8 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[January, 
For the American Agriculturist. 
How Stand your Accounts? 
[The general tenor and spirit of the article 
below we readily endorse. On large farms, and 
even those of moderate size, the books for ac¬ 
counts recommended should be kept. On small 
farms, where there are but few transactions, one 
or two books will suffice, with different pages al¬ 
lotted to the several topics to be noted down. 
In some cases a few sheets of paper, stitched 
together in book or pamphlet form, will answer 
as a temporary resort, at least until it is practica¬ 
ble to get a good, well bound, permanent farm 
book. Keeping accounts, and writing down in a 
journal the various transactions upon the farm, 
is a capital exercise for the boys, and the girls 
too. Had we not early learned to use the pen, 
and to express our thoughts, by keeping a full 
minute record of all that transpired upon the 
farm, even to the smallest item, we are quite 
sure we should not be using our pen here 
to-day.— Ed.] 
Not one farmer in ten has any system of 
book-keeping, by which he can tell at the close 
of each year how he stands with the world. 
Most farmers probably have an account of their 
debt and credit with those with whom they have 
business dealings, but they keep no account with 
themselves. No estimate is made of the articles 
consumed by the stock, or by their families; and 
no account is kept with particular crops, or par¬ 
ticular fields, to know whether one crop pays 
better than another, or whether they pay at all. 
Accurate knowledge of the cost of crops, of the 
cost of animals sold for meat, of the profits of 
raising poultry, beef, pork, or of any item of 
farm economy, is the rarest of all knowledge 
among cultivators. One is occasionally met 
with who is booked up, and can show you, in 
black and white, what it costs to support his 
family what are the expenses of each crop cul¬ 
tivated, what field gives the best returns for the 
labor expended upon it, and who is able to tell 
whether farming pays, and how well it pays. 
But such a farmer is exceedingly rare. 
The common practice is to keep as even with 
the world as possible, and to leave the rest of 
the business to take care of itself. It is well 
known that farmers are more slack in keeping 
payments square than any other class of busi¬ 
ness men. They trade and barter with each 
other ; “ pay in their way,” as the phrase is, 
which means to pay in anything the creditor hap¬ 
pens to want, when it suits the convenience of 
the debtor to pay it. If the farmer sells a lot of 
fat wethers to the butcher on three months’ 
credit, he expects his money at that time. But 
if he sells a lot of stock sheep to his neighbors, 
he will not insist upon any particular time of 
payment, and he will get his pay in two years, 
perhaps, in a pair of steers. Not unfrequently 
accounts so run on unsettled five, ten, and even 
twenty years. 
Now, all this is bad policy. “ Long friends 
and short credits ” is as sound a maxim for the 
farmer as for any other class of the community. 
If the farmer has anything to give away, let 
him give it, and settle the account of charity. 
But in the way of business he should school 
himself to be prompt in payment of debts, and 
compel the same promptness in others. It is es¬ 
sential to his own peace of mind, and to his suc¬ 
cess in business. A farmer can no more afford 
to do without account books than a merchant. 
He should accustom himself to clear ideas of his 
business, to know what belongs to capital in¬ 
vested, what to working expenses, and what to 
profit. It is in this way only that he can tell at 
the close of each year whether he has gained or 
lost. He should bring himself to account at the 
close of every day for every pecuniary transac¬ 
tion he has had with others. 
A proper system of accounts for a farmer is, 
first, a cash book, in which are entered all monies 
received and paid out; second, a journal, con¬ 
taining all deliveries of stock or farm produce, 
and all articles received ; third, a stock book, in 
which should be entered all additions to the ani¬ 
mals, tools, land, and everything that constitutes 
capital in the business, and all subtractions from 
the same ; and fourthly, a ledger, in which sepa¬ 
rate page accounts should be kept, debt and 
credit, with all persons with whom lie has busi¬ 
ness dealings Besides these, it is important to 
have a wages book, showing, at a glance, how the 
account stands with each laborer upon the farm, 
and how much is paid out for labor, and an 
invoice book, containing all bills of account. It is 
also of great importance to keep accounts with 
particular fields, to ascertain what are the re¬ 
turns for particular crops, under a given mode of 
treatment. 
The farmer should always have some experi¬ 
ment on hand, suggested by his own reading and 
observation, risking more or less according to 
his means. In this way he will gain some defin¬ 
ite knowledge every year, and his brain power 
will increase with his capital. Nothing is 
wanted more than a good system of book-keep¬ 
ing upon the farm. It, of course, involves some 
expense, and considerable time and pains¬ 
taking ; but it will pay better than any other 
labor, for it will show what labor pays best, and 
give a wise direction to all operations upon the 
farm. Now is a good time to commence farm 
accounts. * 
-«•-.- Ml— — - - 
For the American Agriculturist. 
Errors in Shoeing Horses. 
