Newspapers / The Franklin Press and … / Jan. 9, 1930, edition 1 / Page 3
Part of The Franklin Press and the Highlands Maconian (Franklin, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
I.Vuonal Forest Unexcelled Cliaiate Unsurpassed Scenery State Game Refuge 17 Peak. Over 5.CSD Feet High Ideal Dairy County Creamery, Cannery Excellent Highways Cheap Electric Power for Industries Law-abiding Citizenship VOLUME XLV FRANKLIN. N. C THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, IJ30 . NUMBER TWO I- : .. - ... . . A How Farm Accounting Helps In discussing the subject of How Farm Accounting Helps I shall not attempt to recommend any particular method of farm accounting, but rath er briefly outline the many advantages that, inevitably follow any efficient .and carefully kept system of farm accounts. ' The farmer is a business man. He is more than an ordinary business man because he is at once a capital ist, a laborer, a manufacturer, and a merchant. In any sphere outside of agriculture Capital may command a return in interest on loans or in vestments without labor ; labor may command a wage without capital; the manufacturer and the merchant de pend upon the careful management of their business rather than upon their own physical labor or their own limited capital for their profits. But the farmer, to be successful, must se cure a return in all of the quadruple ranariri'ps ' Hp must spmrp a fair re turn on his investment; he must earn a reasonable wage for his labor. In order to do these things he must know what to produce and how to produce it and he must know some thing about merchandising. As a re ! suit of the agricultural depression of the last few years the average farm er is giving more careful attention than ever before to what he produces and it is encouraging to note that he is learning many things about the . selling end of his business. No business man can achieve the maximum degree of success unless he .maintains an efficient system of ac counting and the farmer is no ex ception to the rule. T cirtctmn rt f-irm o.pmititIncr ran of itself guarantee a profit at the end of the year or turn a loss into a profit. It cannot of itself make a successful farmer out of an unsuc cessful one or convert a run-down farm into a good farm.' Farm ac . counting is only the means . to an end but it is a very efficient means to a most important end., Every farmer, like every other busi ness man is constantly confronted by two questions: First, "Is my business as at present conducted, making me any money ?" Second, "What can I do to make it more profitable ?" Un less he keeps some kind of a record of his income and his expenditures, his assets and his liabilities, and takes art annual inventory of his property he can never answer the first of these questions, and until he knows how his profits, if any, have been, made and how his losses, if any, have been in curred, he can, not make any intelli gent efforts to increase his profits. ' Practically every farmer keeps some kind of a record, but in most cases it is. a simple financial record which shows little about the real condition of the business. If the farmer's bank balance is larger at the end of the year than it was at the beginning, he is apt to conclude that the, year was a profitable one. If it is smaller or if more indebteddness has been incur red during the year the inference may be that the year's operations were not so successful.' In both instances the conclusion drawn may be far from the truth. No set of records can clearly and accurately show a farmer's net gain or loss during the year or enable him to know both the most profitable and the least profitable of his farm operations, unless it includes an an nual farm inventory or property list. Ho accurate knowledge regarding a farmer's financial progress, can be gained unless he takes into considera tion any decrease or increase" in' the value of all his property. The store keeper is well aware of this fact and his annual '"stock tak ing" is simply the taking of an in ventory. Because of increased costs of operation and the consequent need for every possible economy in pro duction and handling, many of ourj uJVESTIGATjS LiACCrl CCUiTi7 HEART 0? A MOUNTAIN EMPIRE RIPE FOR DEVELOPMENT pfe 1 J t Always Treat Oats for Smut Failure to treat seed oats for smut results xin an enormous annual loss to the . farmers of America. It is very easy to get rid of smut so easy that it seems almost criminal not to do so. At the Iowa Experiment Station tests were made on 20 varieties. In 10 plots not treated there was nearly eight per cent of smut; in the treat ed plots there was less than one per cent. Reports showed that only 312 out of 3,608 Iowa farmers treated their oats for smut. In the untreated fields there was an average of 7.3 per cent of smut; in the treated fields an average of only 1.9 per cent. The loss in the untreated field was esti mated at 12,000,000 bushels, valued (in 1912) at $4,800,000. Two men working four minutes can treat enough oats for smut at a cost of four or five cents to plant an acre of ground. The increased yield of oats that will result will net from $3 to $6. When the time and expense re quired are so small and the increased yield so profitable, why should we not treat our oats before planting them? For the past 20 years the following method of treating seed ' oats for smut has been in use: Spread the oats to be treated on the barn floor or in a light wagon box. Make a solution of one pint of. formaldehyde to 40 gallons of water. Sprinkle the oats "with the solution until they are thoroughly saturated, using about one gallon of solution to one bushel of oats. As one person sprinkles another person should shovel the oats over until every grain is thoroughly wet. As soon as the oats are sprinkled and well mixed, cover the pile with blankets or sacks so that the formalin gas can not escape. It ir the gas that kills the smut spores. Leave the oats covered from six to 10 hours, or overnight. Then remove the blankets and spread out