382 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



cost may well appear in the inventory, to be charged off gradually, 

 thereby giving a more just account of the operations of each year. 



Orchards afford a puzzling problem. There can be no questioning 

 the fact that a well-grown apple orchard adds materially to the value 

 of a farm. The same applies to a peach orchard in much less degree, 

 for the peach tree is short-lived and uncertain. Carrying the con- 

 sideration down through the line of bush fruits, strawberries, etc., to 

 a growing crop like a field of grass or winter rye, it is hard to draw the 

 line where assets shall leave off and mere expense begin. Then, too, 

 it is difficult to know what value to place upon a young, growing 

 orchard. Probably the wisest plan is to add the yearly cost of care 

 to the original cost of trees and planting. It is doubtless safer to 

 take the conservative ground of treating all growing crops as an 

 expense. It may be preferred to carry this even to the orchard, aim- 

 ing to utilize the land as it grows in such a way as to pay the expense 

 of care and management. This is surely better than an overvaluation, 

 though not entirely fair to the farm, for a good orchard will add 

 materially to its income-producing power and hence to its value. To 

 place a value upon increased fertility and productiveness of soil is 

 likewise a very difficult thing to do. A farmer may easily deceive 

 himself by overestimating this factor. Yet while seemingly too 

 intangible to find a place in the inventory, it is one of the most impor- 

 tant factors in the income-producing power of the farm. 



The farm dwelling offers a somewhat peculiar problem, since, 

 except in so far as portions of it may be used for some farm operation, 

 like dairy work, it is not a part of the farm business. The merchant 

 or manufacturer does not think of including his home in his business 

 inventory and asking the business to bear the interest and deprecia- 

 tion upon it. The maintenance of his home is a personal expense, 

 which may be heavy or light as he chooses, and which has nothing 

 whatever to do with the conduct of his business. Whether the 

 farmer lives in a house worth one thousand or ten thousand dollars 

 need have nothing to do with the outcome of the farm business 

 itself, but it will materially affect the showing if the expense of 

 maintenance be charged to the farm improperly. 



Few farmers will care to keep two sets of books, one for personal 

 accounts and one for farm accounts; yet both are important. Most 

 men will prefer to separate personal expenses from farm expenses in 

 the same set of books. It may, therefore, be desirable to include the 

 dwelling in the inventory as well as all other forms of property which 



