SECTION II 

 THE WINTER WORK 



CHAPTER VI 



NOTES AND ACCOUNTS 



THERE are three questions which every gardener ought at 

 all times to be able to answer. The first is, What have you 

 done in the garden ? The second is, What have you learned 

 from it ? And the third is, What have you gained or lost by 

 it? To answer the first and second, the beginner should 

 always keep a note-book. To answer the third, he should 

 keep accounts. It is of course true that an account book can 

 never show the pleasure gained from gardening, but at least 

 it will tell how much money has been spent and received. 



The note-book is best kept in the form of a record of 

 actions and observations. A diary will not serve very well 

 for this purpose, since on some days there will be little or 

 nothing to set down, while on others the amount to write will 

 overflow almost any page. For the record, in order to be of 

 value, should not be mere jottings. These are never clear 

 to a teacher, nor will they be understood by the gardener 

 himself after a few weeks. The record should therefore be 

 in complete sentences, ancj should tell enough to make clear 

 what has been done, and seen, and concluded. No pupil 

 should complain if the teacher insists that this much shall be 

 written. Some pupils will naturally write still more. So an 



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