The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1873-11-28
Farm Book Keeping.

0A4 0VV1-&&CUR41Es
The Rural Home makes the following
suggestions as to what should be charged
and what credited to the farm in any
system of accounts designed to show
whether farming pays:
l. Legal interest on the capital in
vested is legitimate charge against the
farm. The capital invested is the
amount that could be realized from the
sale of farm, stock, utensils, etc., to put
in other business or place at interest
Many farms are worth much more to
sell than to cultivate Attractiveness
as home, commanding prospect, prox-
unity to town, railroad depot, or popu-
lar resort, may give farm a mercan-
tile value far beyond what its product
i've capacities would entitle it. Under
such circumstances the only thing that
can justify its continued cultivation
in an economical point of VIEWS the
prospect that its appreciation in value
may exceed the loss of interest.
2. The cost of cultivation is legiti-
mate charge against farm. There are
many items to be included under this
head-as the cost of manual labor, the
cost of team labor, the use of utensils,
machinery, etc., cost of seeds, manure,
and every thing of the sort, and finally
the value of the farmers own time. If
stock, machinery, utensils, ETC., are
reckoned as capital, and interest thereon
charged, then the farm should be
charged with their keeping and repairs
and depreciation in value. The most
difficult item to estimate is the value of
the farmers own services, as that de-
ponds so much on his own capabilities.
If he is qualified to make iudicious
plans for the general advancement of
the farm, to direct the labor so as to
make It as effectual as possible, to do
tie buying and selling withjudgmentand
sagacity, he is entitled to much lar
ger salary than one who is only quail
fed to work under the direction of an-
other. If he possesses abilities that
would enable him to succeed in other
and more remunerating business, his
services may be worth more than the
farm can afford to pay. A man who is
really qualified to manage farm of 100
acres ought to receive for his services
81, 900 year.
3. The cost of repairing buildings,
including the dwelling, fences, ETC., is a
legitimate charge against the farm.
Here we must be careful not to get
things mixed and charged twice. If the
repairs are made by the ordinary labor
ers, and their wages have been once
debited, we must not make a separate
charge. New fences and new buildings
terest is reckoned, and we want to
charge only these materials used in re-
pairing.
Ioko - Ia coil
ed by cropping, that is not restored by
manures purchased outside, is properly
chargeable. Our best farmers do not al
low their farms to deteriorate. They
pursue such methods of culture, rota-
ton, stock-feeding and manuring that
their farms rather increase than dimin-
ish in fertility.
We have enumerated enough items of
cost to satisfy any one that a farm must
roll up pretty large credits to make
favorable balance of the ledger, and yet
on a fertile, well cultivated, well-man-
aged farm, there are many items to be
placed on the credit side. Let us look
at them:
1. All receipts for products sold
should be placed to the credit of the
farm. This is is too plain to need elu-
cidation.
,. The growth and consequent in
crease in value of young stock, the in
crease in fattening stock, the products
of all kinds consumed by the family,
the service of teams used for family
conveyance and luxury, are all to be
credited to the farm. The last two
items are not sufficiently appreciated
until the family undertake to live in
town, and are obliged to pay for them;
then they begin to form something like
a inst esl innate of their value.
The rent of the dwelling is an i'm
portant item to be credited to the farm.
If farmer ever comes to make such
change that he is obliged to pay $50 to
800 every quarter for a small house on
a contracted village lot, he will begin
to realize the value of the use of COM
farmhouse.
We have now briefly enumerated TIE |
sums to be entered in an accurate farm
We are not certain that we
have not overlooked some things that |
ought to be entered on one side or the |
other of the farmers ledger. We have |
written, not with the idea of exhaust /
ng the subject, but to call the attention
IF farmers to Just estimates of the in
comes of their farms.