The Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1912-1917, 1914-01-23
VALUABLE TOPIC FOR FARMER

same value IN the inventory from year
to year unless there is good reason for
some other practice.
LIVE STOCK.
Horses and cattle are inventoried in
dividually. In order that they may be
recognized when taking the next in
ventory, they ought to be listed either
by name or number. The local selling
price of horses and COWS will help to
determine their value. Age must be
considered. Horses usually rise in
value until they are about years old
and then fluctuate with the seasonal
price until they are about 10, and then
drop off rather rapidly. The value of
milk cows will usually rise and fall in
the same manner. Hogs, sheep, poultry,
| unless purebred), are usually inven-
toried at certain rate per head, this
rate being based on market price.
PRODUCE AND SUPPLIES.
This includes, hay, straw, grains, corn,
ground feed, binder twine, paints, oils,
nails, posts, etc. Most of the purchased
supplies are on hand in small quantities
and can either be weighed or estimated.
| With roughage, grains and corn it is
different. The amounts on hand of
these commodities are found by getting
the cubic contents of the bins, mows,
and stacks. To find the approximate
number of cubic feet in a stack, measure
| its length, width and 'tover." To meas
ure the ''over,' throw the tape over the
stack and hold it tight down to the bot
tom of the stack on both sides. Having
the measurement. multiply the length
by the width. by the cover" and divide
| by to get the number of cubic feet.
The number Of cubic feet to ton will
vary from 800 to $50, depending on the
kind of hay and how well it is packed.
500 is ordinarily safe figure to use.
Ear corn will run between 2B and 2H
cubic feet per bushel, depending some
what on the size of the ears and the
length of time it has been in the crib.
| If one wishes to use 2R cubic feet, the
easiest method is to multiply by A and
divide by TO- A bushel of oats, barley,
ETC., runs very close to IL cubic feet
to the bushel To reduce cubic feet to
bushel, therefore, one may either divide
by a or else multiply the cubic con-
tents of the bin by and divide by 10.
Silage will vary from 20 to so pounds
to the cubic foot, depending chiefly on.
the height to which the silage stood in
the silo at the time of filling. There is
no market price for sllage, but for the
purpose of the inventory it may be
valued at q the market price of hay.
MACHINERY AND EQUIPMENT.
For best results, list and value each
machine and tool by itself. If one does
not desire such detail, minor equipment
can be listed and valued in smaller
groups, as for instance, carpenters
tools, b,acksmith's tools and garden
tools. But no matter which method is
used in inventorying minor equipment
it is always advisable at the time of TAX
ing the first inventory to make a COM
plete list of all tools. For later inven-
tories the value of such equipment may
be determined by subtracting 10 per
cent from the value of the preceding
inventories and adding the value of new
tools. At just what value to put ma
/ chinery into an inventory will depend
on cost, age, usefulness and efficiency.
A binder that cuts 20 acres will last
longer than the one cutting 100 acres a
year. A machine stored indoors while
not used will last longer tnan the one
| left outdoors, etc. The inventions of
new and more efficient machines may
cause sudden drops in the values of the
old machinery. AS soon as the binder
was put on the market the value of the
reaper was decreased rapidly. Special
crop machinery will decrease in value
suddenly in case the growing of that
crop is discontinued. An example of
this would be the sugar beet equipment
in localities where the growing of beets
has been discontinued. The average
rate at which machinery will decrease
is not always of much use, but may
serve as guides. The following are
some of the annual rates of deprecia-
ton for the more common machines:
per cent.
Hay rakes, grain binders, mowers s
Drills and seeders, corn planters, corn
cultivators, gang plows- Z
Hay leaders, manure spreaders II
Walking plows and heavy harness
Wagons and disks 5
CASH AND NOTES.
Cash on hand and in the bank, as well
as all notes and bills that the farm busi-
ness has coming from others, should be
determined and inventoried accurately.
By depositing in bank proceeds of all
produce and stock sold, and payment of
all bills by bank check, the annual PRO
fit or loss" may be more easily ascertain.
ed and annual inventories more readily
prepared.
DEBTS.
All debts should be included in the In
ventory. 1t is advisable to list each
y