The Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1912-1917, 1914-01-23
BUSINESS METH
obs ON The FARM
Every Up-tO- date Farmer Should
Take an Inventory of His
Farm Now.

FdTH NOW.
The Leader has adopted new feature
in its endeav0r to be especially value
able to the farmer and will each month
publish parts of the Wisconsin Bankers
farm bulletin, having been requested to
do 80 by the Farmers & Citizens Bank.
The following article on Inventories is
an especially valuable one and should be
cat out and saved for reference.
An inventory is statement showing
in detail the value of land, buildings,
livestock, equipment, produce, cash on
hand and in the bank on the date of in
ventory, together with the amounts OF
all notes and bills that others owe to the
farmer as well as those that the farmer
owes others.
Why TAKE AN INVENTORY?
An inventory shows, first, the farmers
total investment, second, his net worth,
third, how much his net worth has in
creased or decreased during the year.
The total investment is determined by
adding together the values of the various
classes of property On this invest
ment the farm must pay fair rate OF
interest before there is any return for
labor. 1t is often desirable to know
how much of the total capital is invest
ed in horses, land, buildings, etc, and
by proper grouping of the farm prop
erty the annual inventory will furnish
the most excellent material for such
study In case there are no debts, the
net worth will be the same as the total
investment; but on farms where there
are debts these must be subtracted
from the total investment. By compar-
ing the net worth of the inventory at
the beginning of the year and the net
worth of that at the end of the year, the
farmer can see how much he has gone
ahead or dropped behind
Besides furnishing the farmer and his
family living, the increase or decrease
in the net worth is what the farm has
given in return for labor and the use of
capital. To be able to determine how
much one has gained or lost during the
year is of great Importance, and the
value of the information alone will more
than repay the farmer for the time
spent on the inventory. 1t is common
mistake for all those who do not take
the inventory to look at the amount of
available cash as a guage of their busi-
ness success. This is a grievious mis-
take for fluctuations in cash mean prac-
tically nothing. A gain of 81, 900 in cash
at the end of the year may simply mean
that some of the property on hand last
year has been turned into cash. On the
other hand, a decrease of 81, 900 may
mean that what was cash last year ap-
pears now in the form of new build
ing or some other Improvement.
An annual inventory will also be of
material assistance in adjusting a loss
by fire should buildings, or contents,
be burned.
TIME OF TAKING INVENTORY.
For Wisconsin the time of taking an
inventory will vary between January
and April 1, preferably March l. The
exact date will depend on the location
of the farm and the type of farming.
On poultry farm the most convenient
date is in the fall; whereas on dairy and
stock farms where there is likely to be
a great deal of feed on hand earlier in
the year it might be advisable to post
pone this work until later in the winter
For best results The inventories ought
to be taken on the same date each year.
and, hence, it is advisf BILE to choose a
date that is early enough to make it
possible to get this work done before
field work begins even during the years
of early spring.
BUILDINGS.
List and give valuation to each
building The value to be put upon a
building will depend upon its present
usefulness, original cost, character of
building material used, construction,
state of repair, age, location, etc. In
case of dwellings and barns, hardness
and sanitation are also points which need
to be considered The value must be
estimated on the basis of the above
factors. Statistics show that buildings
will, as rule, decrease in value at q
yearly rate of from two to four per cent
of the original cost.
WATER SYSTEM.
Under this heading enter all items
that have to do with the water supply
of the farm and that is part of real
estate. Gasoline engines and movable
tanks would not be included in this
group. Pumps, wells, cement tanks
and reservoirs, windmills, ETC., should
be itemized and given separate values.
The values of windmills and pumps
must be reduced at the rate of from six
to ten per cent yearly, whereas, wells,
concrete tanks and reservoirs can be
put in the inventory at the same value
each year.
LAND.
After having obtained the value OF