January 14, 1876. J JOUBNAL OF HORTlOUIiTUBE AND OOTXAGE GARDENER. 



TO OUE READERS, 



The following are exti-acts from letters received during the last month of 1874: — 



o 



" At the gable-encl of a gardener's house not far from my own is the tallest and widest-spreading 

 Elder tree I have ever noticed. Ho told me yesterday that he calls that tree ' The Cottage Gar- 

 dener,' for he and his sons rest under it ; his fowls roost in it and eat its berries ; and his bees 

 visit its flowers.' ' We have wine from it,' he added in conclusion, ' all the year ; and those little neigh- 

 bouring dwarf Elders with leaves like it, but never growing or bearing fruit, wc say are ' The Cottage 

 Gardener's ' opponents." 



One of the first members of our staff, in partly retiring, but to be succeeded by his son, says — 



" I lose none of my interest in the old paper, and if I can be useful shall be its humble servant. 

 I shall always look with pleasure, and something akin to gratitude, to my association with you in its 

 columns, and have every good and hearty wish for the success of the ' Journal,' and kindest feelings 

 for its Editors. " 



We are proud of such communications, for they testify that we have true and able con- 

 tributors, that you, our Readers, appreciate them, and that neither contributors nor readers 



think unkindly of 



THE EDITOES. 



