COOPERATIVE ORGANIZATION BUSINESS METHODS. 5 
," ** Statement of grower's ledger account." Also columns 
should be headed "Charges," "Credits," and balances should be 
designated as "Balance due grower," "Balance due exchange." 
LABOR-SAVING DEVICES. 
There is often a mistaken idea of economy in regard to any ex- 
penditure for the installation of an up-to-date accounting system, 
the employment of competent help, and the introduction of various 
labor-saving devices. The cost of an adding machine or calculating 
machine may seem large, but may save its original cost by the elimi- 
nation of extra help during the first year, providing the volume of 
business is sufficient to make its use economical. Columnar develop- 
ment, loose-leaf systems, card systems, the carbon copy, have all 
lessened the routine of the bookkeeper and made modern bookkeep- 
ing both possible and economical. 
The use of loose-leaf systems will be found of advantage, as this 
method permits the elimination of dead accounts and the division of 
labor as the accounting work increases during the heavy shipping 
season. The use of carbon copies has made it possible to do away 
with many duplicate entries of the same information. There are 
numerous devices for reducing the cost of accounting, each of which 
serves its particular purpose, and any one of which may be admirably 
adapted for specific purposes in an office. 
THE OFFICE MANAGER. 
The office of every cooperative organization must be modeled 
according to the prevailing conditions of the business, and it is 
necessary to place the office work in charge of a person fully com- 
petent and trained to cope with these conditions, thus relieving the 
general manager of the necessity of handling details. 
The time of the general manager is valuable to the business in 
outlining the large matters of policy and directing all the forces 
that make for a larger and better concern. He should not be ex- 
pected to give time to office details when the volume of business is 
sufficiently large to require as his right-hand man an efficient office 
manager, one who can successfully carry on the work connected with 
the records. 
The office manager should be an accountant, and it is preferable 
that he be thoroughly familiar with the type of the organization 
the office of which he is to direct. This knowledge is the first essen- 
tial toward making it possible for him to direct others, to give them 
an understanding of the organization's business policies, and to 
keep the office force in harmony with these policies. In the smaller 
organizations the entire force consists of but one man. Here, as 
