Ac; Ric I I /ri HK A i jhoa i > . 



supervision of seven members representing the societies and 

 institutions which took part in its foundation, and the staff 

 also includes a consulting accountant, a permanent assistant 

 and temporary officers. For the first two years the Office was 

 maintained by the Royal Danish Agricultural Society, but 

 afterwards it received a State subsidy, and contributions from 

 the local societies. Some of these receive, in addition to free 

 supplies of account books, a l)onus for books containing data 

 useful to the Central Office: others which correspond direct 

 with the Office and receive book-keeping assistance from it, 

 pay contributions in proportion to their size and to the extent 

 of the book-keeping assistance received. 



The origin of local societies for agricultural book-keeping 

 dates from the beginning of the twentieth century, and was 

 due partly to the control societies that have existed since 1895, 

 and partly to farm competitions. Tn 1918 there were 670 con- 

 trol societies, whose chief object was the fostering of thQ 

 dairy industry. They kept accounts of milk production and of 

 the content of butter-fat as well as of the fodder consumed 

 by each dairy cow placed under their control: they were thus 

 in a position to indicate the most profitable animals. Some- 

 times their book-keeping extended to the feeding and growth 

 of horses. These were the first steps towards a complete 

 system of farm book-keeping. From 1902 till 1908 y^rize 

 competitions were held in the island of Samso for the best- 

 kept books covering various crops. In following years similar 

 competitions were held in other parts of Denmark, and as 

 interest in agricultural accounts grew, more branches of the 

 farm w^ere brought under book-keeping' control. 



The system of book-keeping used by most local societies and 

 circuits is that issued in 1918 by the Royal Danish Agricultural 

 Society. A typical circuit does its work thus: the society 

 engages an accountant, who helps members to establish the 

 system, guides thorn in making the daily entries, makes up 

 the work book and the monthlv cash and fodder accounts, 

 draws up the ycarlv balance sheet and makes a detailed analy-r 

 sis of all accounts. The fees which the society charges its 

 members vary from about Cid. to Is. IJd. per 2J acres of the 

 farm. T^sually a circuit covers a small area, so that one 

 accountant is able to visit each farm in his circuit as often 

 as required, with the exception of the busiest time, when some 

 assistance is needed. There are, however, circuits having 

 more than 1,000 members. Since 1915 the societies can apjily 



