OPENING AND CLOSING ACCOUNTS 



89 



We opened the Carnation account as follows: 



Dr. Carnations 1922-23 Cr. Carnations 1922-23 



1922 

 June 1 



Inventory: 

 16700 plants 

 in field at 

 $7 per 

 hundred. . 



Wire and lath 

 on hand. . . 



Old sand for 

 cuttings on 

 hand 



1169.00 

 48.00 



16.50 



200 Matchless 

 from fields 

 John C. Ed- 

 wards at 8c. , 



2 doz. Ward, 



retail 



(etc.) 



16.00 

 1.50 



At the end of your fiscal year, take another inventory 

 and this time credit the several accounts. In the case of 

 Carnations, this would mean adding to that account the 

 value of all the young stock and of the old stock, too, if 

 it is still producing well. The average of the two inven- 

 tories represents, as a rule, the average amount of money 

 tied up. It is only fair to charge the account with 6 per 

 cent of this average as interest, before closing the books. 



The taking of a complete inventory once every year 

 requires one morning, and I do not believe we spend a 

 morning to better advantage. 



THE WORK REPORT 



By far the most expensive item of crop production is 

 labor, and it is this very expense that the average grower 

 knows least about. A serious effort should be made to 

 keep track of the labor performed upon each of the impor- 

 tant enterprises. The record need not be elaborate, but 

 it should be as fair and consistent as possible. Of the 

 various time-keeping systems used in the industries we 

 have -come to regard the following as the best and sim- 

 plest for our purposes. I submit it for what it is worth. 



