24 EXPENSES. 



if the owner devotes a little time to personally supervising the 

 orders for supplies and repairs ; thus when grain is to be 

 ordered the stable servant should report to the master, who 

 either gives the order himself or sanctions the coachman's 

 doing so. With a knowledge of how long the supplies should 

 last, any waste or ordering for commission will be detected. 

 If repairs are made similarly under the control of the owner 

 the bill for these items will be greatly reduced. Small com- 

 missions or perquisites may be allowed, but each dealer 

 should be told at the outset that he will lose the owner's pat- 

 ronage if any commissions are given large enough to be in 

 the nature of a bribe for the servant to act dishonestly and to 

 the advantage of the dealer. 



All bills should be dated, fully itemized and rendered 

 each month. A better but more troublesome plan is not to 

 allow bills to run at all, but to have an account accompany 

 each purchase. It is a piece of heedless extravagance to 

 allow bills to run six months or a year, and an owner who 

 permits few, if any, bills to be contracted will save himself a 

 large sum and prevent his servant and tradesman from con- 

 verting many honest dollars into dishonest- ones. 



It will be seen from the foregoing tables of running ex- 

 penses that it would be more economical, if there be but one 

 horse, to board him at a livery stable. This will be quite evi- 

 dent in comparing the costs, but there are some disadvantages. 

 The rate at a public stable is one dollar a day or thirty dol- 

 lars per month, including the care of harness and carriages. 

 By the payment of ten dollars a week, instead of seven, or 

 forty dollars a month, a box stall can be procured. To these 

 sums should be added from five to ten dollars per month for 

 extra wear and tear. The bill for shoeing and the coach- 



