42 THE BEGINNER'S GARDEN BOOK 



there should be a page or two devoted to separate 

 subjects. 



First there should be a garden plan, or at least a sketch 

 of it. As we shall see, the working plan of a big garden had 

 best be much larger than the page of a note-book will allow ; 

 but a sketch kept in the book, preferably on two pages that 

 face each other, will be very useful. And if the garden is 

 small, the note-book plan will be all that is needed. 



There should also be a page given to the amount of seed, 

 bulbs, and plants bought, in order to know just what kinds 

 they were, and from whom they came. Beside each entry 

 there should be left a space for recording whether the seed was 

 good or bad. Studied in the next year, this page will give 

 valuable hints as to the kind of seed to buy or avoid, and 

 whether the dealer is trustworthy. 



I like to keep in my note-book a page for recording first 

 pickings of the different vegetables and flowers. This, when 

 compared with other years, will show whether the asparagus 

 came earlier, whether the tomatoes were brought along as 

 fast as they ought to have been, and whether the asters were 

 early or late. 



If the gardener feels so sure of his taste for gardening that he 

 knows that he will keep a garden year after year, he will find 

 much interest in keeping still another note-book, which this 

 time should be a diary of the kind known as a "line-a-day 

 book." This gives on each page a single day of the year, 

 marked off in five spaces, each representing a year . Thus each 

 page allows the record of a given day for five succeeding years. 

 The record should always be brief, quite different from the 

 school note-book. It may contain a statement of the work 

 done each day, the pickings, and the weather. Occasionally' 

 should be put in a statement of the general condition of the 

 garden, usually telling whether the season is favorable. 



