2 BULLETIN 1150, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
especially in the Middle West, where in some cases associations are 
accessible to several markets. 
The solution of many of these problems depends upon the man- 
agement having a thorough knowledge of the relative advantages 
of different methods of handling live stock and operating the asso- 
ciation, the relative costs of shipping to different markets, the rela- 
tive merits of different methods of selling and weighing live stock, 
and the extent to which these factors influence the rate of shrinkage 
or loss due to dead and crippled animals. 
The question of what business policy shall be pursued in connec- 
tion with these and other problems can be answered intelligently 
only when the details regarding the different shipments are summa- 
rized and the results analyzed. Reliable figures which can be used for 
this purpose too frequently have not been preserved by shipping 
associations. In fact, bookkeeping has been neglected more among 
shipping associations ‘than in most other types of farmers’ organiza- 
tions. Perhaps the chief reason for this situation is that it is a 
relatively simple matter to organize a shipping association. A 
group of farmers may meet in the morning, elect a board of direc- 
tors and a set of officers, hire a manager and begin business the 
same day. The details of management and record keeping are usu- 
ally left to be worked out as the i necessity arises. 
Another explanation for the frequent neglect of record keeping 
is to be found in the fact that each sale—that is, each shipment—is 
often treated as if it were a completed fiscal period. The entire pro- 
ceeds are either paid out or reserved at the time of settlement and 
the shipment is considered a closed incident. Other causes are the 
small average annual income received by the managers, the lack 
of standardization of business practices, and the frequent changes 
of managers and directors. The fact that many associations also 
handle feed and other farm supphes, often on credit, has done much 
to complicate the situation. 
The adoption of a simple but adequate system of records by the 
associations generally would be a long step in the direction of rais- 
ing the standards of efficiency of operation, of building up the vol- 
ume of business and of inspiring loyalty on the part of the members 
and confidence on the part of the community generally. Further- 
more, it would lay the foundation for successful cooperation among 
the associations. The association which fails to meet any one of 
these essential conditions is not likely to be in a position to render 
the kind of service which the community has a right to expect of it. 
The system of records and accounts recommended in this bulletin 
is based on the methods used by shipping associations in different 
parts of the country which experience has demonstrated are sound 
and practical. Its operation in a number of States has already dem- 
onstrated its adaptability under a wide range of conditions and 
methods of operation.® 
3 Some of the forms as presented are revisions of forms found in actual use, and 
others, particularly the shipment summary record and the cash journal, are original with 
the author. Final revisions were made at a series of conferences on shipping associa- 
tion business practices and accounting held in Chicago during the summer of 1921 under 
the auspices of the Illinois Agricultural Association, at which conferences the underlying 
principles involved and the forms themselves, substantially as here presented, were 
approved. In addition to the author, the following men. took an active part in the dis- 
cussions of the accounting records: S. W. Doty and F. G. Ketner, of Ohio, Ralph Loomis 
and T. D. Morse, of Missouri, and F. M. Simpson, of Illinois 
