HINDRANCES TO SUCCESSFUL FARMING. 77 



till it is merchantable it will shrink fifteen per cent.), meas- 

 ured up, and the product of the whole field calculated from 

 it. Then, with the assistance of the boys, he estimates as 

 near as he can the amount of labor expended, and so makes 

 to the committee on grain crops a statement of a very large 

 crop at a very small cost, and this is called an experiment 

 and claims a premium. 



This occurs every year in almost every society in the Com- 

 monwealth, and is a fair illustration, in the lack of accuracy 

 and method, of one of the hindrances to successful farming. 

 Of how little value is such an experiment ; and yet is it not 

 common ? Is it not a fair specimen of the opinions of farmers 

 generally, even of their own crops? How few there are 

 who can state with any accuracy the actual cost of any ani- 

 mal or crop, the value of their milk, the quantity required 

 to make a pound of butter, the value of the skimmed milk 

 for calves or pigs, the comparative, much less the positive, 

 value of different grains, roots or fodder for milk and flesh 

 separately, or together. Does it seem an undenial)le propo- 

 sition that one knowing these facts accurately or approxi- 

 mately, in his experiments and tests, must, other things being 

 equal, farm more successfully than one who, without special 

 attention, pursues the course his father took, or varies from 

 it only on some uncertain guess ? 



It would greatly tend to successful farming if a farmer, or 

 some one in his family, would keep memoranda, or a brief 

 diary of the transactions on the farm, by which to compare 

 the operations in successive years, as to times, seasons, cost 

 and value of animals, crops and other productions. 



It seems to me that more attention should be paid to farm 

 book-keeping as a branch of education, and I know of no 

 reason why it should not be taught in the common schools 

 of the country. 



The importance of this subject to the farmer cannot be 

 overstated, and should not be overlooked. Farmers can- 

 not be too strongly urged to keep exact and faithful accounts 

 with their farms, their animals, and with every crop which 

 they raise ; it would immensely assist in the improvement of 

 their farms, by enabling them to decide intelligently how 

 and what to cultivate, the times when they had planted and 



