A SYSTEM OF COST ACCOUNTS FOR A FOREST TREE 



NURSERY 



By B. a. Chandler^ 



The method of figuring the cost of raising nursery stock which 

 we have used until recently, and which I believe is in more or less 

 common use, has seemed very weak to the writer. All pur- 

 chases were charged on one ledger account against the nursery, 

 and labor was charged to seed beds, transplants, etc., on each 

 man's weekly labor voucher. From these data an estimate was 

 made of total cost of seed beds, transplants and packing. The 

 cost per thousand for each different aged stock was based on an 

 inventory made once each year. The two weak places in this 

 system are : first, that no interest was charged ; and second, that 

 the inventory of one- and two-year stock was little more than 

 a guess. 



The matter of interest amounts to considerable in any one 

 year, where large expenses come at the beginning of the year, 

 and with expenses which hold over for three years the interest 

 certainly cannot be ignored. 



The policy of basing our figures on an inventory of nursery 

 stock is no less vital. It is impossible to make a reasonably 

 accurate estimate. Even if an accurate estimate could be made 

 it would not give the figure desired. We want to know how 

 much it costs to raise enough one-year stock to produce one 

 thousand trees when they are three years old. Our old method 

 gave us the cost of a thousand trees one year old. 



Prof. Warren of Cornell gives in his book on Farm Manage- 

 ment a system of cost accounts for farm crops which, with a 

 very few changes, overcomes most of the weak points in our 

 system. We have been using a modification of this system for 

 a year now and feel that we have something worth while. It 

 is not perfect as yet and will require some changes, but is a 

 great improvement on previous methods. The actual method 

 of keeping the data will have to be worked out for each situation. 



In most ways the system does not differ from any system 

 of cost accounts. It is based on an inventory made at the 

 beginning of each year, a set of ledger accounts for each crop 

 on which separate cost figures are distinct, and a set of work 



1 Assistant State Forester, Vermont. 

 468 



