The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1889-01-26
BUSINESS METHODS.
The Need and Value Of Them ON the Farm
and I'm the House.

0O0tNsSS MI nOO0s
Tho Need ana Value Of Thorn ON the Farm
and In the House.
Probably no occupation IN which
men are engaged is carried out with so
little regard TO business rules as that
of farming, and yet no occupation calls
for more rigid adherence to those
principles which underlie all business
transactions. The farmer requires a
more diversified educatiou--a knowl-
edge of a greater variety of subjects
than any of the so-called learned pro-
LESSONS.
The man who knows only how to
turn good furrow, fit the soil for the
seed, check the growth of weeds and
promote the growth of the plant. has
not mastered the art of successful
farming, nor has the man who knows
only how to rear fine horses, sheep.
cattle, or fat swine, or how to fertilize
his fields to the best advantage, raise
the best corn or potatoes, the highest
yield of oats and barley. The man to-
day who really makes q success as a
farmer must combine all these ele-
ments of knowledge and many more.
It used to be said that any fool could
be farmer, but at the present day
people begin to realize the fact that
the farmer requires the most versatile
education.
The time has gone by when the hap
hazard, slip-shod, go-as-you-please
methods of farming can be made to pay.
Agriculture has become recognized as
q science. Millions of acres of virgin
soil in all our States and Territories
have been opened up to the pillow, and
their surplus products are forced upon
the markets of the world. The prod
ucts of the cheap labor of foreign
countries are also emptied into our
midst to glut our markets. The farmer
upon the worn soils of the older States
must look closely to the details of their
business or go to the wall.
What would be thought of the mer-
chant who would sell goods from his
counter without knowing their cost?
What would be thought of the manu-
facturer, who did not know, to the frac-
ton of cent, the cost of the raw ma
terial and labor put into a yard Of cloth?
And yet how many farmers can tell the
cost of pound Of butter or pork, a
bushel OF potatoes or corn, or ton OF
hayp They sell their products for what
they can get offered, not knowing
whether they are making or losing.
What is the remedy? When farmers
come to realize that farming, Is a bust
ness as much as manufacturing or bank
ing. or buying and selling goods, and
by careful keeping of accounts with
every branch of their operations learn
to figure the cost of every article they
produce, then a successful beginning
will have been made. Let them keep
debit and credit with every acre of corn,
potatoes. beans or grain. Charge each
acre with the interest on its value, the
probable amount of fertilizing material
used by the crop, the cost of labor in
its care. Credit it with the market
value Of the crop produced. The diff
ference between the two will represent
the profit or loss.
A like account should be kept with
the herd of cows. or, better, If practical
BILE, with each one separately. If any
one of the herd entails a loss upon you,
dispose of her. Keep q strict account
with the orchard. il you have one, and
If you have not, set out one at once if
you have q suitable location. Debit it
with the labor employed in its care, the
harvesting of its fruit. and the dressing
used upon it. Credit it with the value
of its golden products, and learn from
the balance on the right side of the
ledger thatit is one of your best friends.
Having learned to calculate the cost
of the product of the farm, the next
business requisite is to know how to
sell the surplus. Make study of the
markets, and learn for yourselves the
prices of those things you wish to sell.
II you can not fix your own price you
can at least prevent being taken ad-
vantage of by interruptions traders. II
the market price ON an article is to-day
below what it costs you to produce it.
then calculate from all the information
within your reach what the prospects
for the future may be. Ask yourselves