METHODS OF CONDUCTING COST STUDIES. 15 
FARM PRODUCE USED IN HOUSE 
Y2xm^^J^^^ Month.^^^.-..,.. Year ./.ftf Value 
Cream # Z .qts (^...A?.. % test @ $lt 
Whole Milk *5 " * % " @ Alt. 
Skim Milk SQ .. % u % ^LOOCwt 
Butter Q lbs % " @ *?£?:. 
Eggs i.§... doz ® #<£.£. 
Poultry IQ. lbs. dressed @ ^6.0 
Potatoes 2& bu @ SLfifl 
.•?. Regular boarders /*/<?. Man Days 
..£?. Extra boarders JLQ.+ ,i Man Days 
Total 1.65. Man Days 
Number women doing housework /. 
Fig. 6. — Monthly household record. 
THE ACCOUNTING METHOD, 
Detailed farm cost records are the "outstanding feature of cost of 
production studies by this accounting method. This tends to 
narrow the number of farm records that can be obtained with a 
given fund for research. As contrasted with the survey method, it 
entails the keeping of direct, individual accounts, whereas the survey 
statistics are gathered in a rougher fashion that enables the investi- 
gators to cover ground more rapidly. 
The principal advantage of the accounting methods is its accuracy. 
It provides a body of fact that is valuable as a basis for fundamental 
cost and organization studies. Its disadvantage lies in the com- 
paratively small number of farms that can be studied with a given 
fund, and in the danger that at least a part of the number selected 
will not be typical or representative of a sufficient number to make 
the data worth while. Another disadvantage, from an investiga- 
tional standpoint, is the need of close supervision of the work, which 
not only is costly from a money standpoint, but requires efficient, 
experienced supervision that is relatively difficult to obtain. 
Several plans have been developed for making use of the accounting 
method. The three most common are (1) the " route" plan, origi- 
nated, and maintained with but few changes, by the Minnesota 
Experiment Station; (2) the occasional visit, and book plan, as used 
by Cornell University in the State of New York; and (3) the corre- 
spondence plan, as inaugurated and maintained for a number of 
years by the Office of Farm Management, United States Department 
of Agriculture. The principles underlying the accounting practice 
