July. 1922 



;C1FXTIFIC AGRICULTURE 



371 



be suspended indefinitely on June 30th. 

 This was made neeessary because of the 

 serious industrial depression which had pre- 

 vented the owners of tlie magazine from ob- 

 taining sufficient revenue to cover the cost 

 of publication. This depression showed no 

 indication of improving. 



During the latter part of June ^nd tlie 

 early part of July, the Vice-president and 

 General Secretary had several interviews 

 with the Industrial and Educational Pub- 

 lishing Company, (the former publishers) 

 and consulted the members of the Dominion 

 Executive by telegram and by mail. It was 

 admitted that an official organ was vital to 

 the Society and that its suspension, partic- 

 ularly at the beginning of a new year, 

 would have a serious effect upon the mem- 

 bership. Full consideration was given to 

 the financial responsibilities involved. 



Scientific Agriculture became the property 

 of the Society on July 15th. 1921. All out- 

 standing liabilities were written off by the 

 former publishers. There were no adver- 

 tising contracts to transfer. The estimated 

 cost of publication was $450.00 per month 

 which had to be borne by the Society as a 

 new expense. You will perhaps appreciate 

 the anxiety of the members of the Dominion 

 Executive at this particular period. Busi- 

 ness depression was at its height. We had 

 no advertising contracts. We had no avail- 

 able funds to meet even temporary financial 

 losses, and we had no staff to handle the 

 additional work involved. It also seemed 

 necessary, in view of the criticism of the 

 .$10.00 annual fee, to bring the magazine up 

 to a point where the advertising revenue 

 would more than cover the cost of publica- 

 tion and could be used to cover some of the 

 Society expenses now borne by the mem- 

 bers. 



Under these circumstances operating ex- 

 penses had to be kept as low as possible, no 

 additional staff could be employed and the 

 first issue had to be published just as quickly 

 as possible. 



On August 25th, six weeks after the trans- 

 fer, the first issue under Society ownership 

 appeared. It contained forty pages and 

 the dimensions had been reduced to con- 

 form to other similar publications and to 

 meet the wishes of members, as exjsressed at 

 the Winnipeg Convention. A restrictive ad- 

 vertising policy had been adopted so that 

 the advertising pages could be used as a 



guide, by the members, to reputable firms 

 and products, and would be creditable to the 

 Society. 



The first four issues were discouraging. 

 The required advertising revenue had not 

 been reached and the industrial depression 

 was still keen. But during these four 

 months a great deal of advertising campaign 

 uork had been done. Many reputable firms 

 and advertising agencies in Ontario and 

 Quebec had been interviewed and hundreds 

 of letters had been sent throughout the 

 Dominion. 



In January we turned the pe^k. The 

 succeeding five issues wiped out the deficit 

 on the first four issues, the size was in- 

 creased to 48 pages, and the magazine dur- 

 ing its first year covered all the costs of 

 publication and produced a small profit. It 

 will also be seen that the magazine has as- 

 sumed every expense that could fairly be 

 charged it. 



The General Secretary has not travelled 

 outside of Ontario and Quebec. Most of 

 this was in connection with advertising, but 

 several local meetings of the Society have 

 also been attended. 



Advertising and circulation are vital to 

 the financial success of the magazine. Most 

 of our present advertisers have taken space 

 in Scientific Agriculture because it is owned 

 by the C. S. T. A. and because of the in- 

 fluence our members exert upon the farm- 

 ing constituencies of this country. They 

 believe our members will appreciate the fi- 

 nancial assistance given to the Societv, and 

 will use the advertising pages of their offi- 

 cial organ as a reference medium or, in other 

 words, that the Society and the advertisers 

 can be of mutual service. But a larger cir- 

 culation, outside of the Society, must be 

 built up and that perhaps can best be done 

 by the local branches. 



There have been several criticisms of the 

 magazine and of the Society. These are 

 mentioned briefly here : 



The Society is not accomplishing definite 

 results ; 



There have been several typographical er- 

 rors in the magazine; 



The cover is not attractive; 

 The magazine is too technical ; 

 The magazine is not technical enough ; 

 Advertisements and circulation should be 

 of secondary importance; 



