Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1925-09-17
THE PENCIL MAKES
| A FARM PAY BETTER


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A farm cannot properly b. called
successful unless Il pays q fair rate
OF interest on tho Investment and re-
turns fair wages for the farmers -
Dor. Agriculture 10 considered BY all
odds the most important Industry h
the world. and yet In no other indus-
try Il the business end 90 neglected.
Il u common 70 ind farmer with
an Investment Of fifteen to twenty
thousand dollars, yet does he keep
booksy Perhaps he may jot down
note now and then Of an important
deal, but this 10 Of no vaius IN an
analysis Of his business a. Z whole.
No other industry. however small. Il
carried on without books Of some
sort.
Farming 10 . business and 70 DO
successful must be conducted In Z
businessliks way. The business mans
mind should have indelsbiy printed
upon u two questions; What profit h
my business makinxf How can that
pront be increasedf TO know the lat
ter, one must nnd out the former: and
to fnd out about profits requires the
keeping Of books.
\ ID not necessary for Z farmer 10
have course In bookkssping. Al
most every Agricultural college In the
country has issued simplined farm
accounting book which Il sells Il cost.
and only few minutes are required
each day to tot down the days hap
penings.
Aeeourts Increases Profits
Instances number thousandfoid
whore farmers have profted By know
ing their business. Accounts kept by
nineteen farmers In Illinois led them
to improve the organization and oper.
alton Of their farms In ways that add
cd approximately $3.50 70 their aver
age net income In 1881. tho seventh
| year they had kept accounts.
An Iowa farmer found at the end OF
the frst year he kept books that crops
fed to livestock brought more money
than when sold outright. His figures
showed that his cows were poor;
compared with other farms In the
state. he found the number Of acres
cultivated per man on Ills farm, a.
| well as the number Of acres per horse.
| we're below average. He rented more
land and replanned his nelds. 30 that
the crop areas per man and horse
we're increased. He sold some OF his
scrubs and bought good cows. The
second year his income from the
farm. after paying all expenses and
interest on the money invested. had
been increased over $3.50
L. Costs Can De Regulated
II have discovered" says one farm
bookkeeper. that the kind OF man
you have on Job. - well ~ the
particular team, often makes quite q
variation In the cost of performing
certain tasks. have learned from
the pages OF my book that n could
have increased the yield Of my wheat
field by two bushels and my corn by
| ave bushels would have realized .
substantial profit from them"
While the farmers may not be- able
10 az prices on their products. they
do have Q voice In determining the
costs Of production. To reduce this
cost they must drst know what the
| costs are.
The number Of farmers who are
keeping books on their business has
Increased remarkably In recent years,
but the number OF buslnessIike farm
ers Ii woefully small when listed
| alongside the sum total Of the farm
era I'm fhe couutrv
Inventory 10 Indispensable
The basis Of any system Of farm 40
counting 10 the annual property list
or inventory. II 10 the starting point
of the farm records. One must tai Z
into consideration decreases or In
creases In the value OF all property
owned to gauge the progress OF the
business. Lacking facts as TO tho
value OF his property. no business man
can form an accurate estimate Of how
he stands financially. Increased cash
may be due to property which was
sold, or increased debts may be due
TO improvements made. n farmer
Ia falling behind, the inventory win
emphasize this fact. OFTEN when .
man Is discouraged and thinks he Il
making no progress. his Inventories
win tell him that be 10 better on than
he thought.
At the end OF each year financial
statement Il drawn on. This 10 the
farmers rating and no farmer with
good financial statement need fear
walking into bank and asking for .
loan.