42 BULLETIN 414, V. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTUEE. 



account to a cost per capita per day, which is the main purpose of 

 the form, it is necessary that the sum of the actual value of all services 

 rendered during a particular period, plus the actual value of supplies 

 completely consumed or used during the period, plus the estimated 

 depreciation of articles of supply and equipment not completely con- 

 sumed during the period, shaU be divided by the number of convict 

 days for the period. The depreciation of articles not entirely con- 

 sumed can be determined only by means of an inventory. But as 

 the depreciation of many articles is very shght in a period of a month, 

 it is impractical to take the inventory at less than six-month periods. 



In inaugurating the system of accounting, a complete inventory of 

 all goods should be taken, and the ascertained value of aU supphes 

 and equipment of a given class on hand should be placed in a space 

 provided at the head of the total column on the proper account form. 

 Subsequently, during the fu'st month, all items purchased should be 

 reported, giving the names of the items, the dates of purchase, the 

 quantities, and their unit and total costs. At the end of the first 

 month the total cost of the items purchased should be added to the 

 original inventory value to obtain the grand total of value invested 

 in the camp at the end of the month. At the beginning of the second 

 month the latter figure should be placed at the head of the total 

 column. Entries of the items purchased during this month should 

 be made as during the first month, and aU operations should be simi- 

 larly repeated every month. 



When a period of six months or a year has elapsed, the grand total 

 of the last monthly report will represent the total amount invested 

 in the camp under the given account since the beginning of the period. 

 An inventory taken at this time will show the approximate value of 

 all articles of supply and equipment remaining in use or in stock, and 

 this value deducted from the grand total of the last monthly report 

 will give the value of the goods and services consumed or used during 

 the period as nearly as can be ascertained. If this value be divided 

 by the total number of convict-days for the period, which a proper use 

 of the form wiU show in the upper right-hand comer, the result wiU 

 be the daily per capita cost of supplies and equipment used under the 

 given account diuing the period. This figure, added to the daily per 

 capita cost of food for the various months, will give the true cost of 

 maintenance per convict per calendar day for each of those months. 

 Finally, to obtain the true cost of maintenance per convict per work- 

 mg day, this latter value must be modified on account of the time lost 

 by Sundays, hohdays, camp duty, and sickness, all of which losses 

 are reported on the daily reports of construction (No. 8). 



The distribution of charges to the various accounts is largely a 

 matter of judgment, but the classification of items given under the 



