THE PUBLISHER'S FAREWELL. 



life, and brings it home to the hearts of his fellow men, is more a benefactor of his 

 race, than he who defends the rights of his country, or fights its battles. This being 

 the case, Mr. Downing and The Horticulturist, are inseparably connected with 

 the refinement and prosperity of our country ; for as are the homes of a people so 

 are their lives. It is true that when the political and ecclesiastical history of this 

 century is written, the name of Downing may not appear, but in that unwritten his- 

 tory of social progress, in the councils of the fireside, which often stamp the character 

 of the man upon the child — in the record of the posthumous judgment of future years 

 we shall find that he was the champion of 



" a truth, 

 Which woke to perish never." 

 A beautiful home, as an antidote to the restless roving tendency of the times, — the 

 love of nature instead of the ambition of display — the culture of the mind and the 

 soil, instead of the perilous haste to be rich — these are the principles which distinguish 

 Mr. Downing and The Horticulturist. 



The Horticulturist has done more than to inculcate the principles of taste and teach 

 the pleasures of rural life. It has been a scientific and practical work, and by exci- 

 ting a generous rivalry among gardeners and amateur cultivators, has raised the stan- 

 dard of Horticulture and increased the number engaged in its pursuit. To be assured 

 of this, one need only refer to the reports of Horticultural exhibitions in the early 

 volumes, and contrast them with those of the present year. The competitors, the 

 varieties of fruits, flowers and vegetables grown, and the products, have increased 

 four-fold — and we are only new beginners. One needs a prophetic vision to say what 

 the future of Horticulture in this country is destined to be. Favored, as we are, by 

 soil and climate, we may certainly anticipate brilliant results. 



As we have before intimated, The Horticulturist will have our best wishes in 

 the future, as it has had our best eff'orts in the past. We shall rejoice in its success 

 as arguing well for the stability of society, and affording a well grounded hope for the 

 permanence of our institutions. We shall watch its progress as a sure evidence of 

 the spread of general refinement, and a proof that the germ of a healthy, social Ameri- 

 can character, which has so auspicously pixt forth its shoots, is springing up into fresh 

 life and beauty, and promising a maturity rich in good things. We have full confi- 

 dence that those who are, hereafter, to have this journal in charge will sustain in a 

 good degree its high reputation and deserve well of its former patrons. 



With sincere thanhs to all those who have sustained the Horticulturist by their 

 contributions and subscriptions, we commit it to other's hands and other's watchfulness, 

 trusting that it will long be sustained to accomplish its mission and spread beauty and 

 happiness over our land and in our homes. 



