XXIV
COST ACCOUNTING
Shortly after Christmas, Tony came to Joe Williams and explained that his brother, who was then visiting them, would like to stay at Brookside and work. As Tony had given eminent satisfaction, and his brother seemed to be a capable young man, he was engaged to look after the dairy.
In February Bob had taken two weeks off. He had gone to visit his father and mother. When he returned he found that many important events had occurred at Brookside Farm.
"Who do you think is here?" asked his uncle, as Bob came into the sitting room.
"I don't know," said Bob; "unless it's Edith back again."
"I believe you're pretty fond of Edith," said his uncle, eyeing him: suspiciously; "seems to me you two were together a good deal last summer, come to think of it."
"Well, isn't she a nice girl, Uncle Joe?" "She certainly is a fine girl, Bob, and I'm sorry to disappoint you, but it isn't Edith this time—it's Joseph Williams, Jr.," said his uncle proudly, "three days old to-day."
"You don't mean it, Uncle Joe," exclaimed Bob.
"Yes, sir, Bob; twelve pounds on the scale, and every inch a farmer. We've produced some prize winners at Brookside Farm, Bob, but this one heads the list."
"That's splendid, Uncle Joe. May I see him?"
"As soon as we get warm, Bob. I wouldn't go into the room until you've had a chance to warm up some."
A few minutes later Bob was conducted to his aunt's room and there was not only allowed to see, but to hold in his arms, the heir of Brookside Farm.
"My, but he's little," said Bob.
"Little!" exclaimed his uncle. "Why, he's a bouncing big boy."
"Well, maybe it's the clothes that make him look so small."
"Don't tell us that," said his uncle, "for we know better."
"That's what you told me when I first came to the farm," laughed Bob.
"That's right. I remember now you did look small, Bob, but you've grown a lot since then."
"Guess he'll grow too, Uncle Joe. Everything seems to grow fast on
Brookside."
Then the baby asserted himself.
"My, what a good pair of lungs he has, Uncle Joe," said Bob.
"Just see what nice black hair he has, too," smiled his Aunt Bettie.
"I tell you what," said Bob, after a moment's thought, "they'll have to go some to get ahead of Brookside Farm."
"This isn't the only thing that has happened since you left," said his uncle. "You ought to go down to Tony's cottage and see what's been doing there."
"What?" asked Bob.
"Oh, they have the finest little black-haired two-day-old girl you ever saw," said his aunt.
"You don't mean it," said Bob.
"Tony's so excited," said his uncle, "that he forgets everything you ask him to do."
"Well, this is certainly fine news," said Bob. "I don't suppose I dare go down and see her."
"I think I'd wait a day or two if I were you, Bob, before going down."
Bob and his uncle now retired to the sitting room and were talking over the events that had happened while he was away, when Alex Wallace dropped in to see them.
"How's the new boy, Joe?" asked Alex.
"He's fine, Alex—greatest prize winner at Brookside Farm."
"Where have you been, Bob?" asked Alex.
"I've been visiting my father and mother," said Bob.
"I came over to see about the ice, Joe," said Alex. "I suppose, since you've made the improvements at Brookside, we can't go down to the pond and help ourselves any more."
"You had better talk that over with Bob," said his uncle, as the baby began to cry and he left them to see what was happening to it.
"That's right," said Bob; "we pay for everything we get and charge for everything that goes off the farm."
"You don't mean you're going to charge for ice!" exclaimed Alex almost incredulously.
"Well, why not?" said Bob. "It's worth something, isn't it? The pond cost us money and occupies ground that could be used for other purposes."
"That's so," said Alex. "I hadn't thought of that."
"The pond has to pay rent for the ground, and ice is one of the things it produces."
"What does ice bring this winter?" asked Alex.
"Fifty cents per ton on the water," said Bob, "and you cut it yourself."
"How can you tell how much it takes to make a ton?" asked Alex.
"Oh, that's easy," said Bob. "You measure the size of the cakes, and, when you know the thickness, you can refer to a schedule in one of the bulletins and that will tell you exactly how much it weighs."
