406 



Farm Accounts. 



[SEPT., 



Implements. — Another ledger account is required under this 

 head. It is debited with the valuation of the implements at the 

 beginning of the year. The depreciation during the year is 

 arrived at by preparing an inventory and valuation of all 

 implements and estimating the life of each. The true deprecia- 

 tion with which to credit the account is thus arrived at and the 

 valuation at the end of the year is got by subtraction. It is a 

 matter of no little difficulty to apportion the depreciation of 

 implements over the accounts with accuracy, but with a little 

 thought and trouble it may be accomplished. Thus it will be 

 obvious that the loss in the value of ploughs, harrows, binders, 

 reapers, &c, should be charged to the arable land ; the loss on 

 cake-breakers, root-cutters, &c, to the stock, and so on. De- 

 preciation on carts, wagons, &c, which are used for all manner 

 of purposes, can either be charged to the horse account, thereby 

 increasing the cost of the horse labour, or it may be carried to 

 the establishment account. 



Establishment. — It will be found in keeping accounts on the 

 lines here indicated, that certain payments and charges arise 

 which cannot fairly be placed to any of the accounts yet men- 

 tioned. The foreman's wages, repairs to farm roads, travelling 

 expenses, keep of the farmer's nag horse, &c, cannot be dealt 

 with on the lines laid down. For these matters an establish- 

 ment account is opened in the ledger, and the method of dealing 

 with it. adopted by the writer is to share the balance over all 

 the other accounts in proportion to their turnover — the assump- 

 tion being that the account with the largest turnover has benefited 

 to the greatest extent by the establishment expenditure. 

 This is a very rough and ready way of disposing of the. account, 

 and to reduce any error to a minimum, the total under this 

 head must be kept as small as possible ; that is to sa}^, nothing 

 must ;be charged to it that can by any . means be placed direct 

 to the other accounts.- 



Within the limits of a short article one cannot do more than 

 suggest the lines upon which farm accounts should be kept, 

 and the varying requirements of varied farming practice make 

 it impossible to indicate any set forms of labour sheets or book 

 rulings universally applicable. But enough may have been 

 written to enable the thoughtful reader to evolve his own 

 particular system, and he can be guaranteed both pleasure and 

 profit in the process. 



