Under the call for reports and recommendations of officers, the following was presented: Report of Sister E. L. A. Wiggin, of Maine, Worthy Flora of the National Grange, which was read by Sister Sarah G. Baird, of Minnesota : Worthy Masters, Brothers and Sisters of the Nationa Grange of Patrons of Husbandry: As Flora of the National Grange, I beg leave to present this brief annual report, although my doing so may be regarded as somewhat of a perfunctory act. Of the three divinities who are supposed to preside over the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, and to assist in its ritual work, Flora is regarded as having especial care of the Sixth Degree. To her court are welcomed all who have faithfully observed the precepts of our Order in the preceding degrees, and by her favor are all good Patrons rewarded. In ancient mythology Flora was one of the earliest known of the Roman deities and was venerated as the goddess of flowers. Her worship is traced back to the time of Patius, who reigned jointly with Romulus, the founder of Rome. Numa, the second king of Rome, assigned her a priest of her own and her festival, called the Floralia, was annually celebrated from the 28th of April to the 1st of May, with great rejoicing and with beautiful ceremonies. The doors of the houses were festooned with flowers, floral arches were erected and wreaths of flowers were worn in the hair. The temple of Flora, at Rome, was situated near the Circus Maximus and her worship was originally conducted in the most chaste and appropriate manner. Writers whose aim it was to bring the Roman religion into contempt relate that in course of time the festival of the Floralia very much degenerated and assumed a tumultuous and somewhat questionable character. This lapse, however, was by no means the fault of Flora, and she is to-day venerated by all good patrons the world over as the pure and lovely goddess of flowers and blossoms. She is often represented in art as bearing the cornucopia filled with flowers. A fine marble statue in the museum at Naples, called the Farnese Flora, represents her as a beautiful girl crowned with garlands of flowers. Such was the Flora of mythology, and as such was she worshipped by the ancient Romans. Her adoption by the Patrons of Husbandry, as one of the presiding divinities of our Order, is due to the appreciation on the part of the founders of the Order of the refining and elevating influence of flowers upon the human heart. In the name, then, of the flowers I greet you. God's jewels are they, with which he has generously decked the green drapery of our mother earth and made the hillside and valley blossom forth in a wealth of gorgeous beauty. Ministering angels are they, welcome alike in our hours of gladness and when sorrow and sadness throw their dark mantle over our pathway. The joyous bridal bower is made more beautiful by their brightness and their prefume, and the chamber of death is relieved of its somber gloom by their welcome presence. Eagerly plucked by the tiny hand of childhood, they are viewed with delight by young men and maidens, old men and matrons, and at all points they gladden our pathway from the cradle to the grave. "We are the flowers, the fair young flowers, That come at the call of Spring; To deck with our beauty the Sylvan bowers, And as we meet here in National Grange, and wherever we may meet as Patrons of Husbandry, may the sweet and hallowed influence of flowers be felt in all our hearts, making us more kindly affectioned one toward another, leading us to be ever trustful and faithful, ever tender and true. Under the call of the roll of states for reports from Masters of State Granges, the following reports were presented: MARYLAND-J. B. AGER, Master. Worthy Master:-I regret I am not able to make a more favorable report from my state. The condition of the Order is about the same as it has been for several years, just been able to keep our heads above water. If there has been a new Grange organized or a dormant one reorganized, there was sure to be one or two drop out. There has been organized in the past twenty-seven years one hundred and eightytwo Granges in the state of Maryland. So you will see that the state has been very thoroughly worked, as quite a good deal is sparsely settled, and we find that after a Grange has been dead for several years it is much more difficult to organize a new one in that community than in new territory. We have a good many Farmers' Clubs and other organizations that seem to fill the social and educational feature, but we try to convince them that the Grange is a superior organization, from the fact that the Grange is national and the club is only local. If we could only inaugurate a plan as Brother Bowen has in Connecticut, perhaps we might accomplish something. But we have no Brother Hale and think it would be hard to find one in our state. Certainly we have no five hundred dollars to pay him with, and unless the National Grange can see its way clear to help us, I am afraid our condition will not improve very much. We attribute the chief cause of the decline to the dissatisfaction with our trade arrangements; members feeling that they receive no more benefits than non-members in dealing with the Grange House. The matter was brought before the State Grange at its session in December, 1898, and a committee was appointed, consisting of good business men, to work with a similar committee appointed by the Pomona Grange and report at the next session of the State Grange to be held in December, 1899. They have made a partial report to the Pomona Grange, in which they claim to have perfected a plan which is similar to the plan in use when the Order was prosperous in our state, and they predict that it will be again. We hope that their predictions will come true. We are glad to learn that the Order is so prosperous in the north and west, and hope that a great tidal wave of Grange prosperity will sweep over all the south in the near future. OHIO.-S. H. ELLIS, Master. The Grange in Ohio has not been accomplishing as much as we had hoped it would do by this time. But when one considers the vast work that it has done and is doing, we thank God and take courage. Since my report to the National Grange last year we have placed on our Grange roster the names of ten new Granges, and of twenty-four reorganized and reinstated Granges- making a total addition of thirty-four Granges, and the membership in our older Granges has steadily increased. We paid into the National Grange treasury as dues on our membership for the Grange year ending September 30, 1898, $874.40, and we paid for dues for the year ending September 30, 1899, $951,59- an increase last year over that of the year before of $77.19. This would show an increase of membership of 1,544 for the year. We have many strong Granges in the state, and we are glad to be able to report that the Grange in Ohio is in good working trim. VERMONT.-C. J. BELL, Master. Worthy Master and Members of the National Grange: In my report of the prosperity of the Grange in Vermont for the year past, I am glad to say we strive to improve our minds, enjoy our social relations, and aid as best we may the prosperity and success of our agricultural interests. Two Granges have been organized; they are strong in membership and start off with substantial prospects. Many of those organized last year have prospered well, more than doubling their membership, and are useful in their communities. We have been cleaning house better than usual, educating the members to be more prompt in paying dues and the Subordinate also to mind when the quarter ends and the reports are due. The result has been a falling off in count in some Granges, leaving a stronger and more useful organization in every instance. More funds have reached the treasury of the state Grange than for several years past. Every month has added new members, and notwithstanding our house cleaning, a gain of nearly ten per cent. in membership has been made. |