The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1877-03-22
FarR Accounts.

The farmer is y producer, manufac-
to, er, a seller, a kayer, laborer himself
and an employer of other men; he is a
large consumer of home and foreign
products, a produc merchant and a car
er.of his own pre- auctions. 1t is most
surprising truth tina in carrying on CON-
plicated and cxtef ,sive business of this
sort he rarely keeps book account. Many
a farmer is wealthy who never made a let
ter with pen, and. still manages large
business. This clA . of farmers is made
up Of these men WI 70 have no taste or in
ciination for anythi ng which might inter
fere with their fav0 rite pursuit, and their
entire energies are consequently given to
it. They do not know what any crop
costs tSem, nor what their farm expenses
for the year are They may believe from
a glance at the results that given crop
has not paid expenses, and that another
has furnished Surplus, but it is mere
guess work. Sometimes the farmer sells
off lis corn and lay, and sometimes he
feeds it to stock on the farm. How, let us
ask, is he to know, when he has never
kept any account of the cost of growing
these crops. nor of the benefits, or, we
should say, the results, of feeding them
out to animals, how is he to know whether
it is best to feed or to sell? He cannot
know-he merely guesses.
But this is only one item in business
which is of com plex character, which
employs manual, machine and animal
labor, valuable see DIS, fertilizers, and re-
uuires buildings, fences, bitches and
other clements and Internal Improvements
to keep it agoing. The advantages of a
regular system of accounts IRE so plain
that there can be but one opinion as to its
importance. Is it necessary that we
should note few of the advantages OF
keeping farm accounts, when every reaael
we know will say Amen to every word we
are going to say. We will venture to
do SO.
1, Keeping careful accounts makes a
farmer more intelligent 1t is wonderful
how lnuch practical knowledge is con-
tanned in book of accounts. It soon be-
comes the lest book Of reference. He is
able to learn from it what each division of
his farm produced under a particular
mode of culture and manuring in any par
ticular year, and what the cost of the
crop was. His knowledge of his business
is also greatly increased by the constant
comparisons which he can make between
the profits of different crops, different
kinds of stock and different methods of
culture.
2. The knowledge which the farmer
can thus gain would result in an increase
o. the produce of the farm, in more care
fully. outstanding labor and directing it
and in improving his stock. A ton OF hay
TO the acre makes a meagre show on the
balance sheet Ten bushels of wheat and
thirty of corn make a still worse show.
We fancy that farmer with any toler-
able amount of ambition or grit
would not allow himself to make record
of such small amounts many years.
8. Keeping regular account does pro-
mote order and neatness and system In all
farm operations. There is no mistake
about it. A man gets TO be economical
not only of money, but of time. Hegets
McDonough's idea that not minute
should be wasted. Consequently ep cry
thing around his premises feels the touch
of his order and industry.
In order to start right, each farmer
should take correct account of property
employed in the business. This may be
tdone on the first of March or April, when
there is the smallest amount of capital on
hand. When this inventory is compfet-
ed, then begin to charge every night
what has been expended during the day,
and credit what has been received from
sales. Any unusual occurrence may be
explained in the book in detail. At the
close of the year there will be rich COM
fort in store for him, as he will be able to
determine exactly how the business has
been run and what the results are.-De-
tr0it Tribune. &