516 BUSINESS MANAGEMENT 



To be efficient as a man.iger of poultry flocks, one must first of 

 all be capable of planning well and executing according to the plan. 

 One must be well trained in the actual practices of handling and 

 caring for poultry at all ages and for all purposes. One must 

 be capable of financing the enterprise and to do that must be 

 thoroughly acquainted with banking methods and practices; and, 

 lastly, if he is to make the greatest success, must be capable of 

 merchandising. To-day the ability of the average poultry keeper 

 to buy and sell right nearly always means the difference between 

 profit or loss. In order to have a check on one's efficiency in these 

 various lines of personal application, a careful set of records and 

 accounts backed by a careful farm management survey becomes an 

 absolute necessity in these times of high cost factors and keen 

 competition. 



A Poultry Farm Management Survey. — First of all it is im- 

 portant that the details of a management survey be understood, 

 and the importance of each item appreciated. The complete 

 poultry farm management survey should include five very definite 

 and distinct groups of figures and facts. These are: A complete 

 detailed inventory; distribution of farm area; operating charges; 

 sources and amount of revenue, and a recapitulation or summary. 

 In compiling these facts the utmost accuracy and detail is desired, 

 and the best results can always be secured if a definite tabulated 

 form is followed in compiling the information desired. Efficient 

 and tested tables for this work are here presented (p. 517). 



If the business is large enough to have a special banking ac- 

 count, the cash in the bank should be added to the above values. 

 The resulting inventory value shows the present worth of the 

 business as near as it is possible to determine it. If the bills are 

 remaining unpaid or moneys are due the farm from customers, 

 these two items should be tabulated and the totals of each deter- 

 mined, and if the bills receivable are greater than the bills payable 

 the difference should be added to the inventory value; if less, the 

 difference should be deducted from the inventory value. 



Inventory Records. — To get the greatest good from an inven- 

 tory and to be able to analyze the business thoroughly, it is neces- 

 sary to have two inventory records, one representing present items 

 and values, and another taken at a previous period, usually one year 

 previous; the difference between these two inventories showing 

 whether the business has been increasing in value or decreasing, or 

 as is true in many instances, remaining stationary. If a decided 



