1920.] 



Profit and Loss Sharing in Agriculture. 



255 



rate should not be less than 5 nor more than 7 per cent, per 

 annum. These limits are put forward for the principal reason 

 that employees are not hkely to agree to more than 7 per cent., 

 while the employer is not likely to accept less than 5 per cent, 

 per annum, and it is more important to have agreement than 

 to attempt to justify a certain rate by reference to the riskiness 

 of farming as a business, or by pointing to prospectuses offering 

 8, 9 and 10 per cent, per annum on what are called Preference 

 Shares. 



3. Accounts.^ — For the purposes of profit and loss sharing, 

 nothing but a simple system of accounting is required, but a 

 complete record should always be kept of the wages paid to 

 each hired worker. Particulars should also be kept of all 

 ordinary manual work done by the farmer or by members of 

 his household, and it is desirable that a weekly or monthly 

 record should be kept of farm produce consumed in the farm 

 house. 



4. Employees' Wagres. — The main object in this connection 

 is to ascertain the total earnings of all the hired workers, 

 including cash wages, payments in cash for overtime, harvest, 

 lambing, etc., and perquisites or allowances of all kinds — 

 cottage and garden, board and lodging, potatoes, milk, oatmeal, 

 etc. Perquisites should generally be valued on the basis laid 

 down by the Central ^^'ages Board, but there is, of course, no 

 reason why the employer and employees should not agree upon 

 another scale. The scale adopted here should also be used in 

 valuing farm produce consumed in the farm house. Profit 

 and loss sharing would be simplified if all wages were paid in 

 cash. It will be clear that the inclusion of perquisites or 

 allowances at this point is necessar\% not to enable the profit 

 to be accurately determined (for this is not affected), but to 

 enable the profit to be equitably distributed. 



5. Employer's Wag^es. — This term is used to cover the value 

 of ordinary manual work done by the farmer or by members of 

 his household, as v/ell as for his services as manager of the 

 business. IManual work should be charged at current rates 

 for hired labour of the same class, while the charge for manage- 

 ment should be based upon salaries actually paid to farm 

 managers in the district. The main desideratum here, again, 

 is that there should be agreement as to the rates and total 

 amount to be charged for employer's wages, and, in any case, 

 employer's and employees' wages should rise or fall together. 



