72 THE farimer's educatiox. 



found in the appendix.* It is doubtless not complete, but it 

 will enable readers to find reliable information on most subjects 

 connected with farming. 



The most important sources of information for farmers are 

 the publications of the state and national govt'rnments. I 

 have already (page 49) alluded to these, and the appendix 

 will indicate how any farmer may obtain them. Tliey are, 

 for the most part, sent free on ai)plication, and when a price 

 is fixed, it is the exact cost. I call these the most important 

 because they are the most accessible and cheapest. They are 

 nearly always brief monographs on special subjects, and do 

 not by any means serve the purpose of more extended trea- 

 tises by the same or equally competent gentlemen, which are 

 published as books by private publishers. 



The agricultural press as now conducted, is of very great 

 value to farmers. All farmers worthy of the name take one 

 or more agricultural journals and find them essential. At the 

 same time there are various limits to their usefulness. The 

 first and most important is the necessity of publishing such a 

 paper that the income will pay its expenses, and if possible 

 leave a profit. A paper which does not pay must soon stop. 

 For most agricultural papers, however, there is little or no 

 profit iu subscriptions. It costs so much to got and collect 

 them that if it were possible to obtain an income from adver- 

 tisements by printingonly a sufficient number to supj)ly each 

 advertiser, in a great many cases the publisher would be a 

 gainer. But the circulation is necessary in order to secure 

 advertising, and it is kept up by canvassers, by sending the 

 paper on credit, which always involves large losses, by "pre- 

 miums," "clubbing" arrangements, and other devices, all of 

 which cost money. The advertising space in ]ia})ers going 

 exclusively to farmers is also of less value than in papers of 

 general circulation, because farmers are considered as having 

 least money to spend. 



The necessity, therefore, of an advertising ])atronage in 

 order to publish any agricultural })aper, in various ways 



* See Appendix D. 



