Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1911-01-13

/ ing from commercial point or view
4 is best illustrated by statistics. The
| estimated value on the farm of all
agricultural products in 1909 was
close to 000,0O0,00O, while the
value of manufactured goods of ev-
| cry description, including railroad
rolling stock and supplies of all
kinds, and everything connected with
! navigation, vehicles of all kinds,
household and personal goods, iron
and steel, and other metals and their
/ products, foods, and kindred pro-
ducts, textiles, lumber and it's manu-
facture, chemicals and allied pro-
ducts, liquors and beverages, clay,
| glass and stone products, tobacco and
miscellaneous industries, amounted
to only 5,000,OO0,O0O The total
railroad earnings in 1907 were but
| little more than one-fourth that of
the farmers; all the mineral products
| less than one-fifth, and all the loans
of the national banks in 1903 were
! but one-half of the farmers earn
| ings.
Uncle Sans balance sheet, accord
ing to the census of 1900, included
! 5,750,000 farms, valued at 1,00O,-
/ 100000. OF this, $13,400, 900
was in land, $3,6OO,00O,OOO in build
ings, $1,O00,000,000 in livestock. In
this stupendous business, what an OPP
portunity for the exercise of the
/ greatest administrative and manag-
ing powers!
/ The Importance of the financial
| side Of farming is evident, but the
/ fact remains that this side of the
worlds greatest industry has receiv-
ed but slight attention by both the
/ farmer and the schools. Prof. Bailey
of Cornell says on this subject: "In
| visiting practically every farm in one
of the counties of New York we did
not find one man who knew how
much it cost him to produce milk or
to raise any of his crops"
The secretary of agriculture has
/ frequently pointed out the remark
able prosperity of the farmer; that
! the export of farm products is vastly
| in excess of all other exports COM
/ bined; that a million agricultural
! debtors have been transformed into
/ the same number of savings deposit
! tors; that, contrary to his reputa-
ton, the farmer is a great organizer,
| and that he has achieved remark
! able successes along many lines in
which the people of other occupa-
lions have either made no beginning
at all or have nearly, if not COM
pletely failed. He points out that
most farmers live better and enjoy
more general prosperity than the ay-
erage merchant or mechanic. All
this is doubtless true; true, that the
farmer is becoming a factor to be
! reckoned with in the business world ;
true, that the average farmer knows
vastly more about scientific farming
than his father did; true, he under
stands more thoroughly the value of
proper cultivation, of fertilization,
Of rotation of crops, and of diversi-
| fed farming, but it cannot be said
| that he owes much of his success to
! improved business methods.
In discussing farm business man
agement the subject of farm &C
counts deserves special considera-
ton, both because of its Importance
and because of the usual negligence
of the farmer in this regard. A
study of the causes of business fail
ure has disclosed that a very large
| percentage are traceable directly or
| indirectly to a lack of accurate
knowledge of the business as dis
| closed by Well-kept records. What
ever merits are claimed for any sys-
| TEN of farm records, one must be
paramount: Simpli city. The farm
er is usually a very busy man. His
| chief difficulty is neither ignorance
nor Incidence. He has but little time
| for fancy bookkeeping, and still less
! for red tape. What he wants is a
plain, simple, straightforward his
tory of his business, so arranged and
classified as to require the minimum
effort to keep it up. All things con-
| sidered, the single-book system has
met with the greatest favor on small
farms. In this system a good, sub
stantial day book is used for the cur
rent history of the business, for the
cash account and for the ledger.
Many prosperous farmers, however, are
adopting complete systems of book
keeping especially adapted to their
individual needs. Frequently pub
lie accountants are asked to design
more elaborate cost records and ac-