A con- 

 a com 

 awn for 



ever exist to induce the man to swer\e 

 his fidelity. But when I say all money deal 

 ings, I except the most important, 

 siderable balance in the hands of 

 merchant, or a salesman, may be d: 

 by the master ; but it should be entered by 

 the bailiff in the account of receipts, and mi- 

 mediately written off in his master's account. 

 The reason of this is, that the bailiff may 

 himself be convinced of the annual profit or 

 loss, that, in case the latter happens, he may 

 receive a proper reprimand for general con- 

 duct ; and, on the contrary, in case of con- 

 siderable profit, the gentleman should make 

 him a gratuity, by way of encouragement. 



This mention of accounts reminds me of 

 the vast importance of regular accounts to a 

 genrieman former. This is one of the advan- 

 tages he has over the common farmer, and, 

 I think, one of the greatest. The latter 

 knows whether his business is, upon the 

 Avhole, profitable or not, but only guesses the 

 particulars ; some articles may even be un- 

 successful, without his knowing anything of 

 the matter ; and as to the aggregate of annual 

 profit, he never knows the real amount of 

 that. 



But I have heard some people ask. What 

 is the good of accounts ? Will accounts turn 

 a bad farm into a good one ? Or will they 

 recover losses that ignorance have occasioned? 

 kothing can be more mistaken than such 

 ideas. If a farmer knows not the degree and 

 amount of his profit or loss on every article, 

 and by every field, it is impossible he should 

 possess a due experience of the past, or ever 

 be able to make it a guide to the future. 

 Every common farmer guesses at all these 

 particulars, and acts accordingly, which shews 

 their ideas of the utility of the knowledge. 

 What is experience, but knowing that certain 

 causes have been attended with such and 

 such effects ? But what is the knowledge of 

 eftects, where a thousand are all jumbled into 

 one account, with nothing but random guesses 

 to form distinctions ? 



Various fields of wheat are managed in a 

 very different manner. Is it not of consequence 

 to the farmer to know exactly the product, 

 the expenses, and the nett profit of each? 



The Country Gentleman s Magazine 



from Is he not thereby a better judge of the merit 

 of each method he uses ? And Avill he not be 

 able to manage future crops with more ex- 

 perience than if he had gained none of this 

 knowledge ? 



From keeping such an account 

 of each field he knows the proportions of 

 rent, feed, labour, wear and tear, &c., and 

 the crop, ' and sees in what manner the 

 latter answers to the former ; and, by a com- 

 parison between different fields and modes of 

 culture, is enabled to judge which is most 

 probable, in future, to pay him best. Two 

 fields of the same soil are cultivated exactly 

 in the same manner, save, that one is 

 manured at a large expense, the other not. 

 To what degree does this manuring answer ? 

 Is the answer to this question of no import- 

 ance? Where is it to be gained without 

 exact accounts? This instance might be 

 multiplied to ten thousand, in not one of 

 which would experience be clear and valuable 

 without a regular account. 



It is the same with grass lands ; their pro- 

 ducts of all kinds, with every sort of cattle. 

 Twenty beasts are annually fatted that are 

 kept the year through, and twenty milch 

 cows are also kept : Avhich pays the farmer 

 the best ? This is a point of no slight im- 

 portance, for the difference may be very 

 great ; but is it to be known from that general 

 account which every man carries in his head, 

 which is nothing more than an idea ? What 

 accuracy can there be in accounts so kept ? 



The farmer stocks himself Avith two sorts of 

 sheep, ewes, and wethers ; they are both fed 

 alike : which answers best, and to what 

 degree? Even this plain case can be re- 

 solved with no degree of certainty, without a 

 regular account being kept of each. 



When a man turns over his books, and 

 finds a regular balance of profit and loss on 

 every article, he is enabled to ' review his 

 business, to consider what have probably 

 been his errors, and wherein he has been 

 most successful. The result of such reflections 

 is true experience, not the random notions 

 that are carried in the memory. After some 

 years farming, upon looking over his accounts, 

 he finds that wheat has in general paid him 

 very indifferently ; and that, upon an ave- 



