The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1899-03-15
AGRICULTURAL.
Advertising.


as much part of the work of modern
paper as the printing of news or edito-
rails. And in one sense the advertis-
ing columns of a paper are news col
umns. From them you learn what men
have to sell. What would the modern
agricultural paper be without its adver-
tisements of new implements, seeds,
and the likt2 If a men has anything to
sell, he must let people know it. He
must persuade them that what he has is
better than what his competitors have,
and he must persuade them to come to
his store to buy.
Let the reader of bright, wide-awake
country newspaper consider that a
large part of the income paid into the
Office is for the advertising, and as re-
suit the paper is far better than it pos
sibly could be without the columns of
advertisements. So do not complain at
the ads but get all the good you can
out of them.
As to the medical ads, the writer has
little use for them, makes rule OF
skipping them as something be has
little interest in, but of course great
many people do read them, and do pay
out their money for the medicines adj
vertised. People are doubtless cured
by them or think they are. This pres
ent winter must have been good one
for the medicine men, for there, was
never so much sickness, aud vast num-
bers have joined the ranks of the med
icine buyers. Some concerns pay out
sums which reach into the hundreds
of thousands for advertising, but they
know it pays. Unless thing is kept
before the people they will forget it.
Take the New York Ledger. Once it
was one of the most, if not the most
popular papers in the country, but in
an evil day Bonner stopped adverts-
ing, and as result his great paper has
almost run out. The success of the
Ladies' Home Journal has largely been
won by judicious advertising, and now
it is in position to charge So per line
for advertisements, and at this rate its
columns are overcrowded
How can a farmer profit by the pres
ent use of advertising? For one thing
he can watch the pages of the farm
papers for things he needs. He can
send for circulars of tools, implements,
machinery, seeds, plants, trees, vines,
cows, poultry, horses, dogs, and a
great many other things which farmers
are interested in, and which are adver-
tised. You may not buy this year, but
it is well to get circulars, to get and
keep posted, and then when the time
comes you can buy far more intelli
gently than if you had not read ads
and circulars and catalogues. One now
cannot be an intelligent buyer unless
he is an intelligent reader of advertise
ments.
The farmer can also advertise some
things which he has to sell. If he has
an extra nice article of any kind to sell,
maple syrup for instance, let him make
the fact known in paper read by those
who would be apt to buy.
The making of advertisements is an
art of itself, many men make a busi-
ness of just writing advertisements,
and new word has been coined, "ad.
writer" which designates this class of
workers. 1t makes all the difference
in the world how an advertisement is
made whether it shall sell the goods, or
be losing investment. Suppose you
want to advertise an extra quality of
maple syrup. You can put in simple
announcements:
'For Sale, nice maple syrup. Shipped
by express. Address etc." Such an ad
has several faults. The words For Sale
are too old-fashioned, are of no use
anyhow. Of course it il for sale. No
body expects you are going to give it
away. Then the price is not told. A
man may want some nice syrup, but
he is not going to write for prices and
HoNS w wan lOl q lcblGI duu dll lUdl.
Then there is no use in saying ''ship-
ped by express" Nobody expects you
to send it by mail. See how,much bet
ter this reads:
"Do you want some fine maple syrup
shipped to you right from the farm
where it is made? We have it extra
nice at per gallon. Ky W"
Such an ad will draw much more
trade than the first. Or you might 90
in little deeper.
"Do you like real maple syrup Do
you know that much sold for it is only
glucose fixed up to taste and look lit
tie like the genuine? If you buy of a
grocer, you will be apt to get the glucose
kind. If you buy of us you will get the