124 Farm Accounts. 



point for the farm account. IVIany people are satisfied with 

 estimating merely the value of the stock and crop, considering 

 that the acts of husbandry will come to about the same amount 

 each year, and may therefore be dispensed with ;' such a plan 

 may do very well when a farm is in good order and regu- 

 larly ci'opped, but at the commencement of the occupation of 

 neglected land, when a large outlay has to be made, the accurate 

 valuation of all legitimate expenses is the only means by which 

 the farmer can judge whether he has been acting judiciously 

 and is likely to see a return for his money. Tillages, moreover, 

 are so easily valued by any practical man, who has kept memo- 

 randa of the nature and amount of work jierformed in each field, 

 that I would strongly recommend the young farmer never to 

 neglect this part of the balance sheet. 



It is satisfactory to be able to point to any particular year, and 

 show that, whilst the money returns were smaller than usual, the 

 farm was indebted for a large sum in acts of husbandry, which, 

 if properly performed, laid the foundation for large returns here- 

 after. I annex a few notes from a Farmer's Valuation Field- 

 book. (See page 125.) 



From this it will be evident that, to make a valuation of 

 this sort, practical knowledge sufhcient to form a judgment of 

 the value of work, and care in keeping a record of the amount 

 of work performed, for which an outgoing tenant would be 

 entitled to receive compensation, constitute tlie necessary require- 

 ments. 



The rough draft of this inventory may be made in the farmers 

 pocket JMemorandum-hooh, which should be accurately and neatly 

 kept, as it is the source from whence we look for the material of 

 our accounts. 



All the transactions that take place either at market or in our 

 fields and walks must be noted at once. 



Much of the farmer's business being done in the open air, 

 receipts for money are seldom given, formal contracts rarely drawn 

 up, therefore the memorandum of the transaction made on the 

 spot, with the date affixed, is most useful ; and should the matter 

 be of much importance, or should there be any reason to anti- 

 cipate that the contracting party may be inclined to run from 

 his word, it is a good plan to obtain his signature at the foot of 

 the memorandum, after having read it over to him. That note 

 and your oath would be quite sufficient evidence in a court of 

 justice. 



Arrangements for measuie work should also be duly noted, 

 and indeed a memorandum of every tiansaction that can be 

 referred to subsequently should be made when it takes place. 



It is very important to enter at once in the iVIemorandum-book 



