Yew Poisoning. 
841 
of a neighbouring parish a yew-tree spreads its branches over the 
adjacent field. The cattle have grazed on these till they look as if 
they had been trimmed with shears. Another tree was eaten by 
some farm horses in this parish ; but in neither case has any harm 
been done. 
Moreton. 
FARM ACCOUNTS . 1 
My experience is that the intense competition that has been created 
by free importation of all agricultural produce has completely 
altered the conditions upon which farming operations now require 
to be carried on. Farming has become a most difficult business to 
follow profitably, and it cannot be done without very accurate 
accounts, which have been found to be necessary in competitive 
businesses of other kinds. In order to keep such accounts where 
cattle-feeding is part of the work of a farm, it is necessary to ascer- 
tain the live weight of the animals as a basis of calculation. With- 
out it it is impossible to arrive at a fact, as the present method of 
guessing at the yield of carcass contained in a fat animal is not a fact ; 
it is a mere speculative opinion, and is not capable of being repre- 
sented by a figure. The quality and condition of all commodities, 
which determine their value, are matters of judgment, and must 
always remain so ; but they have nothing to do with the quantity of 
the commodities, which must be determined by the scales. In order 
to arrive at the simplest and most accurate form of farm accounts it 
will be necessary that a cash-book of the ordinary kind should be 
kept, properly balanced every week or month, to ensure that there 
have been no omissions. This would contain a true history of all cash 
transactions, from which a correct balance-sheet, of such a form as is 
presented on pp. 842-3, would be easily made. It is important that 
these balance-sheets should be made out on one uniform method, so 
that results in different parts of the country could be compared, if 
thought desirable. A balance-sheet of this kind would be easily 
verified by an auditor or accountant, as he would only have to refer 
to the cash-book in the case of any figures he might think it neces- 
sary to check. An account of this nature would show where gains or 
losses occur. If such an account is kept over a series of years, I 
think it will be found that the profits arising from the business of 
agriculture are so small at the present time that it will not bear to 
be carried on upon borrowed capital, which would absorb the pi’ofit. 
1 A former note on this subject, by the same writer, appeared in the 
Journal, 3rd series, vol. ii., 1891, pp. 422-5. The subject is of perennial 
interest, and the fact may be recalled that the Society’s Judges of Book- 
keeping made a report thereon in the Journal, 2nd series, vol. xix., 1883, 
pp. 693-701, and prepared a series of forms, which are published by E. Forster 
Groom, 16 Charing Cross, London, S.W.,as follow No. I. Dairy, price 4.?. 6 cl . ; 
No. II. Receipts, Payments, and Balance Sheet, price 6s. 6d. — Ed. 