"Well, I don't think my father will be willing to pay for ice," said
Alex.
"Why not?" said Bob. "It's worth something."
"Yes, but nobody charges for ice," said Alex.
"Well, of course, if you know of any one who has nice ice to give away, that's the place to get it," said Bob, "but if you want ice from Brookside, you better let us know soon, because three or four people are asking for the full cutting of the pond, and, of course, we want to fill our own icehouse first, and after that—first come, first served."
"You had better hold it for us, Bob, until I find out."
"You'll have to make up your mind whether you want it or not; there's the telephone—call up your father and see what he says."
After a few minutes talk with his father, Alex came out of the office and said:
"We'll take it, Bob. Put us down for the first cutting after you get your own off. I think it will take a full cutting of the entire pond to fill our icehouse. There's another thing I was going to ask you about, too. Could we have Tony a while to help us with some concrete work?"
"What are you going to build, Alex?" asked Bob.
"Oh, we want to make some concrete fence posts, and fence in our property. Since father sold the sixty-acre farm to the First National Bank we thought we'd improve the remaining hundred and forty by putting up a wire fence on concrete posts."
"You'd have to put up a shed and get some moulds and all that sort of thing," said Bob. "Why not let us sell you posts?"
"Will you sell us some?" asked Alex.
"Surely," said Bob. "Tony has been making a lot of fence posts this winter. We're going to make a regular business."
"How much will they cost us?" asked Alex.
"Seventy-five cents at the pit and you can haul them yourselves."
"I'll speak to father about it and see what he says. He rather thought, though, we'd make them ourselves."
"Just as you like," said Bob. "The posts will cost you less if you make them yourselves and you'll have the advantage, when the shed is once up, you can make all kinds of things."
"I think that's what we'd rather do. I'd like to work in cement myself. I think it must be very interesting, and I'd like to get father started so we can get some concrete buildings like Brookside Farm. You haven't any idea, Bob, how nice your buildings look from over at the turn of the road."
"Oh, yes, I do. I often stop when I'm coming out from town to take a look from that point."
"How long do you want Tony?" asked Bob.
"We'd like to have him two or three weeks," said Alex.
"That will be all right—we can let him go."
The next few weeks Bob spent sharpening up their tools, oiling the machines and touching up the paint on those that showed wear. As soon as this was completed, he began making fifty additional concrete apiaries. The bees had paid so well the previous year that he decided to increase their number to one hundred colonies. Another thing that caused him to arrive at this decision was a letter from Edith, a few days before, saying she had her mother's permission to return to Brookside in the early spring and that she would again spend the summer with them.
"Do you know what day this is, Bob?" asked his uncle a few weeks later, as they sat down to breakfast.
"It's Thursday, Uncle Joe," said Bob.
"Yes, Thursday, March first, and it will be just one year to-morrow since you came to Brookside Farm. Your Aunt Bettie and I've been talking it over and we've decided we should take our inventory to-day and balance our books to-night, and see how much we've made or lost during the year," he added smiling. "Bettie thinks it's better to take inventory on March first instead of April first, so that all the labor that goes on the spring plowing may be charged in the new year. As soon as we have our breakfast, Bob, we'll go to the barn and take a careful inventory of all the grain, live stock, poultry and other products."
It took them until four o'clock in the afternoon to make the inventory, which was then laid aside until after supper, when they would figure out the amount and compare the results with the previous year.
They had just sat down to supper when the door of the dining room was suddenly opened and there stood Ruth and Edith, cheeks aglow and eyes sparkling.
"Where in the world did you girls come from?" asked their aunt, who was the first to see them.
"Oh, we came in on the afternoon train," laughed Ruth, "and we got
Henry Smith to drive us out. We wanted to surprise you."
"Well, you certainly have," said their uncle, as they all crowded around to welcome them back to Brookside Farm.
"Where's your new farmhand, Aunt Bettie?" asked Ruth. "I want to see him."
