34 BULLETIN -LU. U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
ss men. and it is believed that there is still much room through- 
out the country for improvement in this respect. The salaries 
necessary to attract good men will, of course, vary m the different 
sections of the country, but experience has shown that the payment 
of a reasonably good salary to a good man is invariably a better 
investment than a poor salary paid to an incompetent one. And 
it should be remembered that competence in a convict cam] 
means not only erriciency in road construction, but also self-restraint, 
moderation, honesty, sobriety, and firmness of character. 
To complete the organization of the camp, a certain number of 
convict helpers under the direction of the camp officer or yard man 
are necessary to perform the various duties of cooking, cleaning, 
idering, etc. Even in guarded camps, it is necessary that such 
men be trusted to a considerable degree, and they should ;/ 
be selected with this in mind. As to their further qualifications. 
it is very desirable that the cook shall have had some previous 
experience, but no special aptitude is required in the other helpers. 
and in fact it will usually be possible to select for such work convicts 
of inferior physique, whom it is impossible to employ in any other 
way. The size of the camp force must be varied with the population 
of the camp. Xo less than two men will be required for the smallest 
camps, and for camps of over 20. one camp assistant should be ad 
for every 10 men up to camps of about 100. In camps of popula- 
tions greater than 100, the proportion of camp help to total numbers 
may be somewhat reduced. 
RECORDS AND COST ACCOUNTS. 
FINANCIAL. 
In the conduct of a business involving manufacture or construc- 
tion, it is a well recognized fact that the standard or primary books 
of an accounting system should be supplemented by certain sub- 
sidiary records known as cost accounts. The journal and the k ■■"_ 
are well designed to preserve a record of transactions to show the total 
amounts of receipts and disbursements and the balance between 
them, but they do not enable the manufacturer or construct' 
analyze the costs of his products. To supply this need, cost accounts 
have been extensively adopted in private business, and compara- 
tively recently the example set by private business has beer, 
lowed in certain branches of public work, such as the water and street 
departments of municipalities and many of the State road commis- 
sions. But though such accounts are particularly useful in the 
I onstandardized work of ;; constructive character, and 
for : - -on should be of I g atest usefulness in the condu 
: labor, the study made by this office revealed 
:th few exceptions, only the ordinary journal and le 2 
