The Overseer’s Diary

In one line

The overseer's diary is the daily narrative record, kept by the person in charge of the fields, of what was done on the farm each day, where, by how many hands, and what happened.

It is the only one of the thirteen records that is written in sentences. Everything else is a column of figures. That is precisely what makes it useful: it holds the facts that no ruled column has a place for.

Why it is kept

1. To record the day's operations, field by field.
2. To record the weather, which explains a day lost and supports a claim.
3. To record what was received and what was despatched.
4. To record visitors, inspections and instructions.
5. To record the unusual: a breakdown, a theft, an animal falling sick, a boundary dispute.
6. To be the independent check on every other record. The diary was written by a different person, at a different time, for a different purpose, and that is what gives it its control value.

The specimen

Shivneri Farm, Baramati. Overseer's diary. Overseer: S. R. Pawar.

Initialled daily by the Overseer and countersigned weekly by the Proprietor.

How it is written up

On the day, in the field or at the end of the day, and never later. One page per day or one line per operation. The overseer initials each day; the proprietor countersigns each week and can then be shown to have read it.

No blanks. A day on which nothing was done says so, and says why. A diary with missing days is worth nothing as evidence, because the missing day is always the one in dispute.

What the remarks column is for

This is the column that earns the record its place. It carries:

• the reason work stopped, and for how long;
• the quantity harvested that day, before it reaches the store;
• what was received and what was sent, with the register it went into;
• the breakdown, the repair and its cost;
• the sickness or death of an animal;
• the visit and what was advised;
• the absence, by name.