Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1856-08-22

on Why. the very suggestion OF 'ueh a
thing would make them pronounce the ac'
tors quite gone In insanity. And should
they sec such an operation, the exclamation
would 20 up from nearly every mouth,
.. T'i~y ,riH gcru 80, ttoir moHey ogdi1 ~
And vet thisyery thing is done every year in
the British Islands, and has been done for
the last thirty years or more. In this cons
ncziou we may adop, the language Of Ia
ycr-uc in hi, very interesting and valuable
work on the " Rural Economy Of England.
in comparing France with that country,
"whilc our farmers are sparing to The last
d,srcc, considering that what is rai'cl is
gain, in England they try who can pat most
money into the land" tp. ny
Now why !, there this difference between
our farmers AMI the business men Of this
country. and the farmers Of England in par
ucuhr? Simply because they have no faith
in their employment as harir~". Buithi'
provoke, another inquiry, and thatis-Why
have our farmer. no faith In their occuTa-
ton us a business
Thl. /, attributable 90 two general cau.
.cs. nsarlyrclatci to each other. !. To the
imrericc, and slaitCrnly mode Of cul'i'atins
the soil. which generally prevails, that
make, production mcnScr and Trccarious.
=. 10 thc fact that farming has never hcEn
carri,l on with Us, cycrp, in lew casrs. in
as syst,matic. business like manner. -, that
the operator, themselves can tcll with any
certainty whether i; yield, proG, or not.
Hence tie question often asscl-ls farming
prod'ablc2-has received widely different
answers. The r,lsln Of thi, j., there are
no data to enable u, 20 decide whether aru-
ing. as whole, i. really profitable or not.
The fact. oC human experience, and the
bu..urs, history not only OF this country but
of %, world. shows most odnclusNcly, that
agricultural pursuits are more ors'y rrmu-
ugra,iyc. AMI more ccriaisly yield a c,m-
Portable competency TO such as cuglr' in
them with .Hll, energy, perseverance and
economy, than trade, commerce. manufac-
tur-s. or any or the 50 callcl learned pro-
G-.i1u-. Itlt. hern shown on the b., u
authority. 'hat about thrcc-inur,h' of th1.'
who su-ace iu trade max, a disastrous fall
ur. or 10. that o., than onc.fpurth arr ever
moderately successful, and only about one
ia a huulryl arc ,miucuily successful.
Eutiti, desirable &, know, no, only ,hat
men can keep soul aul body together by
farming, f,r this has long since hccn demon
s,ratcl, and that IL /, rcmuusntiyc--that
II viii WELD fair vasr, but that /, may at
ford yr1ft over and above the expense. and
thr wage. oG ,hos' employed How is this
90 De- determined answer in the same
manner as o., merchant and manufacturer
d.terminr- % ru their cas,s. How i thisF
obviously only hykc'rius ,zaciaccount'aud
maxim. the proper entries or debt AMI cred
IL. The trader charges a,ain,, bis brains,
the Gus, " goods, transportation, rents,
-r-.t aigg and other labor, and the various
expenses incident 10 hi, bu'iues'. The msy.
c'.au, place. against his income the cost Of
his .hir. and their outfit, expense Tor labor,
Insurance, exchange aud interest on capital
invested. The manufacturer charges pro-
laetiyn with necessary investments in buI'i-
iu.., machinery, tools, raw material, labor,
rrrair,, interest. insurance aud incidental
expense, in carrying ON the business. On
,he other hand /, credited wha, tie business
Yields, and The ledger will show, on taking
an acc5un; or stock AMI balancing the books.
whether there is prod, Or loss in the bu-i-
ness.
Now this is jus, what is wanted in farm-
Ing operations, to determine whether they
yi,;I a rroG. Or involve loss-whsthcr
they aaorl, as a whole, a fair compensation
lor labor and skill, or only Insignificant wa
gcs. In other words, whether farming is
now or can be iuSHru involving profit
and loss, or a mere calling which sells it,
labor and skill at its market value.
To attain this end every farmer must keep
accounts-charsing on the debtor side the
cos,of land, buildings, implements and tools,
oxen, sheep, cows and other animals the
manure. aIicd to the soil, the labor, no
matter whether their own, their wives, sons,
daughters. or "hircI help and all the
items which 20 to make up the cost Of what
/, produced. On the credit side should bo
placed grains, roots, dairy products, mulii-
plicati0n and increased value of animals rc-
covered at fair marke, price; the cnhonc-
cd value Of the farm by deeper plowiuc,
more thorough cultivation, undertaking,
addition Of fertilizers, rcclaiming swamp and
waste land or in any other way. In this
way, every farmer eau determine the cOst Of
butter. cheese, fruits and all his crops, and
not otherwise. Ir he does not know tic
cost. how can he tell whether he sells at a
rroft or a l0ss2 How can he determine
whether farming is profitable as a whole or
no, profitable Plainly he cannot.
but say the farmers, We cannot go into
all this bookkeeping for the sike Of proving
whether farming i. profitable or not We
are satisfied 10 know that We get living
without it. True, it is a somewhat compli-
Gated and dlficul, thing to keep accurately
the accounts Of farm, bo il small cr large,
and make every entry when it sheulI BE- 70
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