Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. All 



on in a limited way for two good reasons. We demand that a 

 man be serious and start into the record work with the intention, 

 of keeping it up when he begins. This means that we cut out 

 lots of people who think for the time being that they would like to 

 have a record of the farm, but when it comes to the actual keep- 

 ing of that record they decide it is too much work. Again,, the 

 supply of diaries is limited and this makes us desirous of putting 

 every one where we will get the largest returns for it. 



The farm diary is nothing more than a daily record of what 

 happens on a man's farm. This record is made by the proprietor 

 or superintendent of that farm. Being a daily record, it has a 

 sheet for every day. Before we begin discussing the daily record, 

 there is one important thing which should be considered — this is 

 the farm inventory. 



THE FARM INVENTORY. 



The taking of a farm inventory for the farmer once a year 

 means the showing to him whether he makes a gain or a loss for 

 the year. Space is provided in the back of the diary for the taking 

 of such an inventory. The left-hand page is devoted to the first in- 

 ventory taken at the beginning of the year and the right-hand 

 page is used for the second inventory taken at the close of the 

 year. In this way many items may be compared in value by 

 entering the inventory items in, the same order each time. The 

 best time to take a farm inventory is usually about March 1st. 

 However, January 1st is almost as convenient. In taking the farm 

 inventory, a man, should always be very conservative in his values. 

 The great danger is in placing values so high that it will give him 

 a false idea of his actual conditions. If he uses values that he 

 knows will sell all his property were he to price it for sale at that 

 figure, he will be in much better position than if he uses values 

 which are a great deal higher than the property would bring even 

 under the best conditions. He should use the same method of 

 placing values at the close of the year as at the beginning. There 

 is no general rule which can be laid down for placing values on farm 

 property. A man will simply have to use his own good judgment 

 in deciding what an article is worth. Real estate is usually valued 

 about the same each year, unless some new buildings or fences are 

 put up on the place; then the value is increased to the amount of 

 just the cost of these improvements. All live stock must be 

 valued according to market prices at the time. It is usually well 



