THE BEGINNER'S GARDEN 

 BOOK 



SECTION I 

 THE AUTUMN WORK 



CHAPTER I 

 THE PURPOSE OF A PLANT 



IT is interesting to consider that nations ceased to be 

 savage when they gave up wandering and settled down. 

 They could not settle in one place without a constant supply 

 of food, and this they got by farming. Farming, or agri- 

 culture, which thus supports civilization by supplying men's 

 needs, led the way to gardening, or horticulture. Gardening 

 supplies pleasures in the shape of delicate food or beautiful 

 plants. It may be made a business, and is then one of the 

 healthiest and most interesting ; or it may be carried on in 

 one's spare time, for pleasure ; or it may be made to give both 

 pleasure and profit. 



A garden may be called a plot of ground in which plants 

 are made to do their best. Gardening therefore means the 

 careful rearing of plants, giving each what it most needs. 

 This rules out laziness and indifference ; it calls for thought 

 and pains. Gardening for beginners should not mean hard 

 work unless it is carried on for money or unless one has 

 mistakenly laid out too large a plot. Properly carried on, 

 gardening should mean a little regular work each day. 



Although at first sight garden plants are entirely unlike, 

 they are alike in certain ways. Each has root, stem, and 



B 1 



