The Grit-advocate., 1903-10-23

will continue for some time to be
asked. My answer has always been
the same: Yes. but it must be re.
mcmbered that farming. as "A business,
is subject to the same general princi'
pies which govern any other business.
If IL man We're to start a cotton mill
and keep no account of receipts and
disbursements. take no care of his ma
chinery, and keep no lookout on the
market. how long could he continue in
business. or what bank or individual
would think for moment of advanc,
ing him credit to carry on his enter
prise? And yet the same necessity for
exact business methods exists in aSri-
culture as in manufacturing.
But" says some one land. in fact,
l heard this same argument only a
few days ago., "a cotton mill is big
affair and n farm Il comparatively
small one; and the exact methods of
the one are not necessary i'll the con-
duct of the other" Unquestionally the
farm is usually-thOugh by no means
nccessarily-a smaller affair. but a
business conducted without system
must of necessity be small.
l have purpoSely used the cotton
mill as an illustration because, though
great fortunes have been built up by
it. the making of cotton cloth is not,
in itself, Il very profitable industry.
There is 4 larger percentage of Droilt
on many agricultural operations. and
the comparison of the two industries
illustrates the old truiSm that bad
business well managed will pay where
Il good business poorly managed will
not.
1t is true that the number Of bust
ness failures among farmers Is cH-
trcmcly small us compared with other
classes, Il fact that many agricultural
journals dwell upon with insistencc.
But why are these failures so inire-
uucnt? Simply because with very
large proportion of farmers, agriculture
is not Il business at all. but only n
means of subsistence. which is a very
different thing. A man who has no
business cannot fail in it. But though
farmers may not often be driven int"
bankruptcy, they sustain losses from
neglect of business methods which
they little suspect.
An illustration of this. which l
think is worth giving. recently came
to my notice.
An acquaintance Of mine had 1C2
cows on his dairy farm. The farm was
not paying, and he asked me If could
find where the trouble lay and point
out n remedy. After careful exam
nation of his farm and equipment l
told him doubted if all his cows were
paying him a profit.
lie was surprised and said that
though the cows varied i'll quality they
were all good cows. The test. how
ever. which consisted in milking each
COW separately until her milking quail
ties We're fully ascertained, disclosed
the fact that eleven out of the 1O2 were
being kept at loss. while several oth-
crs were barely self supporting!
The wedding out of these worthless
animals made it possible to dispense
with the services of one of the farm
hands. and further test proved tlat
the cows would give just as much
milk and keep in better health on IL
considerably less expensive ration
Il thing their owner should have known
long before.
The advantage to the farmer OF
knowing Just where he is at i'll each
and every department that he mas III
hand would seem to be so Sclf-eVlueht
as to be beyond the realm of discuS-
sion But I don't need to keep books.
said a country ncighbor of mine: Il
have Il good livin and I'm sure o tllht
much; then if I have say. 5000 to the
GOOD at the end o the year. don't
need any book but my bank to SHOW
me I've got it-and there's my profit,
Scc:'
No. l didn't see. and I asked him at
what figure he estimated the cost OF
bis living. He had very vague IDEAS OH
this subject. and was surprised When
I told him that he ought TO know. ana
that the figure should be added to ms
$500 I said I supposed he at least
knew what he paid out during the year
for groceries. -four and household sup
Mics But no, he didn't know even
that. Further talk disclosed the fact
,lat he never diSbursed any cash Tor
these luXlries. but cal lated Tor MS
hens to pay the store bill, always tra"-
ing eggs for groceries.
"Thcn you don't know how much TO
credit your hens with" No. he didn't
But the critters done all he required OF
'cm: they paid the store bill.
NV averment that an accurate
knowledge Of ones business was esSe'i-
tial to obtaining the best results OF
which it was capable he admitted ana
sound kinder rash'nal: but he callnteh
to hit pretty nigh the mark without
much ciphcrin', and concluded as fol
lows: I'VE farmers hcv got vein
luyuriousncss in us that amt always
evident in our eXteriors. and erc WILL
lin to lose Il few thousands o dollars
in lifetime for the sake I" freedom