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THE AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



Farmers' Accounts, 



By Arthur Barnett. 



TN the issue of the Journal of 28th 

 September last, there appeared under 

 this heading the following short article 

 which was taken over from the Otago 

 Witness : — 



" On different occasions in the past I 

 have referred to the necessity of farmers 

 keeping careful accounts of each year's 

 operations, and of making up a balance 

 sheet at the end of the year. The im- 

 portance of the subject justifies further 

 remarks, especially at this time of the 

 year, when the agricultural year may be 

 said to have closed and we are in a posi- 

 tion to arrive at a correct statement of 

 produce grown and stock bred, and 

 amounts realised for same. June 30, as I 

 have previously said, is the most appro- 

 priate time for casting up our accounts 

 and striking a balance sheet showing the 

 profit or loss on our year's work, and 

 also our position regarding assets and 

 liabilities. To those who have not been 

 in the habit of pursuing this desirable 

 course I would say : Begin on the 1st of 

 the coming month and follow the plan as 

 carefully as possible, and if by the same 

 date next year the satisfaction gained and 

 the knowledge afforded do not well repay 

 the trouble involved, then let your affairs 

 slide along in the old haphazard, rule-of- 

 thumb manner. Everybody in business 

 of any kind must keep some sort of ac- 

 counts, unless, indeed, the receipts are 

 stored in a stocking or tea pot, and all dis- 

 bursements made in cash from these re- 

 ceptacles. Farmers, as a rule, have a 

 deep-rooted dislike to pen and ink, and 

 hate writing anything but their signature 

 to a receipt for produce sold ; but in these 

 days of universal education everybody 

 can read and write and be sufficiently 

 accastomed to the pen to be able to keep 

 their business records. One good reason 

 why farmers should keep accounts is that 

 they may know how they stand year by 

 year, and thus be prevented from getting 

 into Queer-street thi'ough a lack of such 

 k.iowledge. If the farmer operates upon 

 H bank account his pass book will give 

 him an idea of his position, bat not a suffi- 

 ciently accurate one if he is working upon 



credit, and has a few paper kites flying. 

 When a commercial business changes 

 hands the purchaser requires to know the 

 position of such business in black and 

 white, and verbal information would be 

 scoffed at. So, also, when a farm is to be 

 sold the vendor should be able to give 

 possible buyers an insight into the capa- 

 bilities of the farm, and prove that it is 

 not a bad egg that he wants to get off his 

 hands. Another reason is that the farmer 

 may know whether he is sound and 

 solvent and not encroaching upon his 

 capital. Stock may pay him well, but 

 grain returns be so bad that the balance 

 is against him. A thorough knowledge 

 of his affairs may also enable a farmer to 

 profit from past experience, and adopt _ a 

 more economical management in certain 

 directions. Again, if a farmer has to go 

 to Court to recover just debts, how much 

 better lie is able to establish his claim if 

 he can show a plain record of the matter 

 in dispute. I think I have given enough 

 good and sufficient reasons why farmers 

 should conduct their business in a metho- 

 dical and businesslike way." 



The foregoing is excellent advice, but 

 to render it practical, a few details are 

 needed describing the best and simplest 

 methods of carrying it out, and these I 

 propose briefly to indicate. 



The very best plan, of course, is to 

 employ a trained and competent book- 

 keeper, whose duty would be primarily 



(rt) to keep accurate record of all cash 

 receipts and expenditure, which 

 should not be entered as received 

 from or paid to different firms or 

 people by name, but which should 

 be credited or debited to the " head- 

 ings " concerned, as per illustration 

 given at the conclusion of this article. 



(b) To keep a stock-book, in which should 

 be entered all live stock, wool, 

 mealies, and farm produce, seeds, fer- 

 tilizers, sheep dip, implements, &c., 

 on hand at time of commencing this 

 system, each under their separate 

 headings ; and which should be 

 always kept up to date by the enter- 



