7O WE FARM FOR A HOBBY 



was comparatively little to do to it. The rest is 

 mainly a matter of forehandedness. For just as the 

 quantity of seed corn to be selected in February 

 is determined by the livestock population in pros- 

 pect twelve months hence, so for example the 

 household garden planned in midwinter must 

 reckon with the shortage or surplus in last sum- 

 mer's crop of canned goods. Everything depends 

 both on what has been and what is to be. 



Which suggests the need for a good system of 

 records. 



Now here I am somewhat of a crank. Many 

 people esteem record-keeping a fifth wheel or 

 fancy flourish on the tail end of any undertaking. 

 Yet I never saw the project, however devised or 

 executed, that would not respond to the treat- 

 ment that can be prescribed on the evidence of 

 the records. No memory can be trusted not alone 

 over long periods of time, but from day to day. 

 The classic example of memory's lack of depend- 

 ability is, of course, the almost universal belief, 

 in the face of public records to the contrary, that 

 climates are changing perceptibly: "The winters 

 are not as cold as they were 'dans le temps.' " To 

 bring the charge closer home: I recently discov- 

 ered a growing conviction on Medlock Farm that 

 "the hens are not doing as well as they did this 

 time last year." Yet what are the facts, available to 

 all who wish to consult the day-to-day egg record? 



