542 JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 



Yll.- Range Finance 



I. Importance of accounting to efficient management of range and 

 preparation of accounts in determining profits. 2. Cost of pro- 

 duction of the various classes of live stock in the different regions. 

 3. Purchasing or renting ranch property. (Three credit units.) 



1. It should be impressed upon the mind of the student that the adop- 

 tion of strict business methods is quite as essential to successful live- 

 stock production as to other lines of business. The particular accounts 

 to be recorded and convenient methods of recording them should be 

 emphasized. The records should include ( i ) the value of the lands used 

 for grazing and for the growing of supplemental feeds, as well as the 

 value of the live stock, feed, machinery, and other equipment on hand 

 at the beginning of the year : (2) the total operating expenses and total 

 receipts for the year; and (3) the value of the lands, live stock, feeds, 

 machinery, etc., at the end of the year. Methods of recording the data 

 (avoiding complicated systems of bookkeeping) and of making annual 

 inventories should be carefully considered. 



2. The cost of producing (i) cattle, (2) horses, (3) sheep, and (4) 

 goats should be considered for the major stock-producing regions, such 

 as the Southwest, the Northwest, the Middle West, etc., where the gen- 

 eral plan of operation and the length of the winter feeding season within 

 the respective regions are similar. The causes which contribute to the 

 difference in the cost of production in the various regions should be 

 fully discussed. 



3. For those who desire to go into the stock-raising business, the 

 matter of deciding on the locality, the size and type of the ranch in which 

 to invest, and the class, and, indeed, the particular breed of stock to 

 raise, are often perplexing problems. These questions, of course, must 

 be decided very largely on an economic basis. 



The capital available, the amount of money that must be invested in 

 range and farm land, the length of the grazing season and of the winter 

 feeding periods, distance from market, the element of risk, such as ab- 

 normal live-stock losses due to drought, poison plants, predatory ani- 

 mals — in short, the actual cost of live-stock production — are among the 

 more important factors to be considered. 



With limited capital, the taking of stock on shares or on a rental basis 

 is often more profitable and usually involves considerably less risk than 

 does investment in a ranch and live stock where it is possible to make a 

 cash payment of only a small amount of the principal. The basic prin- 

 ciples covering the economics of rentals and purchase of lands should, 

 therefore, be taken up in detail. 



