JAN 23 1896 
48470 
TO OUR READERS. 
If brevity be the soul of wit, then this our half-yearly address may be very witty, for 
it will be very short; but we rather incline to the. suspicion tliat the brevity has for 
its cause the absence of anything new to sa.y. 
The continued expression of our gratitude is now more than seven years old ; and 
as old is it for us to be able to say, truthfully, that our })agos are our best evidence 
of continued and successful exertions to collect before you the records of the useful, 
the excellent, and the beautiful, connected with the cultivation of the soil, and the 
comfort of the household. 
We say this without being open to a charge of self-laudation, for the chief merit 
of such success belongs to those who have contributed to ns their mental harvests. 
Looking to the future, we can say, as we have often said before, and never with¬ 
out redeeming our promise, we have abundance in store, and preparing, which we 
have confidence will continue to retain to us the panygeric—“ This Periodical is the 
most independent, and most useful that can be read by all ranks of Garden-kee})ers, 
Poultry-keepers, and House-keepers.” 
I 
