The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1890-03-05
SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL.
COST OF CROPS.
Every Farmer Should Keep Account of
the Cost of All He Raises.

So0J VI SHOF0.
Every Farmer Should Keep Account of
the Cost of All He Raises.
No business enterprise can be intelli-
gently conducted without an accurate
knowledge of the original cost of its
products or prime resources. This
statement applies with equal force to
individual efforts and corporate in
dustry.
The successful merchant does not de-
termine the selling price of his goods
until he puts together the first cost, the
rent of his building, hire of clerks,
charges for insurance and transporta-
ton, and all other legitimate expenses.
When this sum is obtained. a suitable
per cent. is added, to determine the
paying price at which the goods are to
be sold Manufacturers pursue the
same policy. Railroads count the cost
of construction and all needed repairs.
together with current expenses for
business wear and tear and
accidents, before it will be possible to
know the proper charges in freight and
passenger rates. All this is legitimate
and essential to business success. Farm
ing can never be made successful until
this policy is adopted. 1t is a PROPOSE
ton openly evident to any man Of COM
mon intelligence, that no business will
pay that does not add profit to the cost
of it's products.
1t becomes every man to know all the
minor details of his business. l dare
say, there is less of such information
among farmers than in any other class
of our citizens. A shoemaker can tell
you, at once, the cost Of the leather, the
pegs and the thread, together with tho
labor necessary to make pair of shoes.
The blacksmith can tell you the cost
of the iron, the nails and the work
necessary to shoe horse. The
carpenter applies the same intelli-
gence to his business before he puts
price upon his services Indeed, in
all the business relations of life we ex-
pect profits to be demanded, based upon
the cost, except in agriculture. 1t is a
little singular that we never expect
farmer to know the cost of his wheat,
oats, potatoes, peas, corn or cotton. May
1t not be that we are greatly deficient
in this particular? My it not be that we
are giving our energies, our years and
our efforts to products without particle
Of profit, when there are splendid posi-
bilities within our reach in other crops?
This leads me to suggest the proprie-
ty of change in the policy of the
farm. When the farmer sells bushel
of wheat, a barrel of potatoes or bale
of cotton, he ought to know exactly the
profit he is receiving. Many farmers
object because the process of informa-
ton is too long continued. 1t begins
with the preparation of the land and
goes till harvesting is over. This is,
of course, an objection, but not valid
one.
10 determine the cost of any farm
product it is only necessary to keep reg
ular books against the fields, as to ma
nure and labor expended in the prepara-
ton and cultivation of land and the
gathering and marketing of crops. This
is not more tedious nor objectionable
than accounts kept against articles fur
nished the hired help on the farm.
These facts, to be accurate, must be
determined by the individual farmer.
No one farmer can settle the cost of
making pound Of cotton for any other
farmer. There are many elements
that enter into the cost of farm prod
ucts, and possibly all of them vary
in every individual instance One
man cultivates much more intelli-
gently and economically than another.
food and help come to him much more
cheaply than another's. One mans farm
may be much better adapted to certain
crops than that of another. The sea-
sons upon two farms are not expected to
be uniform in their benefits, however
nearly adjacent the farms, as they do
not always find the same crops in the
same condition. For these reasons, to-
gether with many others, it is plain to
be seen that each farmer must deter
mine for himself the cost Of his prod
ucts.
This information, upon the farm, is
important to determine the most eco
nomical labor. In all these years OF
experiment not many farmers at the
South can give accurately the differ
ence in hiring help for wages or
for a part Of the crop, because
they do not know the cost of products
under either method. 1t is highly i'm
portant that orr products should be
grown at the least possible cost, if we
make our efforts avail the most good.
With this view every labor-saving
method should be applied until the cost
is reduced to the minimum.
What we greatly nerd upon our farms
is the same business methods that are
used in every other enterprise-such a
system as will let US know, all the time,
what we are doing and what we ought
to do. ANY thing short of this brings
us to haphazard life that takes its
chances for many evils.-W. j. Northen,
in Southern Cultivator.
HEDGE FENCES.
some Hints in Making Them Slightly and
Serylceable.