Her aunt looked puzzled for a moment and then said:
"He's around somewhere if you'd like to see him, but why are you so anxious to see him, Ruth? He's Tony's brother, you know."
"Oh, I mean Joseph Williams, Jr.," exclaimed Ruth excitedly.
"Oh, he's asleep upstairs," said her aunt; "you may see him directly, but you must have something to eat first."
Their wraps were soon removed. A few minutes later happenings on Brookside Farm were intermingled with happenings in New England, as they asked and answered each others' questions.
After supper was over and while the girls were inspecting the new baby, Bob and his uncle sat in the office and figured out the inventory. Bob was just completing the written statement of the account, when his aunt and the two girls came into the office.
"Have you the inventory finished yet?" asked his aunt.
"Just finished," he said, laying down the sheet.
"Then we're just in time," said Edith, "for that's why we planned to reach here to-day; we wanted to know the result of the year's work, and I'm sure it must be a good report."
INVENTORY
APRIL 15, MARCH 1, ITEM 1916 1917
Farm, 125 acres……………………….$6,000.00 $6,000.00 New Buildings…………………………………..20,000.00 Cows: 10 head @ $175 ………………………..1,750.00 1,500.00 8 head @ $60 ……………………………480.00 Heifers, 5 head @ $50………………………………250.00 Bulls: 1 head @ $350 …………………………..350.00 350.00 1 head @ $75 …………………………….75.00 Calves, 4 head @ $10………………………40.00 Horses: 2 head @ $350 …………………………..700.00 600.00 2 head @ $200 …………………………..400.00 Colts, 2 head @ $200……………………..400.00 Hogs: 5 head @ $40 ……………………………200.00 150.00 6 head @ $30 ……………………………180.00 8 head @ $25 ……………………………200.00 1 head @ $75 …………………………….75.00 Sheep, 12 head @ $20……………………..240.00 240.00 Chickens ………………………………..50.00 550.00 Machinery and Tools………………………125.00 5,000.00 Automobile………………………………440.00 1,400.00 Feed and Supplies………………………..300.00 566.00 Growing Crops (Labor and Seed)……………..80.00 150.00 Cash……………………………………110.00 3,725.00 Bills Receivable………………………….75.00 1,275.00 Seed on Hand…………………………….600.00 Ice …………………………………….60.00 Wood …………………………………..200.00 Total Resources………………………$11,520.00 $43,366.00 Mortgage and Bills Payable………………6,000.00 31,500.00 Net Worth…………………………….$5,620.00 $11,866.00 Gain for the Year………………………6,246.00 _____ $11,866.00 $11,866.00
Her aunt picked up the sheet and read it over carefully and said:
"The farm shows a gross earning of $12,420 for the new year, and after paying the interest on the mortgage and loans of $1860; $2000 for wages and $2214 for new furniture, piano, victrola and new automobile, a total of $6074, it still leaves a balance $6346, as a net gain, and that without counting the earnings from the sand pit. Our new buildings and fencing cost us $20,000, and our new machinery and tools $5000. The farm shows a profit of $124 per acre for the ground under cultivation. If we do as well this coming year as we did last year, we ought to have the farm free and clear, but, of course, we won't have to depend on that as we have the earnings from the sand pit to help out, if we want to use it for that purpose, but instead of paying off the mortgage in full, I think we will irrigate the seven acres along the main road and put that field under intensive cultivation."
"We ought to do a great deal better next year, Uncle Joe," said Bob, "as we won't have the buildings to bother with and I can devote all my time to the work; then we ought to be able to do a great deal more work, too, on account of the saving of time, due to having modern buildings and all our power installed, which we didn't have for the full season last year."
They studied the inventory for some minutes, comparing the gross earnings per acre of one crop with another, and were very much surprised to find that in many cases crops they had previously thought to be quite profitable showed up in the schedule rather poorly by comparison with others.
"Why, the oats seem to have earned only $21 per acre, while the corn shows an earning of $44 per acre—more than twice as much as the oats," said Edith.
