10 BULLETIN 236, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
and returned during the current month, can be added in with the 
March shipments and returns in order to arrive at the total amount 
of returns for the month of March. This same method will apply 
if a car shipped in February should not bring returns until April, 
as the February entry would show that the car was still standing: 
out through the month of March. 
RECORD OF HEDGES. 
A record of hedges (Form No. 5; see p. 21) is essential to the 
proper hedging of grain, and this account should be^kept up to date. 
On this form columns have been provided giving all the necessary 
information for keeping the accounting record of grain hedges. 
Profit or loss on hedges should be posted to the general ledger to 
the debit or credit of the " commission account" represented and 
to the debit or credit of "profit and loss on hedges," as the case may 
be. It may be considered that any profit or loss on hedging could 
as properly be charged or credited to the grain . against which it 
applies, but, as it is important to know just how much the hedging 
of grain costs, it is much better to carry a " profit and loss on hedges'', 
account until the end of the year, when this account may be written 
off to the several grain accounts if desired. 
RECORD OF SALES TO ARRIVE. 
Under the description of the system (p. 6) will be found sufficient 
information regarding this form (Form No. 6; see p. 21), for, as 
it is only an auxiliary record for memorandum use, it has very fit tie 
to do with the operation of the system. 
PATRONAGE LEDGER. 
At convenient periods during the year reference should be made 
to the grain checks and to the sales tickets, and the amount of 
merchandise recorded thereon, both in purchases and sales, should 
be posted to the patronage ledger (Form No. 7; see p. 22), under the 
account of the customer with whom the transaction was held. It is 
essential only that this material be compiled by the end of the year, 
so that proper reference may be made to it as the basis for paying 
patronage dividends. Each customers account is totaled and the 
rate of dividend per bushel or per pound is entered in the upper 
right-hand corner. Using this ledger as a basis, checks for the amount 
to which each customer is entitled can be made out, and dividends 
distributed accordingly. 
GRAIN REPORT. 
The grain report (Form No. S; see p. 23) is designed to keep the 
manager and directorate in close touch with the condition of their 
grain stock at the end of any month, or, in fact, at any time at which 
additions of the various entries on the grain forms may be made. 
