476 Missouri AgriculUiral Report. 



THE USE OF THE FARM DIARY. 



(O. R Johnson, Assistant Professor Farm Management, University of Missouri.) 



Farm record work was begun in Missouri in 1910. A daily 

 labor record was kept oa several farms, with the object in view 

 of studying cost of operations, etc. This method was a very de- 

 tailed one. Much time and effort were required to carry it on suc- 

 cessfully. It was not a system for general farm use and no effort 

 was made to make it such. As soon as a few men began to hear 

 that the college was helping some farmers to keep their records, 

 numerous requests began coming in for more help with record 

 work. This necessitated the introduction of some briefer, more 

 practical way of aiding farmers so that a larger number might be 

 reached. The office of farm management at Washington had been 

 using a diary to some extent and it was thought possible that 

 enough of these could be procured to fill the present need without 

 any cost to the farmer. It was soon found, however, that the sup- 

 ply at Washington had been exhausted, and if we were to help the 

 farmers with their records we must make some diaries of our own. 

 This was immediately acted upon and a limited number were made 

 which were put out to the farmers at cost. This charge was 

 necessitated from the standpoint that we had to use our own funds 

 to have these diaries printed and could not give the farmer the 

 book unless he paid for it. Now, all men who care to co-operate in 

 the work can buy the diary at actual cost and have it summarized 

 for them at the end of the year's time by the department free of 

 charge. By summarizing the diary, we mean simply the working 

 out from the year's record the costs of carrying on farm opera- 

 tions, profits of those operations, distribution of labor, etc. There 

 are several advantages connected with the department summarizing 

 the diary. The farmers are given a more detailed summary than 

 they would work out for themselves. The summaries are all uni- 

 form and worked out with the idea in view of showing the farmers 

 the most important things in connection with their farm work 

 from a farm management standpoint. Also, the department is able 

 to benefit more men than just the man who kept the records, 

 by publishing results which this man received during the year, as 

 shown by the records. These diaries have been in use on thirty 

 Missouri farms during the past year, and for the coming season we 

 have placed twenty more in Missouri. The work is being carried 



