Rocky Mountain husbandman. [volume] (Diamond City, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1878-02-28
PATRONS OF HBSBANDRY.
The PURPOSE OF THE GRANGE.

LIE EUE9OSE UE xnE UTkANUE.
We copy the following, read by Sister E.
w. Adams, of Mt. Zion Grange, Missouri,
from the Journal of Agriculture and Farmer:
The old farm wagon had been driven over
the old road for SO many centuries that its
wheels had worn deep ruts in the track,
and the passengers were beginning to suffer
from the impracticability of the route. In
short, we had followed the plans of our
fathers and forefathers for so long that the
farmers interests had become impaired. We
had ploWed, sowed and planted too much
in the moon, or some other equally absurd
sign and not enough in the soil we paid
too little attention to the adnptabAity OF the
soil, or the fitness of the season.
The hazel splitter hog, with hislong, lank
frame, and ears big enough for saddle skirts
took bushels and bushels OF corn to fatten
him, and he barely made our meat, leaving
nothing to pay for the corn he had eaten in
the two or three years required to prepare
him for the fattening stye, to say nothing of
a margin for the farmers purse.
We were doing too much physical labor
and too little thinking, and the result was
letrogression.
The founders of oNr order wisely foresaw
the benefits which would accrue from an
organization, that would from its very
workings, draw forth suggestions. plans
and IDEAS, which would add directly to the
promotion of the best interests of the
farmer.
The purpose of tie grange is to do this
l. BY introducing improved methods of
agriculture and stock raising.
2. By opening an avenue of trade through
worth of his productions in cash or trade.
3. BY giving opportunities for the dis
cusson of all topics connected with the
farm.
4. By bringing the farmer into close con-
nection with his brother, that he may know
him better and hold him in a higher and
more just appreciation.
Every other class of men lave larger OPP
portunities for commingliag i'll social inter
course than has the farmer, and the result
is that every other class is better Informed
with regard to the benefits and requirements
of his especial avocation.
Until the opening of the grange the farm
er's only opportunity for sociability with
his neighbor was an occasional visit. usually
on Sunday or at night. AS his work is
iaborlous and tiresome, he seldom avails
himself of these, so he and his brother We're
comparative strangers ). and if he had a new
idea or made d new discovery, it was too
late in the season for his n%eighbor to profit
10y it, and perhaps it was forgotten by the
hex year.
But not so now. We meet once Oh twice
i month during the busy season. and oftener
when the heft of the work is laid by. exam
inc the various plans and propositions of
Quar- occupations. selecting the best and re-
jecting the worst, discuss their merits and
accept them as our guide, Besides, we are
cheered and have the lines of care snloothed
from our faces by meeting those whom we
know have a genuine sympathy and interest
tor and with us. because we are one of them
in spirit and occupation.
The grange further aids the interests of
the agriculturist by opening its doors to his