30 DETERMINATION OF METHOD 



to act as his own accountant, and when farmers begin to 

 assign to book-keeping something more nearly approaching 

 to its proper value as being the only sure means by which 

 to test and control their management, they will not grudge 

 the comparatively trifling expenditure which will be called 

 for in connexion with it. In the meantime those who are 

 interested in the study and development of farm manage- 

 ment might do well to consider if a joint effort could not 

 be made by which the farmer would provide the data which 

 the students of farm economics at the nearest agricultural 

 research station would elaborate. 



A few points of detail still remain for consideration before 

 passing on to the question of the analysis of the records. 

 These relate to the classification of the matter comprised 

 in the records, so as to promote the accuracy of the final 

 result. In describing the use of the Time-sheet it was stated 

 that the record of the application of labour could be made 

 either under the headings of the various crops, or of the 

 various fields (p. 22). This statement calls for some 

 elaboration. In working out the cost of the crops on a farm 

 the most obvious thing is to allocate the expenditure of 

 capital and labour on the land to accounts with crop titles, 

 and as a matter of fact this is done not infrequently. Thus, 

 the wheat fields constitute one account, the turnip fields 

 another, the pastures a third, and so on, and all items of 

 expense may be recorded with a view to their ultimate 

 assembling under these various heads, to give the cost of 

 production in every case. If the whole expenditure necessary 

 to raise each crop began and ended within the year this 

 arrangement might well be adopted, but unfortunately the 

 determination of farming costs is not so simple a matter, 

 and it will be found, in practice, that there are few crops 

 which do not inherit some benefit from their predecessors, 

 or which do not hand on some unexhausted value to their 

 successors, all of which must be recorded. It is not impos- 

 sible to keep track of such matters in an analysis of labour 

 and of other expenditure based on the crops grown, but 

 a basis of allocation more satisfactory is afforded by the 



