The Cairo bulletin., 1909-09-01
VALUE OF AN ACCOUNT BOOK.
Farmers Would Save Much Money
by Watching Details More
Carefully.

tnelf farms as WnOie pay pront,
few can tell which crops or which an
finals are most profitable, or whether
certain ones are actually grown or
kept at loss. 1t is easier, by far, to
affect the profits of farming by re-
ducing the cost of production than by
striving to advance the selling price,
man. The cost rests mainly in the
hands of the producer. while the sell
ling price is controlled almost entire
ly by the law of supply and demand.
Farmers are seldom well-trained
business men. They generally have lit
tie inclination and are not usually
willing to take the time to carry out
complicated plan of bookkeeping. A
simple system of accounts must, there
fore. be devised that will cover the
needs of the business. Two or three
hours day spent on suen system
would be worth to the farm double
the same time spent in manual labor.
The farmer should realize that his
work as manager ought to be worth
more in the form of brain work than
at ordinary farm labor. 1t is not econ
omy for him to do the work that he
can hire done at Is cents an hour, and
at the same time neglect the import
ant work of manager or business head.
The chief factors entering into the
cost of production, whether of plants
or animals, are the labor and the
feed 1t is of prime importance that
these two factors be carefully ac
counted for. The labor should be d.
vided under three heads that Of men.
of teams. and of faYm machinery. In
any system of farm accounts, the first
thing of importance is plan for keep
ing and classifying the time Of men
and teams. The best plan for keeping
a record of the time is by means of
printed time-cards, with list of the
various crops grown, the different
classes of animals to be cared for, and
other labor operations carried out on
the farm. Against these various items
the time in hours IL entered by the
men according to the amount spent
on each. BY having two columns for
hours of labor, one for men and one
for teams, these two kinds of labor
can be kept distinct. These individual
tme-cards are OF additional value as
a means of keeping the time OF the
day-men for use in making up the
payroll at the end of each month.
These cards should - looked over
by the manager each day for the pur-
pose of approving and Of correcting
any wrong entries. One would be sur
prised, however, to find how few
changes are needed when the men
once become familiar with the work
In order to keep permanent recort
of the time of the men and teams {
large daily labor record sheet Is need
ed where the time OF each man AM
teams can be entered under the variou
labor operations The footings of thes
| sheets will give the entire labor of tn
day under It's proper classification
Where only small number of mel
are employed, the large daily sheet
showing the time Of the different men
may be omitted A similar sheet, will
the days of the month at the left, viii
allow for entering the time of all o
| the men mea ON single sheet, AM
another sheet can be used for the t0ta
team labor The footings Of thes
| monthly labor sheets are the labo
! charges In hours, for the men an,
| teams, to be made on the various led
ger accounts.
The next rnattAr OF importance Is t.
determine the rate ut which the laho
| Of men and teams shall be charged
AS the price paid the different mel
on large farm will vary somewhat
it becomes necessary to get an aver
age price an hour for use in charging
| the labor to the different accounts
| The simplest way to get a fair aver
| age is to divide the total amount o
| the payroll by the total. nuE ~: .
| hours of man labor during the month
| This will give the average rate pc
| hour paid for such labor. The pric
at which team labor is charged shoul'
not be based on the market value o
such labor but rather on its cost +
| the farm. nst
This can be determined by runnin
an account with teams SO as to as
certain the cost Of feed, of BEDDING
of shoeing., of repairs on harnesse.
wagons, carts and sleds, To the e,
pense of the teams must be added
certain depreciation on the value {
teams, wagonssand carts. The expent
for teams goes on without regard
the amount a work they perform
Al some seasons the teams are i'd
much more than at others, For tn
reason the labor should be based G
an average price per hour for periot
of six months or a year. The vail
per hour of team labor can he four
by dividing the total expense of Il
teams by the total hours OF team 1
Dor performed.
In making the proper charges Il
machinery, . careful elassifieatls
should be prepared when taking Il
80 L. 1...n.