PREFACE. 



Ever since the latter part of the fifteenth century, when 

 the Venetian traders, the greatest merchants of their time, 

 evolved a system of double, entry book keeping, the subject 

 of accounting has grown in breadth and importance until 

 to-day no business of any extent is successfully carried on 

 without the aid of a perfect system of accounting. Even 

 the small trader in the country village recognizes its im- 

 portance, while the farmer has hardly begun to appreciate 

 the benefits that may be derived from a thorough under- 

 standing of his transactions gained only by a system of 

 accounts. 



Most of the efforts to adapt or improve the various 

 methods of keeping accounts have been along lines em- 

 ployed by the great business concerns in our large cities. 

 The tendency of the modern bookkeeping development has 

 been to reduce the labor of the dealer who employs clerks 

 and special book keepers to look after the details of his 

 business. 



With the soil replete with the food for vegetable life, 

 there seemed to be little necessity for careful husbandry; 

 but as successive years of tillage depleted the earth of its 

 richness the need for more knowledge of farming became 

 apparent. With this depletion came man's determination 

 to know more of nature and with the progress of civili- 

 zation he has had better opportunities for advancing. He 

 is learning that business success depends upon the. ability 

 to act at the proper time; that this ability is only acquired 

 by gaining a complete insight into every detail of his 

 affairs. He must, therefore, keep accounts. He must be 

 thoroughly familiar with every phase of every enterprise 



