The Monmouth inquirer., 1925-08-27
IN - YITaa9 NN0J
The PENCIL MAKES /
4 FARM PAY BETTER
arm Accounting Reveals Losing.
Methods and Points Way to
Bigger Profits.
lFrom B-anker.Farmerl

S~uccessIul unless 1t pays a fair rate
Iofi interest on the investment and re-
turns fair wages for the farmers la
Dor. Agriculture Is considered by all
odd the most important industry in
the world, and ". in no other indus
Try Is The business end so neglected.
IL is common to find a farmer with
an investment OF fifteen to twenty.
Thousand dollars, yet does he keep.
oooks7 Perhaps he may jot down al
note now and then Of an Important
deal, but this Is Of no value In an.
analysis of his business as a whole.
No other industry, however small, Isl
caHried on without books of some
sort
Farming is a business and TO be-
successful must be conducted In al
b~usinesslike way. The business mans
mind should have indelfbly printed
upon 1t two questions: What profit Isl
my business making? How can that
profit be increased? To know the lat-I
ter, one must find out the former; and
TO find out about profits requires the
keeping Of books.
It Is not necessary for a farmer tOl
have a course In bookkeeping. AL
most every agricultural college in tAsI
country has issued q simpli6ed farm
accounting book which it sells at cost.
and only a few minutes are required
each day to jot down the days hap
penings.
Accounts Increase Profits
Instances number a thousandfo61
where farmers have profted by know
ing their business. Accounts kept byI
nineteen farmers In Illinois led them
to improve the organization and oper-1
alton of their farms in ways that add
ed approximately $3.50 to their aver-l
age net income in 1922, the seventh
year they had kept accounts.
An Iowa farmer found at the end oil
the first year he kept books that cxprwl
fed to livestock brought more money
than when sold outright. His ngnresa
showed that his cows were poors
compared with other farms In theI
state, he found the number OF acres
cultivated per man on his farm, as
well as the number Of acres per horse.
were below average. He rented more
land and replanned his fields, SO that
were increased. He sold some of his
scrubs and bought good cows. The
second year his income from thei
farm, after paying all expenses and1
interest on the money invested, had
been increased over $3.50.
Costs Can Be Regulated
Il have discovered" says one farm
bookkeeper, that the kind OF man
you have on a job, as well as the
particular team, often makes quite al
variation in the cost of performfngI,
certain tasks. I have learned from
the pages Of my book that II I could
have increased the yield Of my wheat
field by two bushels and my corn by
five bushels / would have realized 81
substantial profit from them"
While the farmers may not be able
to fix prices on their products, they
do have a voice in determining the
costs Of production. To reduce this
COSt ACy muSS AAob 0AOW Wu1S SAci
costs are.
The number Of farmers who ara
keeping books ON their business has
increased remarkably In recent years,
but the number of businesslike farm
ers is woefully small when listed
alongside the sum total Of the farm
ers in the country.
Inventory Is Indispensable
The basis Of any system OF farm ac4
counting is the annual property list
or inventory. It is the starting point
of the farm records. One must take
into consideration decreases ar I'M
creases in the value Of all property
owned to gauge the progress Of the
business. Lacking facts as to the
value of his property. no business man
can form an accurate estimate Of how
be stands financially. Increased cash
may be due to property which was
sold, or increased debts may be due
to improvements made. Il q farmer
Is falling behind, the inventory VIM
this fact. Often when al
man is discouraged and thinks he Isl
making no progress. his Inventories
will tell him that he is better on than
be thought.
AT the end of each year a financial
statement is drawn OF. This Is theil
farmers rating and nc farmer with Al
good financial statement need fearif
walking into a bank and asking Tor q.
loan.