I909-] 



Farm Accounts. 



459 



in this Journal (Vol. XV, p. 402); their number and char- 

 acter will vary, however, according to the class of farming 

 carried on, and each farmer must decide for himself what 

 accounts to open. Each account is debited with the value 

 of that particular class of stock in hand, or, in the case of 

 crops, with that of cultivations, seeds sown, &c. All receipts 

 appearing in the cash book are carried to the credit of their 

 proper ledger accounts and the payments to their debit. At 

 the end of the year the value of stock in hand, or sold but 

 payment not yet received, and of cultivations, is placed to the 

 credit of the accounts, and that of purchases not yet paid 

 for to their debit. The balance, gross profit, or loss, is 

 transferred to Profit and Loss Account. 



Except on farms where there are numerous credit sales, it 

 is unnecessary to open accounts with each person or firm with 

 whom business is done. The large number of personal 

 accounts which appear in most published examples of farm 

 book-keeping form one of the main causes of the apparent 

 complication of the systems advocated. As already men- 

 tioned, where the credit dealings are few, the records in diary 

 or note book are sufficient for them. In other cases it is 

 necessary to enter them in a day book and to transfer them 

 to personal accounts in the ledger, preferably a ledger kept 

 specially for them. 



The labour book serves for the record of the labourers' 

 time and employment and of the wages paid. Amounts 

 of wages to be entered in the various ledger accounts are 

 obtained from it. It is also the best place for entering notes 

 of observations which the farmer may think worthy of being 

 recorded with a view, to their use for future reference. Such 

 notes are often extremely useful ; they tend to mature one's 

 experience more quickly and certainly than mere mental 

 observations. 



When and how to Commence Farm Accounts. — Thexor- 

 rect time for a farmer to commence his farm accounts is when 

 he enters upon the business of farming. All is then straight- 

 forward as regards opening the books. He begins with a 

 certain amount of cash, which he enters as a receipt in his 

 cash book. His payments for live and dead stock, cultiva- 

 tions, &c, are duly entered and posted to their proper ledger 



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