The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1877-11-10
farm, AeesanIs.

Although nloFe meu are employed
la agricultural pursuits than IN any
other. siid irotw Il lis alding the world
3. dependent GA lhsiE for bread, there
IL 30 class So dedeieut la the matter
Uf keeping accounts as they, Que
teGsGn il there is thought TO be no
necessity for IL, aCd farmers sons are
not trained to it, Us in other
departn " here il i. conceded 20
be Of hrst Importance. II Is also
conceded to .e matter of some
difficulty growing Dat OF the peculiar
nature OF agricultural cmploy ulent
and the elements which properly
enter into the keeping of accurate
ACCOUNTS. The pea that there is no
time for il is not well founded, for
there is tine for everything that is
useful. o! tae utility af farm accounts
the argument IL equally strong As
pertains 10 every other branch
of business Every merchant opct. OF
twice year deems IL al.
absolute necessity to take an
account of stock, and TO carefully scru
tiBize The credit and debit sides of his
business. 0ns who never did that
wonid hy c3mmou consent be pro-
nosDced very poor business man. a
manufacturer, whose profits may be
dependent upon an almost iptinitesi
maj rifle in eos; OF material, or in the
construction or adjustment of his ma
chinery, conid never succeed without
keeping accurate accounts. and no
young man brought up under one who
Is neglected. In this particular, however
skiifui he may he In other RESPECTS,
can Reach promotion in large aud
kratl a i-I,
subject Commends itself TO she atten.
tion Of educators, especially those III
country high schools and agricultural
colleges. There Ia hardly u farmers
son in any of them whose father can
tell approximately how much it
costs to carry ON the old
homestead, or whether there
has been profit or loss from time to
time. Family expenses are unknown,
few farmers eau tell how much IL costs
to support their households, aud the
old farm does not get half the credit il
is entitled to. Those who live in cities,
and are obliged to pay Cash for every
thing they eat, drink and wear, can
appreciate tnis more fully than tho
who raise large portion of what they
consume. w hen The corner grocer de-
lihe!stely NeiKbs out u pound of ear
rots for "a stew, and the purchaser
knows thai the farmer raises them,
or can, in almost any quantity a0d n.
cost of n few cents per bushei, il IL
adapted TO mske q strong impre- sion
When the children of city parents are
obliged to pay two cents for every
apple they eat, and the farmers chill
dren aud live stock, by the mere
gathering, have more than can be cou-
summed, but no credit is given for any
thing, it is hardly fair TO the old home
stead. The same holds true of large
portion OF the profits which 20 into
the consumption of farmers families,
but of which they make go account or
thought. Thus the actual protits al
farming are largely uuknow o, the gen.
eral rule being 10 count little used la
the family "a a portion. II toiersbiy
accurate account should be kept in all
these matters, IL would be found that
the real profits OF agriculture are far
greater than Is supposed. II would
also have tendency to keep mere OF
She sons and daughters in content aud
Independence rather than to drift with
the multitude of cities, where every
body knows how much he has to paw
for all farm products, and where few
can indulge freely in the use of much
that contributes 10 the health, comfort
and enjoyment of rural life