SCIEXTIFIC AGRICULTURE 



July, 1922 



It needs more publicity. Up to the pre- 

 sent time, no notification of its establish- 

 ment has been sent beyond experimental 

 farms, agricultural colleges, deputy minis- 

 ters of- agriculture and the Civil Service 

 Commission. Apparently these institu- 

 tions do not require the B. S. A. man, in 

 any line of work, to the extent that they 

 were required a few years ago. They want 

 specialists. This means that the C. S. T. A. 

 Bureau, to be thoroughly efficient, must 

 include, among its registrants, a fairly 

 large percentage of highly trained men, 

 which is not the case now. The Society 

 might also attempt to develop new fields 

 for employment for the B. S. A. At pre- 

 sent the graduate in agriculture is looked 

 upon, in some quarters, as a book-learned 

 individual, unpractical and inexperienced. 

 This opinion can be largely removed by 

 publicity and by encouraging commercial 

 firms, co-operative organizations and 

 other similar institutions, to employ agri- 

 cultural graduates. 



First of all, it must be understood by 

 all concerned, that the Bureau is not in- 

 tended to be a means of increasing sala- 

 ries. It is merely intended to help men 

 seeking positions, (of whom there are un- 

 fortunately, a good many) and employers 

 seeking trained men. Surely that is a use- 

 ful service. 



To be of the greatest value, efficient 

 operation is essential. That means expense 

 — and we have no funds. The registrants 

 do not keep in touch with the Bureau ; 

 they frequently change their positions or 

 their salaries, or both, and no report 

 reaches the Bureau. The information ob- 

 tained last November is, in some cases, al- 

 ready incorrect. To keep the record up-to- 

 date means frequent correspondence with 

 six hundred members. That takes time — 

 and we have no time. With a staff of two, 

 or even one, doing nothing else but attend- 

 ing to the development of the Bureau, it 

 could be made quite efficient. Funds 

 might be raised by making a charge when 

 a man is placed, — (that is done in other 

 similar Bureaus) — of his first week's sal- 

 ary. At present we cannot venture to en- 

 gage a man, on a salary, to do that work, 

 because we cannot guarantee that he will 

 ever receive his salary. 



The purpose of this discussion today is 

 to obtain, from the average member, and 



from men holding higher positions, an ex- 

 pression of opinion as to how the Bureau 

 of Records can best serve their particular 

 class. If it is admittedly a useful institu- 

 tion, let us develop it as thoroughly as we 

 can, relying upon the registrants to keep 

 the Bureau frequently informed of their 

 doings, and relying upon employing agen- 

 3ies to co-operate and to keep us advised of 

 vacancies. If it cannot serve a useful pur- 

 pose let us abolish it at once without fur- 

 ther waste of time". 



It was agreed by the Convention that 

 the operations of the Bureau be given 

 more publicity and that notices of men 

 seeking positions and of employers seek- 

 ing men, should be published in Scientific 

 Agriculture, using key numl)ers in all 

 cases. It was further suggested that the 

 General Secretary should secure an effi- 

 cient clerk to assist in developing the Bu- 

 reau so that it would be of the greatest 

 service, the expense involved to be met by 

 charging members a nomical fee (one 

 week's salary) when positions were se- 

 cured directly through the^ Bureau. It was 

 liighly necessary that the Bureau be kept 

 up-to-date and that records be complete. 



Dr, F. C. Harrison, President of the So- 

 ciety of American Bacteriologists, an or- 

 ganization with 1200 members, stated that 

 they had recently decided to establish a 

 Bureau of Records in that Society. He 

 urged that a close co-operation be devel- 

 oped between the C. S. T. A., and the Colo- 

 nial Office, which frequently offered ser- 

 vice, both in administrative and technical 

 work, in all parts of the world. 

 Fellowships And Honorary Memberships 



On the recommendation of the Dominion 

 Executive Committee, a fellowship was 

 conferred upon Dr. L. S. Klinck, President 

 of the University of British Columbia and 

 retiring President of the C. S. T. A. 



Honorary Membership was conferred 

 upon His Ext'cllency, Baron Byng, Gov- 

 ernor General of Canada. 



Place For 1923 Convention 



At the invitation of Dean W, J. Ruther- 

 ford, tlie Convention unanimously agreed 

 to hold the next Convention at the Uni- 

 versity of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon. 



