FARM. 



this manner, and become a bankrupt, 

 no one would hesitate in sayin<f that 

 he failed hcoauso he liept no regular 

 accounts. He had no greater stake 

 than the farmer, and his transactions 

 were perhaps less varied : if he kept 

 no clerk, he should have attended 

 better to the accounts himself The 

 same may be said of the farmer; and 

 if a man who has a floating capital 

 of SIO.OOO does not think it. worth 

 his while to employ a clerk to keep 

 his accounts, not having time to do 

 so himself, it is no great wonder if 

 he is involved in difficulties. But 

 it may be said that agricultural ac- 

 counts are very simple, and that any 

 one can keep them. So are mer- 

 chants' accounts at first sight. No- 

 thing is simpler than to put down 

 what is bought and sold, what is the 

 profit on each transaction, and the 

 sum is the profit of the whole ; but 

 merchants know that to keep this 

 very simple account many books, 

 many entries, many checks, and con- 

 sequently many clerks are required. 

 In a lesser degree this is true in a 

 farm. It is easy to know what is 

 bought and sold, what is expended 

 or produced, but it requires very mi- 

 nute accounts to ascertain what part 

 of the farm gives a profitable return, 

 and what is the cause of loss. There 

 may be a profit on the crops and a 

 loss on the stock, or vice versa. The 

 money expended on improvements or 

 adventitious manure may have pro- 

 duced an increase which is propor- 

 tionate to the outlay, and which af- 

 fords a good interest ; but it may 

 also be a decided loss. How is this 

 to be ascertained, except it be by ac- 

 curate accounts 1 In whatever man- 

 ner the accounts are kept, whether 

 by the farmer himself or by a clerk, 

 method is of great importance ; and 

 whatever may be said against it by 

 those who do not know its value, 

 there is no system of accounts which 

 can be compared with the well-known 

 method of double entry. The prin- 

 ciple of this method is so simple that 

 the slowest arithmetician cannot be 

 confused by it, and it is so perfect 

 that no error can escape its scrutiny. 

 270 



As applied to agricultural accounts, 

 which are simple in their nature, it 

 becomes so clear that, if once adopt- 

 ed, it is impossible that it should ever 

 be abandoned. The satisfaction of 

 a perlect proof of the correctness of 

 the accounts is so great that no one 

 who has ever experienced it will be 

 satisfied with any other method. 



" In the accounts of a farm there are 

 many separate items to be taken into 

 consideration. There may be a sep- 

 arate account kept for every field ; 

 there should always be one for every 

 crop of which the rotation consists. 

 There is an account of the labour of 

 men and horses ; of the produce of 

 the dairy ; of the stock purchased to 

 be fattened, or sold again in an impro- 

 ved state. The more subjects there 

 are to furnish items for an account, 

 the more difficult it is to strike a 

 balance, but with a little attention 

 and perseverance it may he done ; 

 and he who keeps very correct ac- 

 counts will always be the first to dis- 

 cover any impendmg evil, and to take 

 measures to provide against it. 



''The basis of all the accounts is a 

 daily journal of every transaction, 

 which must be collected from all the 

 labourers and agents employed. M. 

 de Dombasle, at his celebrated farm 

 of Roville, in France, has all his prin- 

 cipal men and apprentices as.sembled 

 every evening after the day's work 

 is over. Each man gives an account 

 of the work done by him or under 

 his superintendence, which is written 

 down by the clerk. The orders for 

 the next day are then given, and ev- 

 ery one returns to his lodging or his 

 home. In the course of the next day 

 the clerk enters all that is in the 

 journal into a book, where every per- 

 son employed has an account: every 

 field has one ; every servant and do- 

 mestic animal has one ; and every 

 item which can be separated from 

 the rest is entered, hoth as adding to 

 the account or taking from it. For 

 example, the milk of the cows is en- 

 tered daily ; the quantity of butter, 

 butter-milk, and skimmed milk which 

 it produces is also entered ; and 

 these two accounts check one an- 



