THE first phase of the agrarian crusade, which cen-
tered around and took its distinctive name from
the Grange, reached its highwater mark in 1874.
Early in the next year the tide began to ebb. The
number of Granges decreased rapidly during the re-
mainder of the decade, and of over twenty thou-
sand in 1874 only about four thousand were alive
in 1880.

Several causes contributed to this sudden decline.
Any organization which grows so rapidly is prone
to decay with equal rapidity; the slower growths
are better rooted and are more likely to reach frui-
tion. So with the Grange. Many farmers had
joined the order, attracted by its novelty and vogue;
others joined the organization in the hope that it
would prove a panacea for all the ills that agricul-
ture is heir to and then left it in disgust when they
found its success neither immediate nor universal.

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