CHAPTER TWO 



REASONS FOR LEARNING GARDENING 



I'd ruther kindo git the swing 

 O' what was needed, first, I jing ! 

 Afore I swet at anything ! 



JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY 



THE idea expressed by the poet in the above lines is 

 a good one. It is always well to find out why we are 

 doing anything before we spend time and effort on it. 

 Here are some of the reasons for learning gardening. 



Gardening is educative. The chief reason for learn- 

 ing gardening is that it gives us a store of useful and inter- 

 esting knowledge we would be likely to get in no 

 other way. Through his work the gardener learns 

 about insects, soils, and weather. He works with liv- 

 ing plants and comes to understand how they live and 

 grow. Thus he learns to know nature and nature's laws, 

 and how the workings of these laws affect his own life. 



FIG. 10. Gardening is educative. Through his work the gardener learns many 

 facts about plants, insects, soils, and weather. 



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