"You know, Edith," said her uncle, "that after the oats were taken off we pastured sixty pigs in the oat stubble for the balance of the summer. Of course, that must be credited up to the oat field, because the crop made it possible to raise the rape and afford a good pasture for them."
"Oh, I hadn't thought of that," said Edith.
"The apples paid well," said Ruth; "almost $140 per acre, and we were just starting our new system of selling by mail."
"Of course, last year we had an exceptionally nice crop," said their aunt, "which was partly due, no doubt, to Bob's bees, and I think some credit should be given to the dynamiting of the land. Next year I'm sure we can sell every apple raised at a good price."
"Did we make $430 out of pigs last year?" asked Ruth, looking at the hog account.
"That's what we did," laughed her uncle.
"I had no idea so much money could be made raising pigs."
"Well, that's probably due to two reasons," said her uncle; "first, we started with a good breed, and, second, we took good care of them. You see we use a well-lighted and ventilated piggery and were able to average two litters in the year, which, of course, is just twice as good as raising one. Then we were fortunate in having good litters. We raised eight pigs per litter, which is beyond the average."
"Of course, Uncle Joe, Brookside Farm is no 'average' farm, and we ought to do better than average farming," she said.
"Yes, Ruth, but it takes work and study to do that and the information that is in the bulletins must be transferred into our heads if we're going to work successfully."
Hearing his wife chuckle, Williams looked up and said:
"Well, now, Bettie, what are you laughing at?"
"I was just thinking of our conference a year ago when we made up our first inventory. I was the school teacher then, but I've evidently lost my position, for you are now the teacher of modern methods, Joe," said his wife.
"And why not? Haven't you a job now that's big enough for any woman, looking after that son of ours?"
"Well, I guess that will take some of my time, Joe," she laughed, "but just the same I'm pleased to know you're so interested in scientific investigation."
"The potatoes paid $170 per acre," said Edith, "which is the highest rate per acre of all."
"The wheat averaged well, too," said Joe Williams, "a little over $41 per acre. I'm sorry we didn't have a larger acreage in hay—this statement shows an earning of over $50 per acre."
"That's so," said Bob, "but the dairy has earned a larger amount than any of the rest, for after deducting all expenses it shows a clear profit of $2954."
"The poultry made a good showing, too, I want you to observe," said Edith; "$1373 isn't bad for a flock of chickens, I'd have you know, and remember, we were only making our start last year. One person could handle 1000 hens just as easily as 500, and the profit would be relatively larger. I'm sure the poultry will beat the dairy this coming year."
"But look at Bob's 'Hidden Treasure' here," smiled Joe Williams; "$400 worth of ice off that little pond, and to think we allowed the neighbors to take away all they wanted for nothing in previous years."
"Speaking of 'Hidden Treasure,' don't forget the $300 we got for cord wood from the old rail fences, Uncle Joe," said Bob.
"They've all made a good showing," said his aunt, "and I think next year we can make the farm average $150 per acre or better."
"It certainly is a good report," said Bob, "and I think we all should be very happy that our combined efforts have produced such fine results."
"By the way, Bob," said his uncle, "when I settled with you last November, I paid you up to only November first, so here's a check for $225 for your wages to date. I figured it out at the new rate rather than the old one. Hereafter, I'll give you a check on the first day of each month."
Bob took the check and looked at it. Then he discovered that he had not one check, but two.
"Why, who is this other check for, Uncle Joe?" he asked, handing back the second one.
"That's for you, too, Bob."
"You don't owe me this money, Uncle Joe," he said, looking at the check.
"Yes, I do, Bob. Do you remember the day we let the water out of the pond?"
"But we took that into account when you paid me in November."
"Oh, no, Bob, I didn't. I just paid you for your actual work then, not for any ideas you furnished. This is for the suggestions you furnished. It was you who suggested the draining of the pond and the selling of the sand and gravel—and more than that, you saved me several thousand dollars by advising me not to sell the sand pit to Brady when I needed a little money so badly. Now, I'm paying you what I think is yours by right."
