Farm Accounts and Farm Management - With Information on Book Keeping, Records, Arithmetic and Mapping the Farm

Arthur D. Cromwell

Description

This volume contains a guide to running a successful and profitable farm, focusing on account keeping. The management of money is one of the most important factors of farming, and this volume aims to walk the reader through what must be done and avoided to ensure fiscal success. “Farm Accounts and Farm Management” will be of considerable utility to prospective and existing farmers alike, and it not to be missed by collectors of vintage farming literature. Contents include: “Agriculture Follows Nature Study”, “Not Enough Bookkeeping on the Farm”, “The Inventory”, “Characteristics of a Good Set of Books”, “Teach Children to Make Inventories”, “Farm Records”, “Milk Records”, “Teach Girls Household Accounting”, etc. Many vintage books such as this are increasingly scarce and expensive. It is with this in mind that we are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with a specially-commissioned new introduction on farming.

Sujets

• Agronomie
• Agronomy for Sustainable Development
• Agriculture
• Engineering
• Technology
• Sciences et techniques

Informations

• Publié par: Read Books Ltd.
• Date de parution: 06 mars 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781447489337
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 5 Mo

Extrait

Farm Accounts and Farm Management
With Information on Bookkeeping, Records, Arithmetic and Mapping the Farm
By
Arthur D. Cromwell
Contents
Farm Accounts and Farm Management
FARM ACCOUNTS AND FARM MANAGEMENT
Agriculture Follows Nature Study. -Agriculture is for the older pupils what nature study is for the younger ones. Among the don ts for the teacher of agriculture is the one which says: Don t try to teach all of the pupils agriculture. Leave something that is new and fresh for the older pupils. Leading thinkers seem to agree that agriculture should not be given before the seventh and eighth grades. This is certainly true of the work outlined in this chapter. If we were sure that the children would go to high school, we would advocate leaving the farm bookkeeping until the high school is reached. The agricultural economics is given to suggest lines of reading for the boy who has left school or who is in the high school. Some of our present work in arithmetic can be abridged and the farm bookkeeping given to advantage.
Not Enough Bookkeeping on the Farm. -Children cannot, as a general thing, learn bookkeeping from imitation on the farm. Very few farmers keep a good set of books. But with the passing of our cheap land, better business management must come or the farmer go down in the struggle. The average farmer does not like to keep books, his hands are hard and stiff, he has not enough of the bookkeeping to do to make it interesting, and he often lacks a convenient place to keep his books. He has never done enough bookkeeping to give him that certainty or accuracy which makes work attractive. There are a number of reasons why we should adopt the French system and have the women keep the books. Women are naturally careful, economical and conservative. Women often have the time and the skill that enable them to keep a beautiful set of books. In case of the sudden death of the husband, a well-kept set of books is often the best of insurance policies, insuring against lawyers, administrators, and uncertainty as to what to do with the business. We do not argue for an extra burden to be put upon the overworked, tired mother. She has enough to do. Only where the woman enjoys the work, has the time, strength and experience which will enable her to get pleasure from doing it easily and well, do we advise that the woman be the bookkeeper.
The Inventory. -A few hours in the winter, spent in invoicing the place, its stock and equipment, should be among the happiest hours that a farmer and his wife have together. Much joy comes to those who discover with mathematical certainty that they have accumulated a few hundred dollars, and the very certainty gives one inspiration to take hold for another year with renewed enthusiasm. Besides enabling a farmer to know his business with mathematical accuracy a well-kept set of books may enable him to avoid many disputes and occasionally a law suit. Accounts with merchants, money paid out, affairs with hired help or neighbors, if put down at the time in black and white, are not apt to cause trouble later.
Characteristics of a Good Set of Books. -A good set of books for the farm must be as simple as is consistent with guarding against uncertainties and mistakes. They should show the gain or loss, where gain or loss occurred, and they should furnish a satisfactory history of the different transactions such that a court would place confidence in the records should they be needed in court.