1879.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
55 
t , --— 
the soil is hard or impervious, or if it is wet, thus 
keeping out the air and preventing the proper func¬ 
tions of the roots. As the season approaches for 
preparation of the land for crops, as many of our 
readers, indeed, in the South are already plowing 
and making ready for planting, these facts demand 
attention. If we would produce the largest crops, 
we must do more than apply manure and plant good 
seed; we must thoroughly pulverize the soil by re¬ 
peated plowing and harrowing—then plow and 
harrow again ; we must drain the wet fields, and 
when the crops are up, we must thoroughly culti¬ 
vate the ground, to keep it light and free of weeds. 
Fertilizers vs. Plant-Food. 
Experiments are being continually reported by 
farmers that are misunderstood and lead to conclu¬ 
sions, on the part of the experimenters at least, that 
are detrimental to agricultural progress. Take an 
example now before us, that of a farmer who used 
lime, superphosphate, guano, salt, a chemical fer¬ 
tilizer, and no manure, on as many plots of 
wheat. The yield in each case was good, varying 
from 12 bushels on the unmanured, to 26 to 35 
bushels for the manured plots. The lime gave the 
greatest apparent profit per acre, though the yield 
was not so large as where guano, chemical, and 
superphosphate were used. Reasoning from the 
figures alone, this experimenter thinks he has 
a guide for future practice in wheat farthing, and 
accordingly has now put 70 acres in winter wheat 
manured only with lime. We shall be interested to 
learn the result of several years of this practice, 
but predict that it will prove an unprofitable ven¬ 
ture. The soil on which this experiment was tried, 
is a naturally fertile clay wheat soil. Lime on such 
land always has a good effect for one or two appli¬ 
cations ; not as plant-food, however, but in acting 
upon the soil chemically to make available that 
fertility which is contained in the soil, but in an un¬ 
available condition. Lime adds no needed element 
to the soil, but forces it to yield up its stores of 
fertility. It should not be understood from this, 
that lime is not plant-food, for it is; but the great 
majority of soils, if not all, contain so much of it al¬ 
ready, that there is no necessity for supplying more. 
This lime, however, is in such a form that it does 
not have the effect upon the soil of newly applied 
freshly slaked lime, as explained last month in 
the article headed “ Some Facts about Lime.” 
It is a wise economy to utilize whatever of 
fertility the soil contains, but it must be done ju¬ 
diciously and not wastefully. So 60 on as it is found 
that the application of lime no longer produces 
adequate crops, the true reason should be assigned 
to the result, and that reason is, that the supply of 
plant-food is being exhausted, and outside sources 
mu6t he called upon to make up the deficiency. It 
is legitimate and proper to draw upon our bank ac¬ 
count, but we must also deposit, or there will soon 
be nothing in the bank to draw from. 
Jethro Tull made the same mistake when he'un- 
dertook to raise crops by superior cultivation with¬ 
out the use of manures. By mechanical means he 
made available the latent resources of the soil, but 
it was like a draft upon a limited bank account; 
hence his system could not be successful as a con¬ 
tinued practice. Let us experiment,but let us do it 
with our eyes open and with a full knowledge of 
the things we experiment with, and be careful about 
drawing conclusions from insufficient data, that 
we may not lead ourselves or neighbors into error. 
Moving a Thrashing Machine. 
To move a tread-power thrashing machine, and set 
it up readily,the following method will be found con¬ 
venient. A pair of shears 8 feet long are provided, 
with one short leg, which is furnished with a pin at 
the end, and is strengthened around the pin with a 
ferule. The shears are connected at the top with 
a bolt and clevis, and are furnished with a block 
and pulleys. A hole is made in each leg of the 
shears, in which an iron bar may be inserted. The 
head of this bar is made square, so as to fit a winch 
provided for it. At the head of the wagon, two 
strong stanchions are fitted with holes into which 
this bar may be slipped. At the rear of the wagon 
bed, which is made of 2-inch plank, there are two 
square staples, upon which two sliding bars may 
be hooked, the lower ends of these bars rest upon 
the ground. A few hard-wood rollers are also pro¬ 
vided. To load the machine, the shears are placed 
in front of the horse-power, as shown in the engrav¬ 
ing, with the pin of the short leg fitted into a ring 
of the cross-bar. The iron bar is slipped into the 
holes in the long legs, as shown, and the winch is 
attached. The rope'is given a few turns around the 
bar, and the hook at the other end of the rope is 
fastened to the lower end bar of the horse-power. 
By turning the winch the horse-power is raised, the 
bench under it is removed, and the machine is let 
down upon the rollers. The wagon is brought in 
front of it, the slide bars are hooked into the staples, 
the bars inserted into the holes in the stanchions 
or posts at the front of the wagon, and the rope is 
wound up, drawing the machine on to the wagon 
TO LOAD AND UNLOAD A THRASHER. 
bed. The thrasher is drawn up in the same way 
into the horse-power, and the whole are fastened 
into their places by the rope. By this method it is 
a very light job to take down or set up a tread- 
power machine, or to move it from one farm to 
another. To know that this may be done so easily, 
maybe an inducement for many farmers to join in 
procuring a machine for their common use. 