the oats as much as possible to dry. Treated oats can be sown as soon as they are dry enough to run through the drill. Set the drill to allow for the swollen condition of the oats. This method has been very satis factory. It may, perhaps, be prefer red to any other method by a large number of those who have used it. But the Iowa Agricultural Experi ment Station, by extensive tests covering a period of three years, has demonstrated that the time and labor required ' for treating oats may, be greatly reduced by using less water in the solution. The method advocat ed by the Experiment Station is as follows : Make a solution by using one pint of formaldehyde to 10 gallons of water. Sprinkle the 10 gallons' of solution over 40 bushels of oats, shoveling the oats while sprinkling so that the solution is uniformly dis tributed. Sack the oats as soon as the solution has been thoroughly applied and plant next morning. This stronger solution entirely kills the smut, does not injure the oats and makes it unnecessary to dry the oats before sacking. And because the ats can be immediately sacked and tied up, little of the gas1 escapes. It will not make a great deal of difference which of these two meth ods we use. The important thing is that we treat our oats. It is not good business to permit this great annual loss to continue when it is so 'easy to put a stop to it. industrial and commercial organiza tions maintain detailed cost accounting systems, but this is not yet necessary for successful farm accounting. A farm inventory need be only a simple, itemized statement of air prop erty owned together with its fair market value at the time the inven tory is taken. By itself it does not necessarily give very much definite or accurate information as to a farm er's financial worth, but two such an M O i Ti The County Agent is responsible only for articles over his signature For the rest blame the editor Editor. Harrowings Recently in going from here to Andrews we saw the best indications of a prosperous New Year that we have seen in many a long day. We saw four farmers plowing, three new pasture fences going up, two large areas being cleared of brush for pasture, two pastures that were re ceiving an application of lime stone and four new poultry houses. Talk of prosperity begins to take definite shape when it is being backed up with actions like these. Just a little more team work, mates. Just a little more calling out, "Come on team, let's go.!' It's the spirit to get there that docs it. More and more the excuse makers are getting driven back. Wonder what they will find next to howl about t More and more things are shaping up for the benefit of the working man and more and more the other kind is getting put out of business. The next three months on the farm will tell the tale next fall . ' One thing that we noticed about the farm homes at the places where We saw the work mentioned above going on, is. that every one of them are better than, the average and show very clearly that its the man after all. Work will not start in earnest on the Nantabala Dam till nexlt fall. The wise man will get his farm in shape so that he can take advantage of this opportunity and make it an ad dition to his income and not his de pendence for a living. nual inventories, the one at the start of the year and the other at the close, when considered in connection with other farm records furnish re liable evidence of both the farmer's financial responsibility and the earn ings of his business and this informa: tiort is often very useful in securing loans or credit in time of need. . Let me repeat. Any accounting system at most is simply a statement of profit and loss. Inventories con sidered together furnish an important part of this statement but do not furnish it all. The cash account, the record of other assets earned and of liabilities incurred and other records furnish the balance of the necessary information. All are needed to deter mine whether a profit or loss has re sulted from the year's operations.' For several reasons farmers, as a class, have been slow to install a system of farm accounting. The need for carefully kept farm records was not, so manifest in former years when the average farm was larger, the land more virgin and less capi tal to the acre was invested in the business. , Farmers, "also as a rule, have had only a meager knowledge of accounting, have felt they did hot have the time to give to it and have been unable to combine the clerical work necessary with the hard physi cal labor to which they have been accustomed., Then, too, most of the accounting systems devised for the use of farmers have been so compli cated as to call for too much labor and too much clerical skill. But with the advent of the income tax, the increased cost of labor equip ment and supplies, higher taxes and a higher standard of living (which of itself , is most commendable and de sirable) farmers generally are becom (Continued on page four) V "I J Weeds Mean Waste Weeds mean wasted labor. It is estimated that) a man walks eight miles in plowing an acre once over. Multiply this by harrowing, cross harrowing, and cultivating two or three times and in the 'end figure that all this labor has been given to the production of a crop which is only two-thirds as large as it would have been if it had not been weaken ed by weeds. Weeds cut down the yield, damage the crop, cheapen the product, reduce the profits, rob the soil, injure stock, reduce land values. Weeds cost the farmers of the Unit ed States more than $300,000,000 ac cording to . government estimates. There is great loss from dockage of grain from weed seeds. Every year on an average in Minnesota alone the farmers are docked nearly 250,- 000. 