[The proper shoeing of horses is an important 
topic. There are comparatively few good 
shoers even among old blacksmiths, as almost 
every one knows by experience. We have a 
horse that, though shod by an “ old hand at it,” 
would somehow get lame. A change of shoers 
stopped the lameness ; and this is the experience 
of many others. Any hints on the subject will 
be gladly received. The following is from a 
practical blacksmith, who says, “ It is poorly 
done, as a blacksmith’s hand is in poor order to 
write in cold weather.” The writing was cer¬ 
tainly well done ; the correctness of his advice 
we leave for discussion by his fellow artisans. 
If they have any exceptions to make, let U3 have 
them. We would almost be willing to print an 
error or two, just to wake up a discussion on a 
subject of so great interest to horse owners, as 
well as horse-shoers.— Ed ] 
Crippled a*d hoof-bound horses are becoming 
more and more common where they are used on 
hard roads, and the methods of shoeing adopted 
by many blacksmiths to prevent lameness, in the 
opinion of the writer, only increase the evil. 
Usually shoes are made with the nail-holes too 
near the toe. This leaves the heel unsupported, 
and throws the strain, in traveling and pulling, 
about midway between the heel and toe, which 
is the weakest part of the hoof. Often, when the 
shoes are removed, the sole of the foot is found 
torn loose from the hoof at the heels, leaving 
sores called corns. This is more common with 
heavy wide-footed horses, though the same style 
of shoeing will produce it in all. 
Burning the hoof with the hot shoe, to fit it to 
its place, is often practiced. A number of 
years’ experience has taught me that this should 
not be done. When a horse’s hoof is properly 
trimmed, the sole is less than a quarter of an 
inch thick : burning will crisp and destroy the 
life of the seam, causing the sole and hoof to 
separate. This is followed by sprawling and 
rottenness of the hoof, lowering of the sole, 
turning up of the toe, and general ill-shape of the 
foot, and the horse becomes a clumsy cripple. 
Horses likely to become hoof-bound, generally 
have small, tough, horny hoofs of rapid growth ; 
but, with proper care, they may be kept free 
from lameness. If the shoe be not properly fas¬ 
tened near the heels, it causes the toe to incline 
forward, the sole becomes hard and dead, the 
heels contract and the frog is injured. Lameness 
must follow from the action of the coffin joint 
being retarded. 
To keep the foot in its natural shape the shoe 
should be made to fit wide at the heels; the 
“ calk ” should stand square, inclining a little 
outward. The shoe should be nailed well back 
towards the heels, say from an inch and a quar¬ 
ter to two inches from the calks, thus securing it 
solidly from heel to toe. When the foot is in its 
natural shape, as strong a nail hold can be had at 
the turn of the heel as anywhere about the hoof. 
The clip, or upward projection from the shoe, 
used by many, is worse than useless. The hoof 
is weakened by the notch made to receive it, 
and is injured by the burning given to fit it in. 
By this treatment horses whose feet have been 
worn short at the toe, have often been lamed by 
crisping the sole and affecting the quick, causing 
it to fester in a few days after shoeing. After a 
horse’s faet have been thus maltreated, it will 
most generally take from six months to a year’s 
proper care to restore them to a sound condition. 
A shoe properly put on should remain from ten 
to fourteen weeks. If a horse is shod oftener 
than once in two months, there will not be suffi¬ 
cient growth to afford a solid hold for the nails. 
Dearborn County, Indiana. M. B. Kkrr, 
How many Horses. —According to the new 
American Cyclopaedia, the number of horses in 
the world is estimated at fifty-seven millions, 
(57,420,000,) or one horse for every twenty-one 
inhabitants, young and old. In Europe there is 
one horse for every eleven persons. Denmark 
has forty-five horses to every one hundred inhabi¬ 
tants, or nearly a horse for each two persons. 
The United States are put down as having 
5,000,000; France, 3,000,000; Russia, 3,500,000; 
Great Britain, including Ireland, 2,500,000; Aus¬ 
tria, not including Italy, 2,600,000. 
-•-<——- 
A Shrewd Workman. —A journeyman weaver 
took to his employer a piece of cloth he had just 
finished. Upon examination, two holes but half 
an inch apart were found, for which a fine of two 
shillings was demanded. “ Do you charge the 
same for small as for large holes 1” asked the 
workman. “Yes, a shilling for every hole, big 
or little." Whereupon the workman immedi¬ 
ately tore the two small holes into one, exclaim¬ 
ing, “ that’ll save me a shilling anyhow.” His 
employer was so well pleased with his wit that 
he remitted the whole fine. 
Friendship is more firmly secured by lenity to¬ 
wards failings, than by attachment to excellen¬ 
ces. The former is valued as a kindness which 
cannot be claimed, the latter is exacted as the 
payment of debt to merit. 
Common swearing argues in a man a perpetual 
distrust of his own reputation among his fellows 
