ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN’S ASSOCIATION. 
19 
never support them with figures. Now, if a man has conveniences for 
weighing his animals, (and every farmer ought to have,) it will not take 
much time to know, by figures, whether or not the proper way to raise a 
hog is to starve him during the first half of his existence, in order that he 
may have a good appetite during the rest of his life ; it will not take much 
time to know whether it pays better to market fat hogs, nine months old, 
and weighing two hundred and fifty pounds, or to keep them until they are 
eighteen months old and weigh five hundred pounds. 
So important is this matter of keeping accounts, so necessary to a high 
degree of success to the farmer, that I will risk the tiring of your patience 
while I briefly outline a system, or rather part of a system, which it seems 
to me might and should be adopted by every intelligent farmer, unless he 
already has something better. On the first day of January, let him deter¬ 
mine the several sources from which he expects income during the vear. 
The more important of these should be selected, and a page of a common 
ledger devoted to each; write the name of the department at the top of 
the page. Perhaps, for the first year, the ledger might appear as follows : 
First page, “ Milch Cowssecond page, “ Fatting Steersthird page, 
“ Other Neat Stock fourth page, “ Hogs fifth page, “ Sheep sixth 
page, “Poultry.” ., 
Now he should carefully estimate the value of the stock in each 
department on January 1st, and enter its value upon the left side of the 
ledger page devoted to that particular source of income. Then, as often as 
he receives income from any one of these departments, during the year, let 
him enter it upon the right-hand side of the proper ledger page. And, as 
often as any department is the cause of an expenditure, he should enter 
the amount of the expense upon the left side. At the end of every month 
he should estimate carefully the food consumed by the animals of each 
department during the month, and place its value with the expenditures, 
on the left side. At the end of the year the valuation of stock in each 
department should be again taken and placed upon the right-hand side of 
the ledger page. Now the page or pages devoted to milch cows, will show 
something like the following results: 
Upon the left-hand side will be the valuation at the beginning of the year, say.... 
Also, items of expense, including animals bought, amount paid for medicine,salt, 
butter tubs, etc., etc.,. 
Food, as estimated at the end of each month. 
$ 1,600 
300 
1,420 
Tota’. 
L pon the right-hind side will be the amounts received for butter sold 
Amount received lor animals sold. 
Value of sour milk led to pigs, as estimated "monthly.".'.. 
\ alue of milk and butter consumed upon the table 
v aluation of milch cows at the end of year . 
$ 3,320 
$1,8 5 0 
100 
400 
75 
1,800 
Total 
$ 4,225 
