
ington was its birth place, and remain
its head centre, but its branche
already penetrate every State in tn
Union. Even Canada bows the kne
to the "Worthy Master" who callet
this mighty organization into being
and as Superintendent of the Agricul
tural Grounds at the capital, he may
be seen, any day, attending to hi
duties, as the fisherman who raised the
box which contained the enormou.
genie from the bottom OF the sea.
This society has nothing to do with
politics, except in an indirect way. It's
oranges are composed of all the ele
ments which compose the different
parties. Il is simply a, union to pro-
mote the welfare of the tilIers of the
soil. The farmer asks, "Why should
we be paid fifteen cents a bushel for
corn when the same article costs the
consumer eighty-fve?
Why does the poor widow pay sixty
five dollars for sewing machine that
costs the manufacturer only fifteen I?
When q. man is nominated for Con-
gress, the question is not asked wheth-
er he Is Republican or Democrat,
but the grange says: "WiI he go
for the extension of patents? Is he
liable to be bought by the railroads !;
in otheT words, is he the staunch loyal
friend of the husbandman % In this
way, but no other, politics sways the
organization.
Years ago the spark which kindled
this flame originated in Philadelphia,
and it came about in this way: The
city of Brotherly Love was blessed
with a very wealthy citizen, who died
one day and bequeathed a large for
tune to his son. Now, the young man
did not emulate the majority of the
rich mems sons who are acting their
parts in various dissolute ways, but he
settled himself in the path of virtue,
and made science his sweetheart. He
adored chemistry, and as he progressed
in his studies, he realized the intimate
relations that exist between the cult,
vation ofthe soil and his favorite study.
and in his Don Quixote enthusiasm he
determined to start on a leeturing
tour to the farmers of the West. In
the meantime he applied to William
Saunders, Esq the present founder of
the Patrons OF Husbandry, who was
then the editor of horticultural
journal, TO ascertain by what means he
could call an audience ofagriculturists
Mr.. Saunders told him there was no
way to bring these widely scattered
men together by any ordinary notice.
Living long distances apart, removed
from the railroads and printing offices,
they were as inaccessible as Selkirk
on Juan Fernandez, and in their iso.
lated condition as weak as TIE wrecked
mariner on his isolated island From
that hour Mr.. Saunders bent every
energy of his mind to develop a plan
by which the husbandmen might be,
ccme powerful by the union alone. He
saw the iron and steel men, also the
sewing machine and railroad men,
strong as their own iron and steel, and
he said to himself, ''the farmers must
forge chain, and we must fight Satan
with his own weapons. The poor
farmer is ike the single skirmlsher.
brought down by the first shsrpshoot-
eB of the enemy. Let US advance as
an army" So far their elbows have
fallen heaviest on what are called the
''middle men," Iowa who leads the
van, last year saved $3.50, 900 in her
purchase of agricultural implements.
BY means of this order the farmer
q bought direct from the manufacturer,
while the middle-man or agent had to
rtep aside. In the fall or early winter
of 1867 small knot of thinking men
assembled In the office of the Superin-
tendent of the Agricultural Grounds
in Washington. These men loved the
earth for its own sake and honored the
men whose brown cheeks and hard
hands make it possible for the other
kind to live. Organization became
the watch-word, and at this meeting
apart of the ritual was formed. Du-
ring the month OF February a name
wasfound for the baby, and it was de-
cided to call the order, 'The Patrons
Husbardry,'' and that which would
be called Lodge in Masonry or Odd
Fellowship, in the rew order is called
grange Mr.. Saunders has
always opposed secret societies, but
he found that something OF this kind
must be adoptedtO insure coherepev
besides, as this society intended that
its highest Office should be eligible 10
women, it was necessary to draw a Tne
of purity somewhere-at least, tbar,
should be a certainty that an incom
ing member was worthy to be pre-
sented to their wives and daugbters
Says one OF the highest officers q
the Patrons of Husbandry: "Wemus
have women with us everywhere
suffrage for women is coming; W
have the certain means of KNOWN
that which even the press cannot fin
out. We have taken broad strid
in the worlds progress; we have gi,
en- women her true place. We nc
only make her eligible to our highe.