Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1910-10-08
kEEP ACCOUNTS ON The FARM.

Few are tie farmers. the statement
IS often made. who know whether this
field or that field has yielded them :;
profit. whether this crop or that has
been 2 money maker. Few. it IS as
serted by those who have made care
fur study of the business end of farm
( ing, have any clearly defined idea as TO
what profits they really derive fro n
the operations of their farm. TIE
merchant, BY stock taking, aEi<aTougl
a systematic method OF keeping az
counts, can pretty accurately determ-
Inc where he stands w-f-t his Business
/ has amounted to, and wLrsher It has
been done al a profit or a loss. The
farmer should realize that his cuisine $
is just as much entitled to some accur-
ate bookkeeping. and that one OF the
4 first steps toward his independence
financially is tie establishing OF a
stem Ct accounts that viii let him
know exactly where ne st4IIs and the
actual results OF his .abors.
I Mr.. Dan Hughes. son Of Congress
nan Hughes. Of this district, has an
Interesting letter in tie Atlanta Con-
s-itution along this line. Congressmal
Hughes, It is we'll known. runs a thous-
nd acre plantation en- business meth
Is and can tell at the enI of a season
asst what it cost him TO raise his co.
ton, his corn and his other products.
His son has been raised along these
lines, appreciates their value, and -
he writes to brother farmers as TO-
lows:
| Let US start here in Georgia ca'd-
align to arouse our farmers TO a real
/ cation Of the Importance of busine 5
| principles on the farm, and the cardi'.-
| 4 principles OF all business is the eX-
| act knowledge of the cost Of doing :.
/ This need not be a campaign urging
/ Investigation, stock growing, dairying
| or trucking because the necessary mod
| fcation wiz differ with the individual
| farm. Oar campaign should be con-
| fined strictly to the encourag cement of
/ and comparison of crop costs, the Sc
lection OF the profitable crop, fertiEzer
/ " implement and the abandonment Of
| he unremuneratiye factors. Then al
versifcatiOn viii become the newt
| able RESULT because the individu j
| farmer viii know what he is doing aad
| the day of guesswOrk viii be over.
Ii tie farmers of Georgia VIII VIC *
and reason along these lines il will
not be long Before every desire Of the
most optimistic advocate OF the state
| is supplied. What We really want is
that every farm shall yield a profit.
aud it is a matter OF supreme inliffer-
ence whether this profit come from hay
| or logs, corn or COWS, peaches or peas,
EateEmelons or wheat. The result is
the thing We are after, and it alone can
| bring about greatly improved ruraI
conditions.
Our State College Of Agriculture can
do no better thing than work out a
system Of crOp-cOst accounting appl--
cab.e TO the individual farm and then
send out instructors competent 10
each it to farm boys and girls, wives
and mothers, even if tie farmer him
self is not in position to take advan--
age Of it. Our various commercial en-
-crprises have systems of b0okkseB-
ing upon which they are absOlutel5 i =
pendent and many of our boys and
girls go to business colleges to Learn
them to equip themselves for a bIsi-
ness career. Why not apply the same
principle to the farm2 Tlere is no
basic difference.
1t is true that I am suggesting a
new and radical departure from es9a5-
lished practices, but we have begun u
make over Georgia agriculturaIly ard
10 discard old theories AMI discredited
methods. A little experiment might
deYc-Op a wonderful possibility. We
are constantly experimenting with new
| crops. Why not experiment one rouni
at least with TIE old farm2