Lawrence democrat. (Lawrenceburg, Tenn.) 1884-1925, 1905-01-20
FARMER AND PLANTER.
BOOKKEEPING ON THE FARM
The Progressive Farmer Can Not
Get Along without 1t, the
Other Kind May.


believe Emerson and Flint in The
Manual of Agriculture say 1.-THE keep
ing of accurate accounts is indispensa-
BILE to complete success in farming"
and | indorse the the saying from
start to finish. II farmer does not
keep an account Of what he does the
fact is that he never knows whether
his business is profitable or not. He
might know whether he is richer now
than he was ten or fifteen years ago,
or whether he is worth several hun
dreds and perhaps thousands of dollars
less. 1t may be with some that there
is very little difference. They are just
standing still and do not know which
branch of their business Is keeping
them poor and which one is making
the living. II q little figuring had
been done the part which was making
the loss could have been dispensed
| with, but the most Of such farmers
do not know which one it is, and often
do away with the best one. A little
figuring is often worth dollars to us.
Figure and keep account of your hog
business, and il you lose money on
hogs and can not make anything at
the business, try something else, or
do nothing. Keep a book account, and
you will always know these things. l
keep in a day-booli or diary what is
done each day. This only takes a
line or two for every day. / put down
the work | do, and any business trans
action, or in other words this Is my
diary, and everybody knows what a
diary is l find it helpful in referring
to back dates many times. Besides
this | keep a complete set of books
on the simplest plan Of bookkeeping
These are small books ruled in differ
ent form as needed. The whole set
Of five cost only fifty cents, and will
last the average farmer several years
A farmer does not need to have those
large clothbound books. If he wishes
he can get some of the practical blanks
which students use at the business col
leges, or some Of the smaller cloth.
bound books which are not expensive
but no matter how much they cost
you should keep an account in some
way. To just keep list of transac'
} lions In small day-book Is better
than none at ALL and it would be wei
to carry q small book and pencil al
| tiYD,n bay Incl
right to look and act like business
men as anyone, for every farmer
should be business man. So keep al
account of your business. 1t is yer!
essential that farmers keep an accoun
of their business transactions, for the!
can see just how they stand financial.
in few minutes, and those who keel
books stand better than those who d.
not, and by not keeping books the,
, hardly know which way or how bat
: they do stand Deliver all things il
number and weight, and put all thing
in writing that you givest out or re
ceivest in" is what we find in tn
I Eccleclastes xiii, z, and it is wis
/ idea. Along this line it would b
e better if farmers would do a littl
more figuring. If you are going t
undertake something which is new t
r you, figure well before you so into il
2 We can figure on almost anything
and never figure too high. Away
give good measure in figuring and a.
low plenty for extras urge all farm
T. ers to keep some kind of an accoun
Q of their transactions. am Statistic
! that it pays, and if you try it you wi
l. be satisfied.-E. ]. Waterstripe,
EpitomiSt.