The Newport plain talk. (Newport, Tenn.) 1909-1939, 1912-06-20
THE BUSINESS Or FARMING

ByL z. WAacoNER, OF the H c Service Bureau
A great deal has been said in a ioc-
ularway about the razor back hog and
his sun-splitting abilities, but it is a
very encouraging fact that he is RAD
idly becoming extinct. His happy
hunting grounds consist now of only
a small part of the total hog produc.
Ing area. He has been succeeded by
the more domcsticated and more
highly developed type of hog, which
someone has properly dubbed .'the
mortgage raiser.' Many farmers can
easily attribute the possession Of
homes, wealth and all that goes there
with, tothe domesticated hog. His place
in the scheme of industrial progress
| has been Won not by any unusual trait,
but is largely due to the fact that his
prohtableneSs is q result of instructive
economical habits. BY nature he
seems to tit into the whole scheme of
farming rs q Utilizer, to the best pos
sible advantage, of many of the farm
products that would otherwise be
total loss.
we can draw very valuable lesson
from this all but artistic animal,
whose only language is his squeal of
dlsapproval and his sturdy grunt of
satisfaction. He saves where Others
waste, and MAKES his living by roofing
around sometimes in places. where
wanted, sometimes not. If there is
anything within reach that he likes
he usually finds it ard proceeds to
make good Use of the opportunity
without any manifest concern or ex-
element, He seems to make it his
business TO look after small things.
even the holes in the fence if the out.
side looks more inviting.
Profitable farming is becoming ~ ore
and more a business proposition in
which 1t Is necessary to look after
the small things and to use to the best
advantage every opportunity to pro-
duce more economically. The best
and most profitable farmers have
adopted systems of farm accounting.
or, in other words, they have become
bookkeeperS, have kept such COM
pete records as to cradle them to de-
termlne which fields were profitable
and which were not. To begin with,
it is not absolutely necessary to follow
up all little details, but it is a good
plan to dose as completely as possible.
IL we we're to go into a manufacture
ing p.ln,, one of the first things to
impress Us would be the system of
doing things and the strict principles
of economy that are followed. All
products that can be used for other
purposes are saved, properly stored,
and used when the time comes. At
the end OF each month, and possibly |
each day, the manager knows the
exact status of affairs the amount of |
stock or hand, and the quantity of
finished product ready for the market.
Every pa15 of great machine is
numbered and each must be accounted
for.
Ii the same unsyStematic methods
we're practiced in factories as are used
on some farms, they would soon lose
their identity with the worlds pro-
gress, and become nothing but idle
monuments to some mans failure.
On careful consideration it is plain to
see that with farming it is as import
ant, if not more so, to keep definite
and strict records of all expenditures
OF time, money and labor.
The space allotted to this article
will not permita detailed explanation
of all the possibilities Of an account
ing system on the farm and what it
will accomplish, but carefully kept
records will be an index finger to point
the farmer TO loop holes through which
the profits are now slipping. He
would know which are the protitabls
fields; which are the most profit
producing crops; which COWS were
boarders. that he might at the end of
the season sell such animals to pay
their board bills; he would know .
whether he was utilizing his horse
power to the best possible advantage
In this connection it might be said
tiidO VIC VI OUi loi cElUSI ulli Vel 81 UlcS ,
has just found that on a 160-acre farm,
equipped with six splendid Head of
work stock, the average daily labor
per horse was only little over three
hours for the entire year a very
small average labor record, indicating
lack of efficiency. ,
Well kept accounts would enable us :
to determine the most satisfactory
way Of utilizing our dairy products.
Experiment Stations have found that
the cream separator reduces the loss
OF butter fat per cow to one-eighth
that of the deep setting; one-twenty- ,
first OF the shallow pan, and one. t
thirty-third of the water dilution r
methods of cream separation. This ,
shows that with the ordinary farmer
who is milking ten average COWS, =,
figuring butter at the market price,
will save more than the price of a !
in single season. 1t not =
pnlu is f,np, IT'S ,+.-l