FARM RECORDS AND ACCOUNTS 887 



No other account will give so much information for the time spent 

 upon it as the inventor}-. If no money has been taken from or added to 

 the business during the year, by gift or transfer, the inventory will show 

 the net gain or loss of the year's business. Every farmer should make an 

 annual inventory, even though he keeps no further accounts. The inven- 

 tory, however, will not show on what enterprise he has gained or lost. 



Account No. 16 shows the summary of the inventory for one year. 

 The inventory proper may be kept on separate sheets, so ruled that the 

 inventory may be repeated for four or five years without rewriting the 

 items. It is usually best to list each animal by name or number, stating 

 age and value. Important machines should be listed separately. Small 

 implements, like hoes, rakes and forks, need not be itemized. 



Receipts and Expenditures. — A record of receipts and expenditures is 

 necessary, but the receipts minus the expenditures seldom give a correct 

 idea of the net returns for the year. Some permanent improvements may 

 have been added or machinery and livestock purchased. This would make 

 expenses run high and make the net receipts appear low. The improve- 

 ments, machinery and stock would increase the farmer's net worth at the 

 end of the year by their purchase price, less a very small amount for 

 depreciation. On the other hand, stock may have been sold, thus increas- 

 ing receipts and making the net receipts appear large. At the same time, 

 the net worth at the end of the year might be reduced by an amount 

 nearly equal to the sale of stock. It is, therefore, necessary that records 

 of expenses and receipts be studied in connection with the inventory at 

 the beginning and the end of the year. 



Accounts with Farm Enterprises. — The farmer should have as definite 

 a method of measuring the profits of his business as does any other business 

 man. This calls for an account with each crop and each farm enterprise. 

 The fields should be numbered or lettered and an account kept of the hours 

 of man and horse labor, the cost of seed and fertilizer and any other ex-. 

 penses, such as twine for binding grain, and coal and oil for threshing. 



Whether the product is sold directly from the field or placed in storage, 

 the field or crop should be credited with the farm value of it. 



Each class of livestock should be charged with the feed consumed, 

 the labor required, including incidentals, such as bedding, medicine, equip- 

 ment and a charge for interest and housing. In like manner, it should 

 be credited with all animal products sold. 



The important points in connection with the several farm enterprises 

 are: What does each product really represent in cash, and what is the 

 profit at the selling price? 



Work Records. — A record of the time of men and horses is most 

 conveniently kept by having blank forms, in which the man hours and 

 horse hours may be recorded. These blanks may be either in the form of 

 cards or blank books. Cards are suitable for weekly or monthly reports. 

 If one does not wish to transfer the time records to the several enterprises, 



