to make the home profitable, there must be some system of bookkeeping instituted, no matter how simple, also there must be some ingenuity exercised about marketing. take advantage of the long evenings to start books and lay plans for the disposal of surplus products to the best advantage. unless you know what each animal costs to keep, and what returns you are receiving from it, you can’t be sure what your profits really are. i know how most amateurs hate to be bound down to the actualities of a balance-sheet with its cold facts on what it costs to produce this, that or the other thing. but experience has taught me that it is the crucial point and must be ascertained. your accounts need not be elaborate but they must be clear and accurate. establish some simple system of bookkeeping and after you have once overcome prejudice and made the plunge, it is really gratifying to know, for a positive fact whether things are really paying or not.
the first step toward general order is keeping records of individual animals or flocks, as the case may be, and also of the farm and garden crops. bestow a name or number upon each animal, and if you are going in for husbandry in an extensive way, have a 224 book for each variety. if only two or three animals are to be kept, a general stock-book will do. each field and meadow should be named or numbered, and a book devoted to work done on each.
poultry also needs a special book; so do expenses.
my plan is to head a page in the cattle register with the animal’s name or number; date of birth or purchase, with price; followed by when bred, to whom, when due, actual date of event, sex of offspring and name or number bestowed upon it. on the opposite page, if the animal is a cow, the amount of milk she gives, a week after calving, and at one measuring every month until we cease milking her. milk is tested for butter-fats once in every three months and the result recorded.
the record of pigs and sheep is not so elaborate, because, of course, there is only breeding and arrival of offspring to be noted. for poultry, the number of pens heads the page, followed by the number of birds it contains, and the individual numbers, and on the opposite page the number of eggs gathered each week.
the feed-book contains the amount of grain, etc., used for each variety of stock.
the farm-book is kept in a like manner, the field number heading the page; then, when ploughed; how and to what extent fertilised; with what variety of seeds sown; number of times cultivated, when harvested and the amount of the crop.
on the opposite page, in pencil, are suggestions for 225 catch crops and rotation for main planting for a period of five years. small note-pads with pencils attached are fastened up in every stall or pen of each outbuilding, and events are jotted down as they occur, so that there is no chance of forgetting or getting things mixed. every saturday the sheets are torn from the pads and brought to the house, for the items to be transferred to the different books. it does not take half an hour each week to do the clerical work, and it saves innumerable mistakes and accidents, besides furnishing proof of the relative value of each animal and piece of land.
on one side of the expense book all money spent is entered; on the other, all moneys received. a balance is struck every month and transferred to a general ledger, which, in turn, is balanced once a year.
another thing that must be understood is that all profits must not be considered as a bonus to be used for personal pleasure. some part of all moneys received should be set aside as working capital, otherwise improvement and extension are simply impossible.
marketing home products advantageously is of paramount importance, and seems to be the point on which many beginners fail. commission men and wholesale markets should not be resorted to, because home-grown products of all descriptions excel in quality and not in quantity; therefore, appeal to high-class private custom, who desire the very best, regardless of price.
i have never sold through any of the ordinary market channels, yet have always had more orders than i 226 could fill and received a little more than the ordinary prices. naturally the location of the home and the quality of the wares must influence the returns to some extent, but not half so much as the method of packing and shipping. nicety in these respects captures the favor of customers and they take pride in exhibiting things to their friends—which is the very best sort of advertising a home business can have.
when i had reached the point where i knew that i could depend on a certain number of eggs regularly, i wrote to a doctor friend in the city and told him that i could promise to deliver six dozen strictly fresh-laid eggs twice a week for the whole year, at a uniform price of forty-five cents a dozen; customers to pay the express charges, which would be twenty-five cents on each six dozen. (express companies return empty packages free of charge.) within a month he had found four customers for me, who would take two dozen a week each, the box to be delivered at his house, where the other three customers were to call every saturday and wednesday.
all poultry-supply houses have wooden boxes for sale with divided trays, made to hold three, six or twelve dozen eggs, for about two dollars apiece. before the year was out each of the three other customers had interested one or two friends, with the result that three six-dozen boxes were shipped three times a week, and the following winter i had orders from the same people for butter and table poultry. 227
in this way my market grew, as did my stock, and i never had any surplus to worry about. of course, i realise that there was an element of good luck in having a doctor for a friend, but when there is no good samaritan to start a clientele for you, energy will surely accomplish it; for every housekeeper longs to get good, fresh-delivered table delicacies which have not passed through a dozen hands.
i know one woman who got her first customer by writing personal notes to women of social prominence in a near-by town, whose addresses she got from a directory. from twenty letters she received two replies, but they both became regular customers, and recommended friends.
another instance of personal effort took the form of calls upon doctors and clergymen. still another woman interested the fashionable milliner of her town to canvass orders among her customers, and paid for the favour with eggs and butter.
a more impersonal way of gaining customers would be to arrange with one or two well-located drug or stationery stores for the display of large cards bearing notices of the things for sale and your address; but, of course, there are dozens of ways to find customers. advertising in newspapers will do as a last resource, but strictly personal methods are the best.
now about packing. eggs should never be more than two days old and must be sorted into lots of uniform color and size. if the eggs should become soiled in muddy weather, wipe them with a damp cloth as 228 soon as gathered, so that the shell does not become permanently stained.
for private customers, table birds should be especially fattened and dry picked, which means that the feathers are removed as soon as the bird has been killed, without its being dipped into scalding water. as the scalding spoils the flavour, birds so dressed are only accepted by third-class market.
after the feathers and pin-feathers have all been removed, the bird should be drawn, washed in cold water, wiped quite dry, a piece of charcoal or peeled onion put inside the body and then trussed, for they look so much more attractive than when shipped in a sprawling condition.
drawing and dressing for market is not the custom for general marketing in this country, but it is universal in europe, and private customers always appreciate the improvement such rigid cleanliness necessarily makes in flavour. wrap each bird in a square of new cheese-cloth. place a few sprigs of parsley, thyme and summer savoury at one side, for the convenience of the cook; then put on an outer wrapping of white paper and tie with clean, fresh string. things going from a home should look dainty.
don’t try sending butter by express unless you have orders enough to make it worth while to buy one of the refrigerator hampers which are now used for automobiles. a hamper which costs about four dollars will hold five or six pounds of butter, so it is not a very great outlay when you can get forty-five cents a 229 pound for your butter. in making up hampers of fruit and vegetables, use small grape-baskets to divide the different varieties. line them with green leaves. pack everything with dainty care and reject everything which is not in perfect condition. don’t let anything interfere with the arranged schedule for shipping. gain a reputation for uniform excellence and punctuality, and success is sure.
