FARM AND HOME MANAGEMENT 457 



2. Administration of the Farm 



The general tendency among American farmers is to in- 

 troduce the handling of too many enterprises and the culti- 

 vation of too much or too little land. As a rule, our farms 

 are larger than those of any other country, and the amount 

 produced per acre is less than in most other countries. 



Planning to get the most out of labor and soil. Good 

 administration gets the most out of every day of labor and 

 out of every acre of land. Each piece of work is carefully 

 planned. Fields are tilled and crops harvested at the right 

 time. A faulty machine is repaired before it breaks down. 

 Unprofitable cows and horses are disposed of and not kept 

 at a loss. Fertilizers are used whenever they will pay. Gar- 

 dens and orchards are pruned and sprayed when necessary. 

 No poor seed is ever planted. Herds and flocks are kept in 

 good health by care and sanitary conditions. The home is 

 comfortable, convenient and well equipped. Members of the 

 family are given opportunity for general culture, recreation 

 and amusement as a means of improvement and rest from 

 labor. 



Farm bookkeeping. Every enterprising farmer should 

 keep a system of records or book accounts. These need not 

 be elaborate, but they must be accurate. Without this it is 

 impossible to determine the sources of profits or losses, and 

 hence impossible to manage crops or stock intelligently. 



A system of book accounts will show whether the farm 

 is returning to the owner fair wages and reasonable inter- 

 est on the investment. A farmer who can make average 

 day wages, and in addition five per cent, interest on the 

 money invested, is ranked as a good farmer. Many make 

 much more than this, while others make less. 



The set of farm books should show an inventory at the 

 beginning of the year of all stock, grain, roughage and 

 the like on hand. At the end of the year another inven- 



