582 Journal of the Department of Agriculture. — Dec, 1922. 



Report No. XVII. 



PUBLICATIONS. 



Editor, Journal of the Department of A/jrici/ltirre : G. W. Klerck. 



1. General. — Tlie i)iesent Journal has been published monthly, 

 in English and A'frikaans, since April, 1920. The information it 

 gives is, for the most part, official, and therefore of a nature not 

 otherwise readily accessible to the farmer. It is not designed to be 

 a magazine of light agricultural literature, nor is it meant to share 

 the functions of the excellent agricultviral Press of the Union. The 

 Journal is the record of the work of the Department and gives its 

 views on current questions. 



It is not peculiar to South Africa that the farming community 

 as a whole is not given tO' reading agricultural literature, but it is, 

 nevertheless, regrettable that so few of our 80,000 farmers have taken 

 the opportunity of keeping in touch with the Department through 

 its chief medium — the Journal. Farmers to-day show clearly that 

 they appreciate and need the services of the Dei)artment's officers, 

 yet the Journal, which contains the considered advice of these officers, 

 and in a country of great distances is one of tlie chief means of 

 bringing such advice to the door of the farmer, does not at present 

 find its way to every homestead. From a departmental point of view, 

 experience has shown the need of an official publication like the 

 Journal; it is an essential apparently in other civilized countries. 

 There are farmers who strive to excel and know that their enterprise 

 is best aided by sedulous vstudy of the department's findings and 

 advice; to such the Journal is a prized publication. But a great 

 many, unmindful seemingly of the need that always exists for im- 

 proving farming methods, neglect a potent means of bettering them- 

 selves. 



It seems, however, that it is rather with the coming- generation 

 of farmers that a greater appreciation of the value of a sound reading 

 habit may be expected. And recognizing the importance of agricul- 

 ture to the country, it is clear that in the education of those who will 

 eventually take up farming, the Journal with its wealth of agricul- 

 tural information, the result largely of original research under South 

 African conditions, should serve a most useful purpose and be in the 

 hands of all teachers concerned. Judging bj- the recurring inquiries 

 of school teachers, it seems that many already make use of the 

 Journal in their work ; were it made available to all its scope and 

 usefulness would be greatly extended. The Agricultural Gazette of 

 Canada, for instance, is employed in this manner. 



In connection with the circulation figures of the Journal, it 

 should be noted that one of the causes of the comparatively small 

 number of subscribers may be found in its free distribution to 3500 

 crop correspondents, in acknowledgment of their valuable and 

 gratuitous services. 



