54 BULLETIN 38L, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
ers' store, in order to attract country people and make them feel 
at home, must avoid unnecessary decoration and the up-to-dateness 
which characterize the successful city retail store. On the contrary, 
the cooperative store should lead in everything which makes for 
greater comfort, refinement, and economy in business. Thus it can 
become a powerful educational influence in the community. 
It should be emphasized that no great amount of money is required 
to keep the litter off the desk and counters and the cobwebs off the 
shelves. Many valuable conveniences can be improvised by the pro- 
gressive bookkeeper and manager, and a duster costs practically 
nothing. 
The first step in organizing any office, simple or complex, is to get 
things off the desks and counters completely at least once a day. This 
means filing; it means keeping things moving— papers, documents, 
books; it means continually applying the old adage, "A place for 
everything and everything in its place" Everything considered, the 
alphabetical vertical file will be found most satisfactory; one section 
for letters, another for invoices, a third for catalogues, a fourth for 
storing, etc. 
Failure to index papers and material which are frequently referred 
to causes an enormous waste of time. This is due, generally, not to 
ignorance of proper method but to a lack of the application of common 
sense. Anybody can use a dictionary or a telephone index. There 
are no better models of good indexing. If drawers become numerous, 
number them and index the contents, thus saving the time and 
annoyance of frequent hunting for misplaced things. 
Space does not permit more than a list of the desirable office con- 
veniences which should be in every store. The cash register is an 
indispensable aid toward good business methods if used absolutely 
according to the manufacturer's and auditor's directions. Rather 
have no casji register at all than not to use properly the checks for 
accuracy which were the very origin of this valuable device. The 
register can be dispensed with when the business warrants the in- 
stallation of an overhead carrier system. This system is often found 
to be one of the best investments in the store. Not only does it save 
a large share of the salesmen's time, but it makes for greater accu- 
racy and general improvement in the office methods. 
If properly used as an auxiliary to a system of records, the account 
file, referred to on page 48, is a great convenience. But it must never 
be forgotten that the account file is not a system of accounts ; it must 
not replace the permanent consecutive records described in the pre- 
ceding pages. As a file for short-account slips of 30, or at the most 
60, days, properly safeguarded, it is a great labor-saving device. 
A store can not long afford to do without a suitable adding machine. 
For listing sales slips, invoices, and countless items of computation 
