A COMMON MISTAKE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 26 August 1938, Page 9

A COMMON MISTAKE

HAVING GARDEN TOO BIG. It is as well for the gardener to figure out how much ground he can properly attend to before he begins operations. It is a common mistake to have the garden too large. A small plot well tilled is much better than a large one neglected. If too large, once the first enthusiasti spasm has worked off the whole thing is let go, and before a second wave of enthusiasm has arrived the garden has got beyond repair. A small plot is not too fagging, and once a man finds he can manage a small one,, he can add a little more each each year until in a few years he will manage two or three times the amount he did the -first year, and do it better and easier. Never begin a job without adequate preparation; those who do so usually make a failure of gardening, and waste time, labour and seed. Make yourself reasonably familier with the operation you are planning to carry out. Get hold of a book on the subject, and make yourself conversant with the theory, and then get to work to put it into practice. The old saying than an ounce of practice is worth a pound of theory is true, but the man who is a theorist and practically skilled is a much better workman and can think out his own line of action, while the practical, rule-of-thumb individual is able only to travel along the well-defined path without being able to explain the reasons why he does the work in such a manner. It is fine to be a specialist in one branch and to get to know it from A to Z, but, if one is gardening for a hobby, it needs to provide recreation and a change from any tiresome routine.