THK JOUBHA.L OF HORTICULTCRB AND COTTAGB QARDKNEB, December M, 1893. ] 
TO OUR READERS. 
The years whirl round apace, and the more there are of them the quicker do the seasons appear to 
come in their turn. This will be the experience of all our old friends and helpers, and they will feel, 
as we do, that speeding time is made the more pleasant by the good influences of the gardens which 
they love to tend, and from which they derive health and inspiration. May their garden pleasures be 
much prolonged, not for themselves alone, but for others who benefit by their experiences as detailed 
by facile pens. 
To the younger, but yet strong, as if in their zenith, the time will glide more steadily, and they 
we hope shall have a long, useful, and prosperous career before them. It will not be less so by their 
endeavours to incite in others the love of gardens they themselves enjoy, and by their efforts in imparting 
knowledge on subjects pertaining to the craft they adorn. 
To the younger still—the probationers in that craft—time may seem to drag; to some their work 
may be hard, and they look longingly onward to what they hope may be an easier life. Their time will 
come, and it depends on themselves, and the assistance given them, whether they will fill the positions 
they will occupy as worthily as do men who fill them now, and as those who have gone before. We 
counsel young men to strive for knowledge and to win respect, and we trust those in authority over them 
will aid them in the commendable desire. 
We rejoice in having the co-operation of men, amateurs and gardeners, of ripe experience, as well as 
of young men of great promise, and therefore it is that we are enabled to make the pages of the Journal 
of Horticulture not only substantial, but bright—even sometimes lively—and it is gratifying to know that our 
readers are satisfied. A gardener writes: — 
“ Besides the practical knowledge that I have gained from the Journal, I have learned to love 
gardening for its own sake, and that makes arduous duties appear light. As a result I have been able to 
give the utmost satisfaction to my employers, and have good recommendations from them. ... 1 have to 
seek a fresh field of labour, but I still hope to be able to show that the teaching of the Journal has not 
been thrown away on me. Long may Editors and staff continue to advise, instruct, commend, and not to 
forget wholesome reproof where needed. ... I make no apology for troubling, as you have forgotten to 
despise the small gardener.” 
Despise the small gardener! We have just the same respect for able men, who are doing their duty 
creditably and well in small gardens, as for those in large ones. Some of the great gardeners of the day 
won their spurs in small gardens, and we are glad to know that not a few managers of these small gardens 
are as happy in their homes as are the gardeners of lords and dukes. We trust our appreciative pupil 
has found a comfortable home. 
A correspondent, who is not a gardener, but a country gentleman in the Midlands, has written to us 
from Biarritz :— 
“ I he Journal of Horticulture is one of the very few papers I have sent on here. I have had splendid 
crops at home—beaten my ‘ practical ’ neighbours in growing Swedes, Mangolds, Oats, and Parsnips—by 
following your rules. Your Farm Notes are splendid. If ‘practical ’ farmers would follow them as the amateur 
does, I do not think we should hear much more of the impractical—viz , a duty on corn imported.” 
We have said our Readers are satisfied; so are we, and we thank all most cordially, amateurs and 
gardeners, old and young, for contributing so ably in making the Journal of Horticulture the welcome guest 
it undoubtedly is in the homes of the wealthy and the workers in this and other lands. 
Our best wishes to all for a happy close of the old year and an equally happy opening of the new. 
