1921.] 



Agriculture Arroad. 



1101 



AGRICULTURE ABROAD. 



KEEPING FARM ACCOUNTS— FIRING OF HAYSTACKS. 



In every course of agricultural education the question of 



accounting arises, whether large-scale or small-scale farming 



, _. . -is undertaken. The United States Depart- 

 The Keeping of , . . , ^ 



„ . ° ment of Agriculture has recently issued an 

 Farm Accounts. ° 1 



interesting pamphlet'" dealing" with this 



matter, in which is outlined a method of analysing the farm 

 business with a view to determining the investment, expenses 

 and profits. It is pointed out that farming accounts may be 

 grouped into two classes: (1) those pertaining to the farm 

 business as a whole, or financial accounts, and (2) those 

 relating to an analysis of the various enterprises, commonly 

 called detailed cost accounts. 



The aim of the publication is to show the farmer how he 

 may arrive at an analysis of his business as a whole. This 

 analysis is based on preliminary accounts tabulating labour 

 and other records of all items, as well as the records of costs 

 incurred in feeding live stock. The entire system is finally 

 brought down to a table called the Farm Summary, which 

 groups totals of the* detailed accounts under the heads of 

 Investment, Farm Receipts, Farm Expenses, Farm Income, 

 Interest on Investment, Labour Income, Value of Operator's 

 Labour, Percentage Return on Investment, and Value of 

 Items for Family Use. The first three headings are again 

 sub-divided into three, viz., Investment, comprising Real 

 Estate, Live Stock, [Machinery and Equipment, Food and 

 Supplies and Cash to Run the Farm; (2) Farm Receipts, com- 

 prising Live Stock Increase, Other Sources, and Increase in 

 Food and Supplies; (3) Farm Expenses, comprising Current 

 Costs, Unpaid Family Labour, Decrease in Live Stock, 

 Depreciation and Decrease in Food and Supplies. 



To arrive at the investment result, the average of the invest- 

 ment at the beginning and at the end of the farm year may 

 be taken, or merely the investment at the beginning of the 

 year, whichever more nearly represents the true capital 

 invested in the year's business. The choice is governed by 



* Farmers' Bull. No. 1139, ' ; A method of analysing the Farm Business." 



