352 



SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE 



July, 1922 



This change was made necessary by the 

 change in Article 4 of the Constitution. 



Editorial Policy 



In introducing the discussion on the ed- 

 itorial and advertising policies of the So- 

 ciety's official organ, the General Seere- 

 tarj^ said : 



■'*In an organization such as ours it is 

 particularly difficult to produce an offi- 

 cial organ that will meet with the approval 

 of all members. This condition is aggra- 

 vated when you rely upon advertising for 

 your main source of revenue. There have 

 been times, during the past year, when I 

 was nearly driven to distraction over this 

 matter of editorial policy. I hope many of 

 mj^ perplexities will be cleared away this 

 morning. 



Is the magazine to be entirely made up 

 of advanced articles? If so, it will not be 

 read with interest by more than 25 percent 

 of our members. Is it to be entirely pop- 

 ular? It would then be read by at least 75 

 per cent, of the members but it would not 

 be serving the purpose for which it is most 

 needed, namely, as a medium for the pub- 

 lication, in Canada, of the results of ag'ri- 

 cultural research and experimentation. 

 Can these two extremes be brought to- 

 gether under one cover? Can we have a 

 technical section in the centre with pop- 

 ular matter front and back, next to the ad- 

 vertising pages? 



Up to the present there lias always been 

 a shortage of material. This has made it 

 difficult, and at times impossible, to sub- 

 mit articles to the Editorial Board. At the 

 same time we have tried to be careful in 

 selecting material, and we believe the ma- 

 gazine has been much more technical than 

 pojmlar. 



It has seldom been po.ssible to submit 

 proofs to the author. This lias been partly 

 because the articles upon receipt had to go 

 immediately into press, and partly because 

 we had to be guided by labour conditions 

 — often very serious. Many issues have 

 been proof-read, by the Editor, from cover 

 to cover, over night. Typographical errors 

 were bound to appear under such condi- 

 tions. In a magazine like Scientific Agri- 

 culture there should be no typographical 

 errors. 



OiR-e we have sufficient material on 

 hand, many difficulties will be overcome. 

 We can submit proofs to authors and we 



will have ample time for proof-reading at 

 headquarters. 



A great many reprints have been print- 

 ed in the past year. These serve a useful 

 purpose in advertising the magazine, and 

 we have been able to furnish fifty reprints 

 without charge. We hope that arrange- 

 ment can be continued. 



The present dimensions of the magazine 

 are not popular with the advertisers, but 

 they were adopted as a result of the dis- 

 cussions at Winnipeg last year, and appear 

 to be most suitable. 



The cover should certainly be made more 

 attractive, no matter what we do with the 

 conteiits. A magazine often sells on its ap- 

 pearance and the present cover is too 

 severe to make a wide appeal. It should 

 be changed. An attractive cover can do no 

 harm and will do some good. 



The French section should be maintain- 

 ed. The French members are now taking 

 hold of this and will develop it in many 

 ways during the coming year. 



The members of the Editorial Board 

 have not all been active, but no one will 

 blame them. They don't know what type 

 of article is suitable and no one can tell 

 them. With a clear cut policy I believe we 

 will have ample material for every issue. 

 The Editorial Board might well consider 

 the possibility of submitting abstracts of 

 the most interesting articles, in other mag- 

 azines, which come to tlieir notice during a 

 given period, say every two months. A 

 page or two of such material could be 

 made a distinct feature. 



Editorials are unnecessary, unless the 

 Society is willing to use the magazine as a 

 tongue for the expression of opinions on 

 matters affecting the jH-ofession or any 

 member or group of members. Even then 

 it wants to be careful how it wags its 

 tongue. There have been instances when 

 the Society might well have taken a defi- 

 nite stand if, after making full enquiries, 

 it was convinced in its opinions and pre- 

 pared to express them. There will be sim- 

 ilar instances in the future. Except in 

 such instances, and for sucli purposes, ed- 

 itorials are unnecessary. I say that with- 

 out any desire to avoid writing editorials. 



Wliatever policy we adopt it is impor- 

 tant to bear in mind that Scientific Agri- 

 culture is an official organ and should be 

 used as such. If all our members will take 

 a generous, broadminded attitude, we can 