"I couldn't think of taking any money from you for that kind of work,
Uncle Joe," persisted Bob.
"Your Aunt Bettie, John White and I have talked it over, Bob, and we felt that one-third of the money earned by the sand pit should be paid to you. Our records show that after paying Duncan Wallace and a few other charges, the pit has earned a little over $9000, and one-third of this, or your share, is $3000, so you must take the check for that amount, Bob."
"Why, that would more than pay for the sixty acres John White is holding in trust for me," said Bob, realizing for the first time what so much money actually meant.
"Of course," laughed his uncle, "that's why he bought it. He and I talked this matter over before Christmas and we decided that that was the best way to arrange it. All you need to do now is to deposit this check and draw one in favor of the First National Bank for $1700 plus the interest, and then you can put up a sign on the sixty acres of land adjoining Brookside, 'Robert Williams, Proprietor.' I have a suggestion to make to you, Bob," continued his uncle, after they had discussed the acquiring of the new farm for some time; "I think, now that the buildings are all up, we could handle your sixty acres along with Brookside for a year or two until you get ready to take the farm over for yourself," and his eyes shifted from Bob to Edith, and back to Bob again, as he talked.
"I think that would be a good arrangement, Uncle, Joe; we could use the land for pasturing, if we couldn't plant it all."
"Let's go into the living room," said Ruth, "and have some music. Have you seen Aunt Bettie's new piano yet, Edith?"
"No, I haven't," said Edith.
"Oh, you must see it, Edith, and play it, too," and they adjourned to the living room and gathered around the piano, where for an hour or more they gave expression to their joyful feelings in music.
"I tell you," said Joe Williams, as they sang the "Happy Farmer" song, "there's nothing like music to give anyone vent for their feelings. I didn't list the piano in our assets, but I really think it's one of the best we have on the farm, because it helps to bring us together and keep us happy."
"May I play the victrola a while, Aunt Bettie?" asked Ruth.
"If you want to," said her aunt.
"How much did you say the poultry brought us last year?" asked Edith suddenly, as Ruth began playing.
"I don't exactly remember," said Bob, "but it's in the book in the office."
"Let's go and take a look at it," she said, and they left the others and adjourned to the office.
Edith sat down in the chair at the desk. Bob opened the book at the poultry account, and, sitting on the arm of the chair, their heads close together, they began studying the figures.
"I think it's perfectly splendid," said Edith, "the showing the poultry made last year, and you know, Bob, we had a rather bad start in the spring on account of not having the buildings erected."
"That was your good work, Edith," he said, letting his arm fall lightly across her shoulders.
"I was never so happy as last summer here on the farm and I could scarcely wait until I came back again this spring, Bob," she said, looking up at him.
Bob was silent for a few moments, and then suddenly asked:
"Do you like the country well enough, Edith, to be willing to stay here always, and be Mrs. Robert Williams?"
After a short silence, Edith looked at him shyly and said:
"Yes, Bob, I would," nestling close to him. "I don't know any place where I could be happier than here and I've never met anyone with whom I could be happier than with you."
"I've loved you ever since I first met you, Edith," he declared, "and I'm sure we'll be very happy together," and Bob leaned over and kissed the inviting upturned lips.
"Oh! Uncle Joe, just come here and see what's going on in your office," shouted Ruth. "Bob's kissing Edith."
"Have you been spying on them, Ruth?" remonstrated her aunt.
"Spying on them, Aunt Bettie? How could I be spying on them when they left the door wide open and the lights turned on? I couldn't help but see them when I looked in."
At Ruth's interruption, Bob and Edith had jumped up from the desk and stood blushing in the doorway leading from the office to the living room. Suddenly Bob took her hand and together they stepped out into the room before the others.
"Let me introduce to you the greatest 'Hidden Treasure' that was ever found on Brookside Farm, the future Mrs. Robert Williams."