78 PRIMARY RESULTS 



deducting the estimated amount of rent and rates charge- 

 able in respect of the farm-house which is charged against 

 the ' Establishment Account ', and of the cottages which 

 is charged against the ' Labour Account ', the balance is 

 divided between arable and grass land on an acreage basis 

 (see p. 56, ante). Buildings are pooled with the land, 

 because land unequipped with buildings is useless, generally 

 speaking, and thus it may be made quite properly to bear 

 whatever proportion of the whole rent might be considered to 

 issue out of the buildings. 



' General Expenses ' do not enter into the Roots accounts. 

 In distributing the balance of ' General Expenses ' or 

 ' Establishment ' account it was decided to bring in only 

 the productive accounts, as thereby work is saved without 

 any sacrifice of accuracy. For example, no share of general 

 expenses is charged to such departments of the farm as 

 ' Purchased Foods ', or ' Manures ', or ' Horse Labour ', 

 for the balances of these accounts are in their turn distri- 

 buted over the more directly productive departments, such 

 as ' Corn Crops ', and ' Live Stock '. The method is to 

 charge general expenses only against accounts capable of 

 showing a profit, and the principle on which the distribution 

 is made is to vary the amount directly with the labour-cost 

 shown in these accounts an account with a labour-cost 

 of a hundred pounds bearing twice as much of this charge 

 as one in which the total labour items amount only to fifty 

 pounds. The assumption made is that the advantage 

 gained by each department from general expenses should 

 bear a close relation to the labour outlay in which each is 

 involved. Other methods of distribution have been tried, 

 but none has been found that appeared so satisfactory. 

 (See p. 53, ante.) 



No attempt was made on the farms to record the weight 

 of roots grown, so that the costs in the table have to be left 

 at per acre instead of at per ton. An analysis on an acreage 

 basis does not possess the interest which would attach 

 to the analysis of the cost per ton of roots. In the 

 former case the percentages are upset for purposes of 



