32 DETERMINATION OF METHOD 



manufacturer, and the extra expense involved in the 

 organization necessary for the compilation of complete 

 records will be found to be more than repaid by the informa- 

 tion acquired, but at present this stage has not been reached. 

 On the other hand, it is of equal importance not to get in- 

 volved in unnecessary detail. On a farm where the sole 

 object of the management of the cattle is the production 

 of milk it may fairly be said that the cost of raising calves 

 to maintain the herd, and the cost of feeding-off old cows 

 no longer profitable in the dairy, are both of them incidental 

 to the milk production, and one record which includes the 

 cost of feeding and tending calves, dairy cows, and fatting 

 cows is all that is needed where the determination of the 

 cost of milk is the only object. The account would be 

 a composite one, including cost of calves, heifers, milking 

 cows, and fatting cows, all of them contributing to the 

 total cost of milk production. 



One other difficulty which arises in the compilation of 

 farm records is due to the partial failure, hitherto, to 

 realize that agriculture is an industry as well as an art. 

 No one would suggest that steel rails should be sold by the 

 heap, or that tiles should be offered by the kiln-full, yet 

 similar sale-units are the rule rather than the exception in 

 agriculture. Hay is sold by the stack, potatoes change 

 hands by the acre, and live-stock are bought and sold 

 almost universally by the head. It is no answer to say 

 that to the experienced farmer and dealer these conditions 

 are no obstacle, owing to their ability to determine weights 

 with reasonable accuracy by inspection, for this is not 

 a fact. In 1916 a farmer of wide experience and sound 

 judgement sold a stack of hay to a dealer at a price per ton, 

 both of them agreeing as to an estimate of the weight of 

 hay contained. Before delivery was taken the Army 

 Purchasing Officer commandeered the hay, and, buying it 

 by the actual weight at the same price as originally agreed, 

 the farmer lost about 100 as compared with his first sale. 

 Thus, an experienced farmer, and a dealer who was buying 

 hay every day, both over-estimated the contents of the 



