January, 1922. 



SCIHXTIFIC AGRICULTURE. 



145 



EDITORIAL 



When tlie ('anadiaii Society of Teclmical 

 Aorieiilturists assumed the ownership of 

 Scifiifific Agriculture in July last, it be- 

 came apparent at once that particular cau- 

 tion would have to he exercised in solieit- 

 intr and accepting advertisements. Because 

 the magazine was the organ of profession- 

 al men and since it was owned, edited and 

 puhlislied by professional men. it was con- 

 sidered that no announcement should be 

 published which could not be endorsed by 

 professional men. It was highly desirable, 

 if not absolutely necessary, that the publi- 

 cation should be self-supporting, but the 

 adoption of a policy of restrictive or select- 

 ive advertising was regarded as vital, and 

 any ot^er policy, which would perhaps 

 more quickly produce a satisfactory rev- 

 enue could not be considered. 



For these reasons the advertising policy 

 was made a part of the editorial policy, 

 the opinion being general that in a publi- 

 cation issued in the interests of agricultu- 

 ral research, education, extension — in 

 short, better agricultural methods — the ad- 

 vertising pages would and should play an 

 important part. If the advertisings pages 

 of tlie magazine could be developed into a 

 reliable reference medium for the profes- 

 sional worker, then the Society would have 

 gone far towards accomplishing a very im- 

 portant work. Under the proposed policy, 

 the amount of advertising space used by a 

 firm was a secondary consideration, the 

 main one being that of representation in 

 the ma^gazine. 



Some difficulties have already been en- 

 countered, some have been overcome and 

 some have yet to be faced. Firms and ad- 

 vertising agencies have been skeptical as 

 to the stability or permanence of such a 

 policy. Some advertisers are interested 

 solely in volume of circulation and do not 

 regard the class of circulation or the influ- 

 ence of readers as being important. In- 

 dustrial depression has prevented many 

 reputable firms from giving any consider- 

 ation to tlie matter of advertising. Practi- 



cally all of these difficulties are tempora- 

 ry and are steadily being overcome. Sev- 

 eral instances in which advertisements 

 .have been rejected as unsuitable are help- 

 ing to emphasize the fact that the policy is 

 actually being maintained. The influence 

 of the professional man upon the buying 

 power of his constituency is becoming ap- 

 preciated. Business conditions are improv- 

 ing. There is now a definite indication 

 that the policy adopted by the Society is 

 gaining in favour. 



In certain fields of agricultural manu- 

 facture a selective advertising policy is one 

 to which strict adherence involves consid- 

 erable responsibility. Every range of a 

 large industry must be covered — building 

 materials, machinery, dairy equipment, 

 laboratory supplies, seeds, fertilizers, 

 spray materials, stock feeds, text books, 

 etc., etc. To some of these divisions t/ie 

 policy must be more rigidly applied than 

 to others, but ultimately it should be pos- 

 sible to develop a very valuable reference 

 medium for every branch of agricultural 

 equipment. 



Up to the present time progress towards 

 the desired goal has been slow, for reasons 

 already made plain. Probably no more 

 unfavorable period could have been chosen 

 for launching a new publication than the 

 past year. And to handicap a new maga- 

 zine wnth a restrictive advertising policy 

 was an additional barrier which, ■ at the 

 outset, appeared difficult to surmount. 

 But there was no other .course to follow. 

 An offical organ is vital to the Society but 

 it must also be creditable to the Society 

 and to professional agriculture. Could it 

 be considered creditable if it included ad- 

 vertLsements of impure seeds, condemned 

 fertilizers, questionable stock ''invigora- 

 tors" and other commodities which should 

 never find a place on a modern Canadian 

 farm ? 



Now that the selective advertising policy 

 is becoming better known and results are 

 steadih^ appearing, further developments 



