THE sources for the history of the agrarian crusade
are to be found largely in contemporary newspapers,
periodical articles, and the pamphlet proceedings of
national and state organizations, which are too numer-
ous to permit of their being listed here. The issues of
such publications as the Tribune Almanac, the Annual
Cyclopedia ( 1862- 1903), and Edward McPherson
Handbook of Politics ( 1868- 1894) contain platforms,
election returns, and other useful material; and some
of the important documents for the Granger period are
in volume X of the Documentary History of American
Industrial Society ( 1911), edited by John R. Commons.

When each wave of the movement for agricultural
organization was at its crest, enterprising publishers
seized the opportunity to bring out books dealing with
the troubles of the farmers, the proposed remedies, and
the origin and growth of the orders. These works,
hastily compiled for sale by agents, are partisan and
unreliable, but they contain material not elsewhere
available, and they help the reader to appreciate the
spirit of the movement. Books of this sort for the
Granger period include: Edward W. Martin (pseud.
of J. D. McCabe) History of the Grange Movement
( 1874), Jonathan Periam The Groundswell ( 1874),
Oliver H. Kelley Origin and Progress of the Order ofthe Patrons of Husbandry

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