Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1905-01-05

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fa;t field without special advantage
to other classes.
The Declaration of Purposes estab-
! ished by the National Grange, elnbodies
! all that is needed to make this earthly
| life what God intended it to be We
endorse the motto:
/ l. United by the strong and faithful
tie of agriculture, we mutually resolve to
labor tor the good Of our Order our
country, and mankind.
2. In essentials, unity in non-essen-
tials, liberty in all things, charity
| 3. We shall endeavof to advance onr
cause by laboring to advance the follows
ing objects:
To develop better and higher man
hood and womanhood among ourselves
To enhance the comforts and attractions
of our homes, and strengthen our attach
ment to our pursuits. TO foster mutual
understanding and cooperation To
maintain inviolate our laws, and to emu
! late each other in labor, to hasten the
good time coming To buy less and pro-
duee more, in order to make our farms
self-supporting. To diversity our crops,
and crop no more than we can cultivate
To condense the weights of our exports,
selling less in the bushel and more on
hoof and in fleece; less in lint, and more
in warp and wool. To systematic our
work and calculate intellgently on prob
abilities To discountenance the credit
system, and every other system tending
to prodigality and bankruptcy.
These are few OF the purposes OF our
Order.
1t has taught the farmers many things;
it is teaching them many things, and it
is prepared to teach them still more in
the future.
Our Farmers Institutes are an out
growth of the Grange; who can fathom
upon the community. Our Agricultural
Colleges and Experiment Stations are
the result of the unity of our Order. But
there is work yet to do; there is much to
be achieved by our fraternal Order. 1t
will be their duty to do two great things
Ito improve our country schools, and to
develop some method of cooperative sell
ing. Year by year we are learningshow to
grow larger crops per acre. How to
grow more perfect crops. How to grow
them at less cost. But, are we learning
to sell these crops? Cooperative buying
is easy enough-our Grange has solved
that problem-b cooperative selling is
a problem for the Grange OF the future to
bring answer.
Let our wise men put their wits to
work and develop some practical method
Of getting profit from our work Every
farmer in this room is affected by the
price of farm produce. Every farmer
has right to look to the Order of Pa
irons Of Husbandry to open the door to
broader light on this subject, of How
shall we sell our farm produce?' Brother
Patrons, will you give this subject the
earnest thought and consideration it is
needing?
(b) Our Rural Schools.
OF our rural schools we feel We know
but little. There is most assuredly room
for future improvement and development.
Perhaps the field for labor here is more
vast than most of ps comprehend. "If
the country is to maintain its relative
Importance the country schools must
have we'll equipped teachers, and equip
ped schools and appliances.
The subject of Rural education has
been before the Institutes, the Grange,
the Boards Of agriculture, for many
years. But the only reference we find
in the various recommendations by our
different Worthy Masters OF the National
Grange, came in 1901 from Aaron w
Jones He says, in part, s'The census Of
1900 shows that the population and
wealth in the rural districts in the older
States are not increasing in the same
ratio as in the towns and cities. One Of
the principal causes OF this is the fact,
that an educational system tends to edu-
cate our children away from the farm
rather than toward it. There is practi-
cally no education for the business of
Agriculture. In order to make Agricul-
ture prosperous and attractive, we must
begin at the foundation. The science of
Agriculture should be taught in our rural
schools. Natural sciences and their APP
pication to rural life, soil, its fertility
and its wonderful resources, should be
understood by all Ii so understood, an
increased interest would be shown in
rural pursuits. The best interest of Ag-
ricuture, as well as the best interest OF