ABSTRACT
Between 1895 and 1916, Henry Wallace, the editor of Wallaces' Farmer, devoted many of his editorials to the subject of farm newspapers themselves: their purpose, their possibilities, and their policies. In several, he divided farm newspapers into two classes based on subscription policy. Wallace was proud of the fact his paper required payment in advance and stopped sending issues when subscriptions ran out. He called other papers "never-stop papers," accusing them of not stopping when a subscription expired. They continued to send issues, then required payment and even turned subscribers over to collection agencies for not paying. A number of his editorials gave instructions on how to stop receiving such papers, including what to say in a letter to the publisher and when to notify the local postmaster to refuse future issues. Wallace contrasted such papers to "first-class papers" that provided quality editorial matter and expected subscribers to pay for it. 3
The years between 1895 and 1920 were prosperous years for all kinds of farm newspapers. The agricultural economy boomed, and agricultural journalism benefited from this growth. Farm newspapers across the country increased both the number of pages printed and the number of copies sold.4