000 pounds, or about 3,000,000 bushels of grain on account of weed seeds. ' . . : In addition to the loss due to of fering for sale weed seeds instead -of grain, there are the losses due to: 1. Freight paid on material which is discarded when it reaches the desti nation point; 2. The exp&nse of clean ing the seed; 3. The reduced value of the milled product because of the presence of foreign substances. Reduce Profits Weeds reduce profits in two ways: By adding to the expense of pro ducing, and by lessening production. Russian thistle and bindweed clog the harvester, the header, and the har row. The increased bulk requires ex tra hauling, extra work in threshing, extra binder twine and may mean injury to the machine that binds the grain. They Lowr Land Values A weedy farm is high at any price. Land must return interest on invest ment. Profits are dependent on the sur plus production on what is left after paying production cost. If land produces only enough to pay interest and labor we will soon go out of business. Weeds Abundant Seeders The weed which is best able to cope with difficulties is the weed which survives. Weeds are abundant seeders. ' A single plant of shepherd's purse may produce as many as 50,000 seeds; squirrel tail produces 300 to 2,000; bracted plantain may bear 3,000 per plant ; foxtail from 100,000 to 200,000 seeds; one mustard plant, one and one-half million seeds, and so on. - Weeds arc right on the job all the time. Weeds occupy land which be longs to the world for the produc tion of useful crops. Compare these prolific soil robbers with our food-producing plants. Through centuries of time weeds have become, adapted to certain soilsi and climatic conditions. Their species are fixed. They" arc hardy veterans ablci to withstand the extremes of heat arid oold, of drouth, and excessive moisture, without injury. But there . arc other weeds milk weed, smartweed, Spanish needle, mustard, peppermint, tansy, poison hemlock, jimson, morning-glory, rag weed, velvet leaf purelane, quack grass wild garlic, Canada thistle, ox eyed daisy, bindweed, orange hawk weed, Johnson grass, sorrel, wild oats, and 50 others that, arc common wher ever man is. How Weed Seeds are Spread Weed seeds are spread chiefly by men sawing impure seed, by scatter ing weed seeds iiv feeding hay, straw, screenings, and in manure,, by winds, water and snow, by animals and birds, by farm machines and rail roads; by allowing weeds to flourish in waste places. Every weed that is allowed to ma ture produces hundreds tr thousands, even millions of seeds. Having , pro duced a large quantity of seed the next step is to distribute it. And in this task the weed has many help- t H 1C3.CC3 II. P. UnJvtl oped Water Power Mica, Kaolin, Asbestos, Abrasive Materials Copper, Timber Precious and Semi precious Gems Abundance Good Labor Ample Transportation Facilities Pure, Clear Water Productive Soils We Waste More Potash Than We Import 1 The fertility of our soil must be preserved. In many sections of this country it must be improved. This means fertilizer, one of the most im portant elements of which, is potashl Fori many years the farmers of America have been made to believe that the only form of potash suitable for this purpose is that obtained from the deposits in Germany. As a matter of fact we are not de pendent upon Germany for potash nor need we have been for many years past. The trouble is we have thrown away millions of tons of pot ash every year. Wood ashes should be carefully saved and applied to the land. They contain from four to six per cent of potash. Dead leaves should not be burned, but plowed under, as every ton contains six pounds of potash. Different varieties of straw and hay contain trom Io to 54 pounds or potash to the ton and this litter io moderate amounts adds to. the fer tilizing value of stable manure. Conservative estimates show that there were approximately 6,652,375 tons of potash in the farm, stable and barnyard manure produced w lathis country in 1913. The amount of potash in cattle manure alone was 5,000,000 tons. It is generally agreed that fully 50 per cent of the cattle manure is wasted by reason of its not being placed upon the land at all, by not being properly spread, or through leaching from being exposed to the weather too long before be ing spread. So it is conservative" to say that fully 2,500,000 tons of potash was thus wasted in 1913. Thlg is over 10 times as much as we imported from Germany in that year. The year 1913 is used in this com parison because that was the latest year in which there was unrestricted commerce "between Germany and the United States. But what is true of 1913 would be equally true of aay year. The joys of farm life seem to be a joke these cold mornings when we have to hit the floor. But how good it feels when we really hustle out and beat the old dread out of his bite. Look 'cm over. Co-operative poul try sales; co-operative hog sales; co-s operative wool sales; a ready market for cream; a ready market for vege tables, a co-operative market for. eggs, a ready market for grain; a mill where wc can get just the kind of feed that we need. ' What more would any community have? A new market has been added to the others. Bert Slagle is buying all kinds of grain for his feed mixing mill that he has erected at the cream ery. ' " ers. First: A large part of the weed seed is distributed by the sower who sows impure seed. Imported grains and low grade grass seed con tain a large proportion of weed seeds. The problem is how to get rid of weeds and keep, them out. First, rotate the crops; screen ail seed; cultivate frequently and thor oughly; cut the weeds before they go to seed; plant some other crop; pasture with sheep; and finally keep everlastingly after them. If your wheat field is weedy, seed it to clover and blue grass; mow.tiie annuals and biennials before they seed, pasture witty sheep or hogs to keep down the perennials; follow; by a cultivated crop to kill any linger ing weeds, and you will have disposed of most varieties. , V ' To allow land to go to? waste is. an economic rrimc. " 'm-- ' ! Use it! Farm it! Grow foodstuffs, not weeds!
The Franklin Press and the Highlands Maconian (Franklin, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Jan. 9, 1930, edition 1
3
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75