Blanchard's Poultry Account Book

"...comprising a simple and concise method of recording the products, receipts and expenditures incident to poultry raising, and so arranged as to present a daily, monthly, and yearly state of affairs. Provided also with marginal space for entering notes for future reference." Cloth backed hardcover quarto, [44] pages. A modest production with marbled boards and a title plate pasted to the cover, red inked edges. Upper corner of the textblock clipped by the owner, who used the book from 1891-93. Farmer's name is unidentified; purchased in central New York.

The ledger provides a basic format for recording the number of eggs sold each day, record expenses like the cost of feed, and keep notes about operations--in this case, the building of a hen house and a record of the number and age of hen "losses". Several articles pasted inside the rear cover with helpful health tips for the farmer. Unrecorded in OCLC, found advertised in 'The Poultry Chum: An Intimate Companion for Every Fancier' in 1886: "Keep an account with your fowls, and prove them the best paying livestock..." This may have been intended to cater to the growing market of farmers who had received a common school education, including some basic instruction inn bookkeeping. Used with minimal input at the beginning, the farmer's notes increase throughout the book, showing an increased familiarity with the format, and perhaps an increase in the need for accurate record keeping in a growing business.