No. 4.] FARM ACCOUNTING. 127 



takes the place of a customer's ledger. When the bills are 

 made out, each one is entered in this bill book before being 

 sent out. The name of the purchaser, with the amount of the 

 bill and the total amount of each sort of article purchased, 

 is all that need be entered. For example, Mrs. Brown pur- 

 chased goods to the amount of $15, of which $5 was for 

 butter, $4.50 for eggs, $3 for milk and $2.50 for cream. Mts. 

 Smith's bill amounted to $10, all of which was for butter; and 

 so on down through the list. Besides entering all new bills, 

 any of the preceding months' bills, which may be still unpaid, 

 are also listed, so that this book, then, always shows what the 

 accounts receivable are on the first of each month, and also 

 gives an analysis of each account, so that we have a permanent 

 record of what each bill is for, as well as the amount of it. 

 This is invaluable, in posting from the cash book to the dis- 

 tribution sheets, for it not only shows where all the receipts 

 shall be credited, but shows it in a small space as well. All 

 the items of each bill are not entered, for if a customer should 

 desire a second bill, or if, for anj^ reason, we should wish to 

 know what his bill was for, the items are easily found by re- 

 ferring back to the slips from which the original bill was made 

 out. 



The second book to which I have referred is the distribution 

 book. This may be considered as the final summing up of all 

 other accounts, — that toward which all other accounts have 

 pointed, for this is the one to which we shall refer whenever 

 we wish to learn how the business of the farm is getting on. 

 By the use of this book it is possible to do away with a general 

 ledger (unless one prefers to keep that also), and for our pur- 

 pose it is much more valuable. The distribution book shows 

 the entire amount of receipts and expenditures for each month, 

 all on one page, and analyzed in such a way that the receipts 

 and expenditures, for any particular part of the farm's work, 

 may be seen at a glance. These sheets are then summarized 

 on a yearly sheet, which shows the gross expenses and receipts 

 for the year in a convenient and comprehensive way. Every 

 item in the cash book, of whatever kind, is entered in the dis- 

 tribution book. This book must, of course, balance exactly 

 with the cash book each month. The receipts are put in in red, 



