The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1877-12-07

What would be thought of merchant
who would keep no account of the state Of
his business-would make no entries ofhis
sales and expenses-of his profits and loss
es )! He would be set down as very care
less business man and destined to come to
grief sooner or later Why should not the
same opinion be formed of farmer who
would adopt the same course Is it not
equally as much so, demanding equal sys-
tenn, accuracy and care ? Thus it must be
viewed.
What is the habit of most of our farmers
on this subject Do they keep books,
make entries and prepare balance sheet
of the years operations? Not one in a
thousand. They do not know whether
they are making CT losing money.
AT the end of the year they can't tell how
they stand, whether on the road to pros.
perity or approaching bankruptcy. This
is not the condition of the merchant for he
is governed by business principles, as al
ready intimated. Periodically he takes a
careful inventory Of his stock and knows
exactly where he stands. Not so with tho
average farmer 1t is rarely the case that
he takes an inventory of his cattle horses
sheep, mules, hogs, corn. wheat, rye oats
nay uub ~ WI. liz NloCS ubl SET GOWN the
value of his stock, his surplus stock. the
labor he employs the quantity of grain and
provender necessary to feed his stock, the
taxes he has to pay and his family supplies
All this should he accurately noted and the
interest on the investment clearly under
stood. This is the debtor side of the ac-
count that the law of selfpreservation rig
idly demands should be Enthusiastically de-
fined. He keeps no record ofhis sales. IF
he disposes of his various crops and his
surplus stock, he makes no note of it, and,
consequently, strikes no balance sheet at
the end of the year. Hence, he is in fatal
ignorance as to how he stands, whether he
is making or losing money. In a word,
he knows nothing about his business.
PuiyeriZing Manure.
A farmer in an adjoining town was har-
rowing bis barley stubble the other day
before blowing. | asked him why he did
so, and he said it was to break the clods of
manure as spread from the heaps. The
idea is an excellent one, and worthy of
adoption wherever possible A large clod
of manure has enough material to fertlize
ten or twenty or more wheat plants, but if
left unbroken it will probably he reached
by only one or two. The "patchy" appear
ance of wheat which has been recently ma
nured is well known, and it results from
the unequal distribution of the manure. -
The grain is uneven, some places ripening
earlier than others, and hence it cannot be
harvested without loss A more serious
matter is the waste of the manure ITSELF
To be sure, it is all in the field and will be
available some time, but that is not what
the good farmer wants. 1t is said that it
is better to have nimble sixpence than
slow shilling, but in most farming opera
tons it is getting a nimble shilling on a
tardy sixpence. fla lot of lumpy manure
is broken. into pieces one fourth as large as
before, its direct value is increased four
fold. Before the crops have extracted
the fertility of the dressing of manure, the
farmer is or should be ready to supply
them with more. | have no doubt that the
simple act of narrowing that manure more
than doubled its value for next years wheat
and clover, and the narrowing did not cost
so cents per acre.
Where winter grain is top-dressed, the
manure is usually dragged about in cult
ing until it touches nearly all the surface
soil What is left on the surface has it's
fertilizing elements washed into the soil as
evenly as possible. This is one reason why
top dressing is generally reckoned the best
method, unless the manure is mixed with
long straw which will clog the drills in
sowing.
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