6 The Farmer's Business Handbook 



How often I have seen a noble, industrious farmer 

 marketing his chief money crop of the year, the 

 wheat or the wool, or the fat live stock! With 

 what honest pride he laid the check for several 

 hundred dollars on the bank counter and then 

 stuffed that " wad " of bills into his " side pocket ! " 

 Then with what a cheerful voice he asks at the 

 desk of the grocer for the amount of his account! 

 "Fifty-six dollars and seventy-two cents," the 

 clerk responds. "There must be some mistake; 

 it cannot be more than half that." The items 

 are looked up, the charges are correct, the bill 

 is paid. In a voice out of which some of the 

 courage has gone, he asks for his account at 

 the dry goods store. This is nearly one hun- 

 dred dollars. He disputes the account, says he 

 never had the goods, there is some mistake, they 

 have been charging neighbors' purchases to his 

 account; he takes an hour to inspect the items, 

 pays the bill under protest, and, concluding that 

 he has had enough unhappiness for one day, 

 takes something to drink and lets the half dozen 

 other fellows wait for their pay. For it will be 

 some pleasure to carry even a small roll of bills 

 for at least a few days in the year. But he has 

 not learned his lesson, for he carries home no 

 itemized bill for study; he keeps no account 

 and hence he will never know what his real 

 financial condition is. Because it is "too much 