A Simple System of Farm Accounts, 
(third paper.) 
Closing of the Yearly Accounts. 
If every item of business during the year has been 
regularly and correctly entered in the several ac¬ 
counts to which it belongs, the sum of each account 
will show exactly how that particular department 
stands. For example, let us take the Dairy account, 
as it was begun in the second article of this series, 
and suppose it to be continued to the end of the 
year. The sum of the items may be taken as below: 
of the account, to the Dr. side, as in the example 
above. A balance is then struck, which in this 
case is $371.80, and is the actual profit made in 
the dairy. This balance is carried to the general 
account, as below, where all balances of the several 
accounts are gathered. In like manner all other 
accounts are settled and balanced—the amount 
of stock on hand being brought in as shown and 
carried forward in the account as the balance of 
value on hand at the beginning of the new year. 
As a test of the correctness of the accounts they 
should be footed up and balanced before the value 
of the stock is brought in. The sum of all these 
balances ought to equal the exact sum of the gen¬ 
eral balance at the beginning of the year. This 
must be evident, if every item entered has been 
placed in the two accounts to which it belongs; 
being credited to that from which it has been 
taken, and charged to that to which it has been 
carried, and in this way the general balance must 
remain the same. This is the principle at the 
foundation of “ double entry,” and it is so simple 
and plain that no person should keep books upon 
any other system. It is the bringing in of the stock 
at the end of the year which changes the balance of 
the general account and which makes up the sum 
of the new balances. As an example of a general 
account the following is given : 
GENERAL FARM ACCOUNT AND STOCK. 
Dr. 
Cr. 
1 
By value of land and stock 
$9,275 88 
31 
To house expenses. 
$1,128 
85 
“ farm expenses. 
423 
22 
By balance from grain and 
hay. 
1,022 
38 
By do. from dairy. 
371 
80 
“ “ poultry. 
80 
21 
“ “ sheep........ 
121 
00 
“ “ Pigs. 
“ “ feedingcattle 
73 
16 
11 
22 
“ “ orchard and 
garden. 
111 
12 
By balance, being total 
stock on hand, including 
cash, less debts owing.. 
9,498 
26 
$11,061 
55 
$11,061 
55 
The balance of this account, $9,498.26, consists of 
the sums of the balances of the several accounts, 
stock, debts owing or due, and including the cash; 
and it should represent the whole of the farm 
property, land, stock, crops in the ground, and im¬ 
provements of buildiugs and real estate after the 
debts upon it, if any, are deducted, so that it is an ac¬ 
curate index to the financial condition of the farmer. 
The satisfaction of knowing this, and how he stands 
with the world, ought to be a sufficient inducement 
for every person who does business of any kin d, to 
keep regular and accurate accounts.* 
DAIRY ACCOUNT. 
1878. 
Dr. 
Cr. 
Jan’y 
1 
Value of 14 cows on hand.. 
$800 
00 
Dec. 
31 
The year's feed, etc_... 
987 
50 
“ “ wages.. 
360 
00 
“ “ sales of milk, 
butter and calves. 
$1,634 
30 
Value of stock on hand . 
885 
00 
Bal. to gen. acct. (profit) 
371 
80 
$2,519 
30 
$2,519 
30 
1879. 
Jan’y 
1 
Value of stock on hand... 
885 00 
Now it is time to close the accounts for the old 
year, and start afresh for the 
new. An inventory of every¬ 
thing is made as before. The 
items should be entered in a 
“ stock-book ” kept for the 
purpose, and the values carried 
out in the money column ; a 
page may be used for each 
class of items and their values 
footed up on each page,and the 
separate footings gathered into 
a general account on a page 
by itself. The inventory of the dairy stock may be 
supposed to amount to $885, allowing a fair esti¬ 
mate for the changed values of the cows that are 
either better or worse, and for the heifers brought 
into profit. This amount is carried, in the closing 
Fodder Hack for a large Herd. 
In feeding hay out-doors to a large herd of cat¬ 
tle, the rarck needs to he made of strong materials, 
well put together; boards will not answer. It may 
be built of timbers fastened to posts set in the 
ground. A good bottom to the rack is made of a 
cross-piece of small unhewn timber pinned or 
spiked to the bed-pieces. Intermediate posts sup¬ 
port and bind together the stringers at intervals. 
This rack, which is shown in the engraving, may be 
constructed of any desired length, and may sur¬ 
FODDER-RAOK FOR MANY CATTLE. 
round the stack, thus serving as a fence to protect 
the stack, and as a fodder-rack at the same time. 
♦Note.— If anything in these articles is not clear, we 
shall be glad to make it so on receiving an inquiry 
upon the particular points which may need explanation. 
