Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-07-12
improved to the point where it has been de
monstrated it is easy to bring them
BUSINESS NFARMING.

IN a hMINUs
One sees so much on this subject in the
agricultural papers of to-day as to almost
make him sick, and yet there is a great deal
in it entirely worthy of discussion. We
have published about all the points made by
our well-informed contemporaries, and on
this account have rather dropped the mat
ter, but now and then the story is told in a
new kind of way, and then we hitch on
again for little further pull. One Of these
new kind of ways comes through Z late
issue of the New England Farmer, and so
we are again in the traces to the extent of
short article.
The Farmer says the man who knows
how TO turn good furrow, to properly pre-
pare the soil for seed, to stop the growth Of
weeds and promote the growth of plants,
knows lots about farming; but if his
knowledge stops here he is far short Of
knowing enough to insure the best success.
1t used to be said that any fool could be a
farmer, but at the present day people begin
TO realize that the farmer needs the most
education. The time has gone by when the
haphazard. slip-shod, go-as-you-piease meth
DDS of farming can be made to pay.
What would be thought of the manufac-
turer who did not know to a fraction of q
cent the cost of the raw material and labor
put into yard Of cloth, or the leather
worker who did not know the exact cost of
the materials or labor required to make a
case of boots or shoes, and so onf The
thought would be that such manufacturer
stood in a very fair way to get left. Farm
ing necessarily travels the same kind of
business road, and yet how many farmers
can tell the cost of q pound of butter or
pork, a bushel Of potatoes or corn, bale Of
cotton, barrel of rice or a ton of hay'
They sell their products for what they are
offered, not knowing whether they are max
ing or losing.
The remedy is this: When farmers come
to realize that farming Is a business as
much as manufacturing, or banking, or
buving and selling goods, and by a careful
keeping of accounts learn to figure the cost
of every article they produce, then a sue
cessful beginning will have been made.
Let them keep debit and credit with every
acre of corn or potatoes or cotton or grain.
Charge each acre with interest on its
value. and with the probable amount Of all
necessary OUTLAWS in producing crop.
Credit the operations with the market value
of the crop produced. The difference be-
tween the two sides will show at a glance
what is being done, and it is the only means
of making sure as 10 whether the business
is one of profit or of loss.
There is no denying the fact that very
many farmers are in sad need of more bust
ness education. There must be boolS-keep-
ing. 1t need not be any particularly COM
plicated form of bookkeeping, but it should
be book keeping of some kind that will
enable the farmer to see exactly what he
is doing. Bookkeeping on the farm is
really something indispensable. The farm
er who keeps book can always refer to
it for date of sales or purchases, and prices
received or paid. Such book will solve
the great problem: 'Where does our money
go to-" and perchance lead TO a more care
full consideration and economy.
Having learned to calculate the cost of
the products of the farm, the next business
is to learn how to sell them. Make study
of the markets, and learn for yourself the
price Of those things YOU wish to sell. If
you cannot fix your own prices, YOU can at
least prevent being taken advantage Of by
upScrupulous traders.