102 



NEW ENGLA2TO FARIVIER. 



Feb. 



of cliccking its ravages. It is plain that persons 

 Laving Uie^inimcdiate care of cattle should exer- 

 cise extreme caution in visitnig an infected bam. 

 It should Ijc regarded as a pest Iiouse ; and it is not 

 safe to buy hay or anythiTig from sucli a bam for 

 some months after the disease has passed away. 

 When it is understood how easily such diseases are 

 communicated, the wisdom of the legislature pass- 

 ing stringent laws to regulate the transporting or 

 driving uf cattle will be fully admitted; and it is 

 the duty of every owner of stock to help enforce 

 them aiid all other minor prudential measures that 

 tend to check the spreading of these plagues. 

 Lawrence, Mass., Jan., 1671. n- s. t. 



BOOK-KEEPING FOR FARMERS. 



Will you please show me through the medium 

 of your valuable paper, some simple method of 

 book-keeping suitaljle for a farmer, — something 

 that will combine day-book and ledger. It is not 

 customary with many farmers to keep any book 

 accounts other than a mere memorandum. I do 

 not see why it is not as necessary for a former to 

 keep his accounts straight, as for a merchant or 

 any other business man. The new year, which is 

 so near at hand, will be a good time to begin. 



J. W. Robinson. 



Exeter, ^\ IT., Dec. 20, 1S70. 



Remarks.— Blank books all mled and headed 

 have been prepared for farmers' use, and we be- 

 lieve are now for sale, but we have forgotten the 

 addi-ess of the publishers. But we do not suppose 

 such books arc absolutely necessary, however con- 

 venient they may be, at the commencement of 

 keeping farm accounts. If farmers would keep 

 correct accounts with their fields, crops, house, 

 bams, cattle, horses, &c., we think the balance 

 sheet would show an amount of income which few 

 suppose th^cy realize. Credit the buildings for 

 rent, the horse and carriage for every ride,, the 

 crops for the board of each individual, the oxen 

 for their labor, the cows for their milk, the poultry 

 for eggs and chickens, the pigs for their pork, &e., 

 and perhaps reasons would be divulged for the 

 way in which large wages are dissipated by me- 

 chanics and clerks in villages and cities. But 

 from the way in which labor is done and crops are 

 harvested on farms occupied by families who "live 

 within their omi means," and produce a "little of 

 everything," book-keeping of sufficient system to 

 show all these particulars might require an amount 

 of skUl and perseverance that few possess. We 

 believe it is much more difficult for a fanner to 

 keep accounts that will show cosC of production of 

 particular crops, profits of particular fields, ani- 

 mals, improvements, buildings, &c., than it is for 

 mechanics or merchants to keep such accounts of 

 their l)usiness. And we somethnes think that those 

 writers and talkers who exhort fanners to keep 

 books, and censure them for not being able to show 

 the exact cost of every crop they raise and of every 

 animal they keep, expose their own ignorance of 

 the details of form management. Still we would 

 by no means discourage farmers from an attempt 

 at keeping accounts. It is an exercise they need. 

 They work their bodies too hard and bother their 

 brains with figures and writuig too little. And to 



help our correspondent and others who are dis- 

 posed to make the new year a little more happy by 

 an experiment in book-keeping we copy the fol- 

 lowing plan from the Country Gentleman, which 

 includes day-book and memorandum and direc- 

 tions for ledger. Here is a leaf of the day-book or 

 blotter : — 



Cow 



Fuchsia 



calved. 



Ilfifer calf, 



Kora. 



Got in last 

 of potatoes 



Star-face 



took 



Aldcruey 



bull Phillip. 



November 12tli, 18 — . 



Sundries Dr. to Labor Account : 

 Barn for 4 men, at $1.25, . $.5.00 

 Garden 1 do. . 1.25 



Improvement account, 2 



men altering barn, . . . 2.50 

 Field No. 1, 7 men gather- 

 ing turnips, 8.75 



Sundries Dr. to Barn Accou7it : 

 ■ Fiokl No: 1— use of cart, . 1.50 

 do. No. 2 — 2 tcam,s plongh- 



ing, 6.00 



Family — 7i ^(allons milk . 1.88 



Bam Account Dr. to Sundries : 

 Field No. 11—2066 bush. 



potatoes, at 30c .. . 619.80 

 No. 15 — 425 bushels po- 

 tatoes, at 30c .... 127.50 

 No. 15 — 22 loads corn 

 fodder, at $20, .... 440.00 



November 13th. 



Cash Dr. to Bam Account : 

 100 bushels Oats sold 



Labor Account Dr. to Cash : 

 Paid off James Dixon, 



Sundries Dr. to Labor Account : 



Barn, 4 men, 5.00 



Garden, 2 men 2.50 



FieldNo. 5, 4 men (ditch- 

 ing,) 5.00 



$17 50 



9 38 



1187 30 



80 00 



Sundries Dr. to Barn Account : 

 Family— 5 galls, milk, . . 1.25 ) 

 1 bush, potatoes, 60 j 

 Field No. 1 — 2 carts hauling 



stone, 



Garden — 2 loads manure, . . . 



12 60 



1 85 



2 50 

 2^0 



Make the entries in the day-book — don't be 

 afraid of using paper, — very particularly and full, 

 and do it every day. The habit of doing this must 

 be fixed. A failure in this will spoil the whole. 

 Have a name or number for every field and every 

 animal. These accounts should be posted at the 

 end of every month. 



"Open an account in the ledger with each field, 

 charging them with whatever manure is put upon 

 them, crediting it to the bam, — also for use of 

 teams and labor in ploughing, &c. Charge the 

 bam with the crop when hauled in. This will 

 show, after labor is charged, what each field has 

 yielded. So there must be an account opened with 

 the bam, which should be charged with all stock, 

 implements, &c., and whenever any thing is sold 

 it should be credited to the barn, so that at the end 

 of the year, after stock is taken and valued, this 

 account will show what the farm has made or lost. 

 These accounts, with Cash, Profit and Loss, Labor, 

 Improvement, and Family Expenses are all the far- 

 mer need open in his ledger, and he will fmd, as he 

 becomes acquainted with book-keeping, that he is 

 greatly interested in it." 



