Accounts icith One Greenhouse 89 



for board and care, while one -fourth are kept at 

 a ruinous loss. In horticulture, similar conditions 

 are always present, and the losses cannot be 

 surely stopped nor the gains increased most 

 economically unless accounts are kept somewhat 

 in detail with the various kinds or groups of 

 plants. 



Before proceeding to details, it may be said 

 that too much bookkeeping should not be under- 

 taken at first. Take a single forcing-house or 

 greenhouse to start with, and, as the judgment 

 develops and the art of keeping accounts is mas- 

 tered, open accounts with other branches of the 

 business, and finally the gains or losses of each 

 subdivision of the business, as well as the total 

 profits or losses, will be revealed. 



Enough has been said in previous chapters re- 

 specting the necessity of keeping oneself fully 

 and promptly informed as to the financial suc- 

 cess or failure of the business as a whole, or 

 any branch thereof, and as to the educational 

 value of accounts ; therefore, we may, without 

 further discussion, outline a plan for keeping 

 simple accounts with one forcing-house, or more, 

 in which lettuce is grown in the fall and winter, 

 and cucumbers in the spring. 



A good time to take the inventory and begin 

 these accounts is about September 1, although this 

 should be governed by climatic conditions and the 



