114 The Farmer's Business Handbook 



The daily records should be condensed and 

 recorded in a book from time to time. From 

 the foregoing records the food cost of egg pro- 

 duction is secured. An account should also be 

 kept of chickens sold or used. The eggs and 

 chickens will furnish the credits; the food, the 

 labor and use of plant, the debits. But these 

 will not reveal the profit or loss without consid- 

 ering the inventory at the beginning and end of 

 the year. 



Neither can a satisfactory statement of profit 

 or loss be made unless care and judgment are 

 used as to prices in taking inventories at the be- 

 ginning and the end of the year. Because a few 

 choice birds have been disposed of at liberal 

 prices, the tendency is to place too high a value 

 on the others. 



Let it be supposed that the accounts, without 

 the inventories, show a profit of $20. This is 

 small, but when the inventories are taken into 

 account, as below, the profits appear to be more 

 satisfactory : 



Value of poultry August 1, 1901 $642 00 



Value of poultry August 1, 1902 786 00 



Difference $144 00 



Add profits as above 20 00 



Total profits $164 00 



In this case $144 of the profits have been used 



