THK JOURNAL OP HORTIOULTURB AND COTTAOB GARDENER, June 28, 189i; ] 
TO OUR READERS. 
Midsummer arrived this year even before settled summer weather, and Rose show fixtures came round 
when at more than one time there was a dread there would be no Roses. In the spring the growth 
was all too forward, and it was feared the blooms would be “over;” after the terrible ordeal of the 
20th of M.ay it was equally feared they would not be “in” for the tournaments; yet so rapidly does 
Nature heal her wounds that Roses—fresh, welcome, and beautiful Roses—come to the shows that are 
now in brilliant progress. 
To those of our friends who were scourged the most severely by the memorable frost we would 
wish to express our hope that the wounds were not so deep as they once seemed, and that they will 
not prevent a share in the triumphs of the season; to those who escaped being smitten we should like 
to offer our hearty congratulations. The world would be dreary without Roses, and those persons who 
persevere in their production add materially to the pleasures of life, and the delight of thousands 
who flock to admire the evidence of cultural skill as displayed in exhibitions. Our best wishes then to all 
Rosarians. 
Last year at this time we were languishing under a tropical sun, and crops were exhausted by 
drought. Fields were brown, herbage scant, and Roses withering; now our fields are full of verdancy 
and Roses still unfolding. This is in part the compensation for previous adverse visitations. Most 
ardently do we hope that the future has in store compensation for recent losses in Strawberries and 
other fruits and crops that were ruined in a night. 
One thought — or rather, we would say, one great historic fact, is always reassuring — difficulties 
bring out the best qualities of our race. We are glad to believe that this applies with full force to 
the horticultural community. Those who love gardening and find in it a healthy, wholesome, recreative 
pursuit, and those who engage in it as a means of livelihood, are ever pressing on in the endeavour to 
achieve greater results—to win, so far as it can be won by strenuous effort, the hoped for success. 
To the attainment of success in gardening we delight in contributing the best that the best of 
helpers enable us to give in the form of guidance and encouragement—encouragement as conveyed in 
the records of honours won at shows, guidance as imparted by experienced practitioners. 
May we ask of all who have aided us in completing another half-yearly volume the acceptance of 
our warm appreciation? Also may we express the hope that our readers everywhere will derive more 
and more satisfaction from the pursuit in which they engage—the noble yet gentle art of gardening? 
