Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 



253 



ords can easily be kept showing cost of labor as well as financial 

 cost of products raised on the farm. These show us what is profit- 

 able and what unprofitable. Thus we are helped to know how to 

 manage better in the future. 



The labor record shows the amount of time spent on different 

 kinds of work in the home. This helps us to better plan and ar- 

 range our work and also often shows how some little added con- 

 venience may save time and labor. 



The financial report shows the cost of clothing, fuel, food, light, 

 and improvement for the house. 



Some may say, "How could I do all those things? I have more 

 than I can do already." My expsrience has been that keeping these 

 records leads us to use more system in our work and soon we find 

 ourselves with more time than we thought. 



Then it is quite satisfying to know just how much time we 

 spend doing each kind of work, how much we sell from the garden, 

 orchard and poultry, and how much is consumed by the household, 

 the cost of everything used for food and clothing. 



In conclusion, it seems to me that it is of as much importance 

 that the farmer's wife keep a record of household receipts and ex- 

 penditures as it is that the farmer keep such records of his farm 

 operations, and surely it is just as essential that the farmer keep 

 tab on his finances as it is for the merchant or manufacturer. 



PARCEL POST. 



(Mrs. Cora Chapin, Appleton City, Mo.) 



No one can tell in advance how the parcel 

 post will work out. Some say it will be a failure. 

 M/jf/j^^ It may be, though, that the objections are inspired 

 ^f^^fKfm- by the express companies that must, perhaps, suf- 

 W ^ ^ fer loss of revenue from any mail system made 



to work successfully for shippers of small pack- 

 ages. To be sure, if the public could be induced 

 to refrain from using the parcel post it would 

 become a failure from lack of patronage. The 

 public is not going to be fooled. It is tired of 

 Mrs. Chapin. i]^q express monopoly. 



Some packages sent by parcel post and others by express from 

 the same town, to the same destination and at the same time, serve 

 to show the advantages of parcel post. In the majority of cases the 

 parcel post packages were delivered first, and in every instance it 



