PITFALLS OF ACCOUNTANCY 27 



with a few random fruit trees for shade and land- 

 scaping, is plenty for a family of four. Aside from 

 poultry, my investment in livestock totalled $185: 

 $165 for a fresh cow and a half-grown heifer, $10 

 for a pair of weaned pigs, and $10 for a ram and 

 two ewes. Reckoning my basic poultry investment 

 at seven dollars for eggs and incubator, the grand 

 total outlay was then about five hundred and fif- 

 teen dollars considerably less than the price of 

 a cheap car after you have paid the so-called 

 "freight" from Detroit. Unlike the cheap car, after 

 five years' hard use my tools and machinery give 

 every appearance of being good for another ten to 

 fifty years although, of course, at forced sale they 

 would bring practically nothing. The fruit trees 

 are there to stay; they will ultimately liquidate as 

 firewood. But crops and livestock are good nego- 

 tiable securities with daily price quotations in the 

 newspapers. When I mentioned a twelve to fifteen 

 hundred dollar inventory it was them I was talk- 

 ing about. 



