FARM ACCOUNTS. 503 



CXXIX. FARM ACCOUNTS. 



At no place have I seen a more complete system of farm 

 accounts than at this farm. The books are kept with the great 

 est accuracy ; so that the result is seen at once, and any specific 

 loss or gain is traced to its proper source. Through the kindness 

 of the owner, I was enabled to procure a form of these accounts. 

 I subjoin it, thinking I can give few things of the kind more 

 valuable to my readers. The great and almost universal fault 

 of farmers is, that through ignorance or neglect they can hardly 

 be said to keep any accounts ; sometimes merely a few memo 

 randa in an interleaved almanac, or a few chalks behind the 

 door ; or if they keep books, they are often confused, are seldom 

 balanced, and the farmer never arrives at a result upon which he 

 can rely. Often, under these circumstances, he finds himself grad 

 ually declining into hopeless bankruptcy, without being able to 

 ascertain the most active and certain causes. The ship is filling, 

 but he cannot detect the leak, nor consequently the means of 

 stopping it. He may call all hands to work day and night at 

 the pumps, but with little hope of saving the vessel until the 

 fatal inlet is discovered ; and that may prove too late. 



Under the system adopted by this excellent farmer, an account 

 is kept with every crop, with the stable, the cow-house, the 

 sheep-fold, the poultry-yard, the laborers, and the farm-house. 

 Each is regularly charged with every item on the debit side, and 

 credited with every return which it makes. The whole is then 

 brought into a general resume ; an account of stock is taken ; 

 and the books balanced once a year with the accuracy of a 

 banker s clerk. 



Take, for example, his Winter In other columns are ar- 

 Wheat : it is charged with ranged 



Ploughing, harrowing, and rolling. The extent of the land in wheat 



Manures. Product in grain and in straw. 



Seed. Product by the acre. 



Reaping, and binding, and stacking. Value of the grain and of the straw. 



Threshing, measuring, and storing. Total value of the product. 



Transporting and marketing. Value per acre. 



Rent of land. Profit of the cultivation, 



Total of expenses. or 



Expense per acre. Loss. 



