Rensselaer Union, Volume 11, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 January 1879 — Keeping Farm Accounts. [ARTICLE]

Keeping Farm Accounts.

Probably there is no class of men doing business, who neglect to the same extent that our farmers do the investigating of the operations of each year. The merchant keeps his cash account, whi<?h shows what moneys have passed through his hands during the year. He also keeps his expense account, which shows what it has cost him to run his store, and in this account is charged clerk hire, rent, insurance, taxes, etc., 6tc. Then at the end of the {ear he takes an inventory of goods on and, and is able to strike a balance and see what the result of the year’s business has been. If he finds that it is unfavorable, he has before him the data from which he can make calculations for thq,future. He perhaps finds that he has overstocked with certain kinds of goods which soon become unsalable, or he discovers that there is no demand in the market for some articles which he has supposed were necessary to keep in stock. Or he may find it necessary to reduce the number of his clerks. The point we wish to make is this—that a merchant who is worthy of the name, keeps such an account of his business as to oe able to tell just where the loss has been, if there has been any. The merchant does this at a heavy expense, because he finds it absolutely necessary to the success of his business. Now the'object of this article is to urge upon farmers the importance of keeping accounts with their business in order that they may know where their losses occur—if there are such—and that they may intelligently plan for the future.

Even if the farmer keeps only a cash account, he can look it over and see how much has been paid out for labor, how much for stock, seed and implements, and what the gross receipts of the farm are. Strange to say, the majority of farmers do not qyen do this, and at the end of the year, if they find they are coming out behindhand, it is impossible for them to tell what has caused the loss. The keeping of a cash account will occupy but a few minutes each day, and, with a little practice, will become easy. If you would be accurate, it will be necessary to carry a pocket memorandum ana put down every penny received or paid out, at the time, and then copy into your book in the evening; or, if you are tired and busy, it can be postponed till a rainy day. It is best, however, that it should be done every day. Keeping accounts with any particular field or crop is a very 'simple matter. In doing this you should charge a fair rentjper acre for the land, then all labor, seed, etc., and credit the field with grain produced at market value. The account with a ten-aere wheat field would be something like this:

Bent, at $5 per acre SSO 00 Breaking, 8 day*, at $2.50 20 00 Harrowing ana rolling 15 00 Seed, 10 bushels, at $1 10 00 Drilling, at 50c per acre 5 00 Harvesting, at $2 per acre 30 00 Totalsl2o 00 Hauling and thrashing could be balanced against the straw. When the wheat is thrashed, credit the field with it, at the market price, and find what the cost per bushel was, and the profit or loss per acre or per bushel. A similar account could be kept with a cornfield, which would enable the farmer to answer intelligently the question, “ What does it cost to raise a bushel of wheat or corn ?” while at present there are fewwho can give an intelligent answer. More than this, it could not fail to make better farmers of them, for they would soon learn that the profit in farming comes from good crops, and that poor crops were often produced at an actual loss. For instance, the wheat crop alone, if it produced 12 bushels-to the acre, would cost $1 a bushel; if only 10 bushels per acre, it would cost $1.20 per bushel, while if it yielded 25 bushels per acre, the cost would be but 48 cents per bushel. The farmer who, by a system of accounts, is able thus to strike a balance with his fields and ascertain the cost of production, is not likely to continue to produce crops at a loss, for he is acting intelligently. If he has been producing twenty acres each of corn and wheat, and from the small yield getting the bare cost of cultivation, his account book will show him that half this land in grass and the other half better manured and,cultivated, might give him a profit We know from experience that keeping farm accounts will make one a more careful farmer, and feel that we can give no better advice tn our readers than that they al once begin to practice it.— Practical Farmer.