Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1874-10-22
Farm Accounts.

| HERE are lew ldTUltIS w HO huOW "Hdb
their yearly balances are, simply because
| they do not give attention to the very inn
| portant matter of keeping farm accounts.
| 80 long as moderate profits are returned
| for the labor and expense of conducting
the farm it is not an affair Of vital i'm
| portancc, il is true, to be able to state
| the precise figures Of the annual gain,
| but it would seem to be source of con
siderable satisfaction to have the ac-
counts so made up that these deductions
may be made whenever the knowledge
is desired.
There Is, however, in this business Of
keeping farm accounts very important
consideration which strangely enough
seems to escape Observation-Disclosures it
affects the profits very much. Habit gov
ems more or less the course adopted on
every farm. Now it happens that many
men engaged in mixed farming have one
or more branches conducted at a loss,
and, lacking the figures which
should reveal the whole truth, they
go on from year to year throw
ing away time apd labor which
might be saved for better uses. There
arc many farmers on the high lands
of this State who raise fair crops of corn
which costs more per bushel to produce
than the average price in the market.
| On the score OF convenience this might
be admissible, but let us suppose that
| the short crops on their fields are due to
| lack Of proper qualities in the soil or to
climate, and that all the requirements
| for grass are fully met and this Is con-
| dition existing on great many farms.
An accurate account OF all the cost of
producing storing and marketing the
| alb 10
buy all the corn needed for farm use.
Clearly enough that would be better
| than to raise corn on those lands where
every bushel gathered represents an ex-
penditure of labor sufficient to buy
bushel and half when applied to the
production of grass 1t is poor economy
to expend labor in any business without
u reasonable prospect, for the mere pleas
ure of the exertion. Yet there are farm
ers who continue to raise year after year
crops which are not remunerative, be-
cause they do not know what they are
doing. They do not count cost.
All lands are more especially adapted
to some kinds of useful production than
to other kinds usually embracing enough
of variety to make a profitable course.
The first study should be to find what
are the right crops to attempt, taking as
the basis of judgment the tried capabil-
tiles rather than the inclinations of the
tiller. Having settled this matter the
next thing is to apply labor in that line
with the best intelligence, preserving such
record of all cost that the efforts expend-
ed through the season shall a 1.-THE close
stand mapped out on the one side for in
spection and comparison in value with
the returns on the other side. Whoever
| H.. al al, Al.
careful thought to the facts thus pre-
served, will inevitably grow wiser in his
business, and as certainly lead to profits
If there are any profits for him. He will
find himself working for the best results
attainable, and if in his case he verifies
the stale saying, farming does not pay"
he may safely conclude that he has not
the requisites for success, either in him.
self or in his land.
AS TO the plea that he can find no time
to keep his accounts, there is no truth in
it. 1t is on par with the other folly
into which he falls when he cannot find
time to eat or sleep. Let him remember
that one wiser than he long ago declared,
with the truth of inspiration, that there
Is a time for every purpose under the
sun. This keeping of accounts lies at the
very foundation of successful business,
whether it be agricultural, commercial,
mechanical or whatever else in the way
of legitimate industry True, it may not
be an elaborate system of books, it may
even be in rare cases without any books,
but in some there must be the accounts
preserved, and the mere full and com
plete the better for all purposes. How
to keep farm may be a study, but with
fair degree of intelligence it is an easy
task to master.
Let us take, by way of illustration, the
case wherein he is supposed to lose in
raising corn, and see how it is very easy
to find the truth. The cost of prepare
tion can easily be entered among the
items which 60 to make up the cost. La.
Dor has market value. The field is
debtor to so many days at that market
value. So with al the time spent in cul-
, tivaton and harvesting. Then If ma
| nures have been used a fair estimate OF
) value can be made, and besides an esti-
mate of the proportion of its value APP.
propriated by the crop. If something
be left over to the permanent improve