MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 19 



ol" the items of the city business are comparatively few in a farm 

 business. Credit accounts are likewise comparatively few. It is 

 not my purpose here to discourage the keeping of detailed records 

 of receipts and expenditures. In fact, it is only by beginning in 

 this matter that the ideal in farm accounting may be attained. 

 But after all, the information acquired by such a system is no 

 more serviceable, in so far as making possible a better organization 

 among the factors of production is concerned, than that obtained 

 by the inventory method. 



For accurate information regarding the status of the busi- 

 ness which will prevent a misdirection of production, a cost 

 accounting system is essential. Costing systems necessarily 

 involve double entry principles. Two entries must be made for 

 each transaction. If milk be fed to hogs, the dairy must be credit- 

 ed and the liogs charged with the amount, if labor be paid in kind, 

 farm produce must be credited and labor debited, etc. Expediency 

 demands, however, that the system be simplified. Accuracy must 

 be foregone. The tediousness of the trial balance which is indica- 

 tive of accurac}^ in posting, suffices to stifle the desire for scientific 

 information of the most enthusiastic farmer. Cost finding re- 

 quires detailed analysis of the business operations. The many ac- 

 counts required to furnish the necesary information and the many 

 entries to the various accounts are apt to multiply the adversities 

 of the average farmer bej^ond the 'elastic limit' of his endurance. 

 In the simi)lification, posting may be reduced to a minimum by 

 making the entries immediately in the respective ledger accounts. 

 Time cards may be used for the original entries of man labor and 

 horse labor; at the end of the month, the separate items may be 

 posted to tlieir respective ledger accounts and the total hours 

 credited to the ledger accounts of man labor and horse labor. Ac- 

 counts Avith the relatively unimportant departments may be dis- 

 pensed with ; the elimination of the cash account saves consider- 

 able time and is not particularly essential in the determination of 

 costs. To simplify by eliminating some accounts, and by abandon- 

 ing the trial balance is to court error but the results will be suflS- 

 ciently correct for all practical purposes. It must be remembered 

 that the farmer is not producing on contract and in view of this 

 fact, absolute accuracy is not so essential as in the case of the 

 sliipbuilder or steel products manufacturer, etc. The vital thing 

 from the standjioint of the propagandist, at least, is to induce the 

 farmer to departmentize his farm and to make an effort to deter- 

 mine what is and what is not profitable. By the use of a simpli- 



