Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1914-02-24
Farm Bookkeeping and Crop Costs.

| ocrsG. Paris, Ne.
Farm Bookkeeping and Crop Costs
have been much interested in the va
rious expressions Of opinion which 20,
have recently published on the subjec
OF whether feed supplies, raised on th'
farm, should be charged to the cows a
cost price or at market rates. l have
made practise for years, and believe
il is the only fair method of keeping Al
account of the cost of raising the various
crops which We produce, reckoning ir
all expenses just as fairly as am able
TO do, and charging these crops to the
department to which they 60, at the pre-
vsiling market prices, fer goods OF that
quality delivered at the point where they
are consumed. also credit the cows,
poultry, or whatever department it may
be, with all products turned out, charg'
ing the manure produced back to the
crop department., to be reckoned into
the cost of producing the crops for the
following year.
Now, this may seem like lot OF trouble
for practically no benefit, but when
a person gets into the habit of doing II
and gets the thing systemstized it is
really very little trouble, and the salts
faction Of knowing just what things
cost and what departments are really
paying profit is something that cannot
be expressed 10 figures. / believe, how
ever, that il pays for itself many times
over in the long run. When farmer
know " bat crop 10 not paying, he Is IN
fair way to take some active steps In
finding out where the trouble is and
rectifying the past mistakes; or IL 1t Is
not possible to make the given crop prof.
liable, he can change his methods and
raise something else that will pay
profit.
The dairy COW has been likened to a
machine into which so much raw mate
rial is fed and out Of which 80 much fin'
ished product is taken. Some say that
she should be pushed for all she is
worth as long as she will stand 1t and
then discarded as of no further use, just
as the machines in a shoe factory, when
they are slightly out of date, are thrown
out, even at large loss, because some
new machine has been produced which
will do the work at a less cost and the
old ones can no longer be used protitably
in competition with the improved pat
terms. This view of the COW has never
exactly appealed to me, as l consider the
COW as far higher organism than any
msn-made machine. She has al indi-
viduality which must be studied by her
owner II the best results are to be at
tanned in the quantity and quality Of her
product. But do not believe in max
ing her the only source of income to be
reckoned on, even on dairy farm. Give
the COW every fair chance TO make a
profit; give her a comfortable stable,
feed her the best OF feeds carefully Sc
lected for the greatest quantity of d.
gestible nutrients for the unit OF cost,
and care for her just as we'll as you
know how. II she is not able to make
fair profit after all this, then there 10
something wrong with the COW or her
owner, and the thing to do is not to fur
nish her with her feed at actual cost OF
production, but TO get better COW, one
that will produce larger quantity OF
richer quality OF milk.
What would we think Of q shoe fac
tory that could not make profit on its
shoes unless II had the leather, thread,
etc all furnished at actual cost of man
ufacture? think We would say that
factory needed new superintendent
In the production of the leather for
those shoes, many people have made
their profit before 1t comes to the shoe
factory; the farmer sells the hide, the
dealer makes bis profit, the tanner does
the same, and very likely one or more
iobbers have had hand in 1t too. Yet
the shoe factory buys the leather, makes
il up into shoes, and adds on its profit
before the consumer buys his footwear.
Now, with the farmers factory, where
be turns out dairy products, why should
not be also pay for his raw materials AZ
the market pricep Should he not give
the farm end credit for all II produces at
a fair price? II the dairy cannot pay a
profit under those conditions, should he
not PUT the blame where 1t belongs,
and take the proper steps for correcting
the wrong conditions?
Ii Is becoming more and more the rule
on large dairy farms, to separate the dif-
ferent kinds of work into different de-
partments, with special group OF men
Tor the work OF each department; one
lot of men do the milking and take care
Of the cows in the stable; another lot re-
ceives the milk from the mixers, cools
and bottles il, and delivers 1t to the de-
livery wagons, and also does the wash
ing and sterilizing of the bottles; while
another set of men do the farm work,
making about . nine hour day In the
fieds, besides the care of their teams
before and after work. By this system
every man knows practically oil he hss
TO do, and by becoming more expert IN
his work and by avoiding loss of time IN
changing from one job to another several
times day be is able to do bis work al
less cost and do ii better than BY the old
method. 1t is simply an approach to
the system Of the shoe factory, where
one man does one kind OF work day al
ter day, and though he never learns to
make a complete shoe, the finished prod
uct costs the factory owners far less
than would be possible in any other
way, and they are able to compete IN the
mari kets of the world and make protl
on their investment.
OF course, this system cannot DO car.
ried out to the extreme by the small
farmer, but the principle Of separation
of the departments seems to me to be
applica BILE in most cases. II 10 only
small job to jot down every night, in
note book, just what the men have beer
doing during the day, and 1t makes
very interesting and profitable employ
msnt for the rainy days, or the winter
evenings, to figure up the cost OF the va
rious crops and see which pay proht
1t will furnish many surprise to any
farmer to find that the crop which NJ
has been tending so carefully oil sum
msr, il figured accurately, is produced
at q loss instead Of the profit on whict
he has been copgrstulati himself.
Most of US occasionally strike condi
tions in raising our crops that throw The
| returns from one or more OF them below
our usual production, and 1t has been
| surprise TO me to find how slight . re
duction In the gross returns will turr
| the scale from profit to loss, when al
costs are figured in as they should be-
Too many farmers are working hare
early and late and making but . scan
living, estimating that they are making
a profit on their crops, when II they hs
ured their own labor at the same rat'
that they would have to pay another
man to do the work, the profit would d
II l. Ind q