14 A GARDEN DIARY 
fully. Assuming him even not to be quite of 
the right sort—a mere harmless fumbler and 
bungler—still ‘twere rash to assume that he can 
teach us nothing. Just as every garden—every 
real garden, owned by its owner — provides 
lessons for other garden owners, so even the 
written equivalent of such gardens, as long as 
they are genuine ones, not bits of confectionery 
tossed up to look pretty on tables, may claim 
the same praise. So frequently has this of late 
been brought home to me by experience that, 
give me only a writer who has faithfully toiled 
with his own spade, her own trowel, and I am 
ready to accept a new book at his or her hands 
every week in the year! 
