372 



SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE 



July. 1922 



Proofs of articles should be submitted to 

 the author; 



Personal items about members should not 

 be published; 



The magazine does not give expression to 

 the attitude of the Society towards public 

 affairs; 



The Society does not protect or take care 

 of the interests of its members; 



No French articles should be published; 



More French articles should be published, 

 etc., etc. 



These and other criticisms have reached 

 the General Secretary during the past year. 

 They indicate a diversity of opinion. Some 

 are justified, others are not. Some can be 

 met, other cannot. 



Every member should, first of all, ap- 

 preciate the difficulties under which we have 

 been operating. It has not been possible to 

 make full use of the Editorial Board be- 

 cause of dearth of material; that situation is 

 improving. Labour troubles have seriously 

 affected the quality of the magazine. The 

 General Secretary has had to assume, in ad- 

 dition to his Secretarial duties, the duties of 

 advertising manager, circulation manager, 

 editor, filing clerk, book-keeper, etc. This 

 has involved a tremendous amount of cor- 

 respondence and routine work and has pre- 

 vented the efficient carrying out of any 

 single line of effort. These conditions are 

 all due to lack of funds and if our first 

 profits must be applied to a reduction in the 

 membership fee, we must be prepared to 

 carry on the financial struggle for at least 

 another year, with low operating expenses. 



Financial stability is necessary; a large 

 membership is necessary. If we cannot have 

 both at once, it is perhaps best to first main- 

 tain and increase our membership on a 

 smaller fee, and gamble on the finances. 

 There is some consolation in the fact that 



we have been financially embarrassed for 

 two years — at all times — but we have man- 

 aged to pay our bills and maintain a credit 

 in the bank. 



In closing I should like to plead for closer 

 co-operation within the Society. In all lines 

 of work, whether it be advertising, circula- 

 tion, the operations of committees, the de- 

 velopment of policies, the contributing of 

 articles and all other lines of progress, in- 

 dividual effort is almost fruitless. No 

 General Secretary, whoever he may be, will 

 shirk his duties and responsibilities, but if 

 the Society is to prosper and accomplish re- 

 sults, every member must take a personal 

 interest and do what he can to help. This 

 spirit has been noticeably lacking during 

 the past year and has had a discouraging 

 effect. 



There is no doubt that the danger period 

 in the history of the Society has been passed. 

 New problems and new fields for work are 

 constantly presenting themselves, but in 

 their solution or accomplishment action must 

 be uniform, representativ'e, wholehearted and 

 energetic. There is a great future ahead of 

 this new organization. There is a distinct 

 place for it and for its official organ. Both 

 are receiving recognition in all parts of the 

 world. Let the members see to it that it 

 continues to prosper and that they can share 

 the credit for its prosperity. 



The General Secretary wishes to acknow- 

 ledge his appreciation for the excellent vo- 

 luntary service rendered by the members of 

 the Dominion Executive, the Editorial 

 Board, the local secretaries and the various 

 committees, to many individual members for 

 helpful suggestions and constructive criti- 

 cism, and to the Industrial and Educational 

 Publishing Co., for many courtesies in con- 

 nection with the publication of Scientific 

 Agriculture. 



Committee on Research 



The report of the Committee on Research, 

 presented by Dr. J. F. Snell in the absence 

 of Dr. J. M. Swaine, included a complete 

 list of problems requiring investigation, in 

 all branches of agriculture. O^'ing to lack 

 of space, the report cannot be published in 

 this issue, but will either be embodied in an 

 early issue, or printed as a bulletin for dis- 



tribution to all members and to others on 

 request. 



During the coming year, the Connnittee 

 on Research will endeavour to obtain more 

 detailed information which will indicate the 

 problems already under investigation, the 

 place where the investigations are being car- 

 ried on and the names of the investigators. 

 This information will be published from time 

 to time in Scientific Agriculture. 



