TUB  .totRNAL  OP  Horticulture  AnO  coifAUB  GAboBNER,  GciS  niicr  si.'isftB.] 
TO  OUll  IIEADEHS. 
"  .  .  .  Speed  thou  on  ; 
Another  gift  of  time  succeedeth  thee.” 
A  .valued  correspondent  sends  us  those  lines  of  Whittier  from  the  “  Dying  Year.” 
Very  near  its  end  is  the  Old  Year  as  wo  write,  and  when  these  lines  are  read  by  many  into  whose 
hands  they  fall,  in  this  and  other  lands,  the  New  Year  will  be  ushered  in — another  “  Gift  of  Time.” 
What  is  this  gift  and  its  significance?  “Time;  the  measurement  of  duration,  past,  present,  and 
future.”  Let  us  look  for  a  moment  at  its  use,  influence,  and  portents,  horticulturally. 
The  Past,  to  which  the  annexed  Index  points,  has  been  a  period  of  activity;  of  great  contests  for 
supremacy  in  the  production  of  the  earth’s  riches  for  the  benefit  and  the  happiness  of  humanity;  of  triumph 
to  some,  disappointment  to  others,  of  strenuous  endeavour  to  many.  It  has  taken  to  itself  not  a  few  of  those 
“Loug  loved  and  lost  awhile;” 
but  happily  all  the  contributors  to  the  volume  now  completed  remain  to  give  ns  of  their  treasured  minds 
and  ripe  experience.  For  this  “Gift”  we  are  deeply  grateful. 
flhe  Present  A  period  of  mutual  rejoicings,  friendly  foregatherings,  and  cheery  greetings — a  time, 
we  would  fain  hope,  for  the  burying  deeply  of  antipathies,  where  such  exist,  and  starting  with,  kindly  feelings 
and  good  intentions  another  short  cycle  in  the  round,  of  life. 
The  Future.  A  great  field  or  garden  of  possibilities,  open  to  all  to  till  wisely  and  well.  May  this 
new  gift  of  Time  “  speed  on  ”  helpfully  and  pleasantly,  as  it  may  to  most  who  will  it,  by  pure  thoughts 
and  prudent  actions — though  not  perhaps  to  all ;  and  for  those  whose  lot  it  may  be  to  suffer  we  bespeak  a 
large  measure  of  true  practical  sympathy,  as  dispensed  by  our  splendid  charities,  plus  many  generous  hearts. 
In  all  that  helps  forward  true  progress  in  gardening  in  its  varied  phases;  in  all  things  worthy, 
connected  with  the  art;  in  all  good  projects  that  may  aid  its  practitioners,  the  Journal  of  Horticulture  will 
in  the  future,  as  it  has  done  in  a  now  long  past,  take  ready  share. 
True,  it  may  not  always  give  enough  for  all  of  the  particular  fare  that  each  prefers.  Some  of  our  table 
companions,  w'e  are  glad  to  say,  have  good,  not  to  say  great,  appetites.  We  have  before  us  a  list  of  special 
desires.  One  good  friend  would  like  a  “paper  full”  of  Chrysanthemums,  another  of  Roses,  a  third  of  Hardy 
Flowers,  a  fourth  of  Orchids,  a  fifth  likes  something  sweet  to  eat  of  fruit  and  honey,  a  sixth  more  substantial 
fare~of  vegetables  and  such  wholesome  food  as  the  farm  as  well  as  the  garden  gives,  while  still  one  more 
prefers  none  of  these  things,  but  “  happy  scrappy  notes,  that  spring  up  now  and  then  and  stop  too  soon.” 
Those  are  healthy  indications.  Our  bill  of  fare  shall  include  all  things  good  and  beautiful  within  our 
wide  domain.  All  will  come  in  due  abundance  in  their  season.  We  rejoice  in  the  best  of  purveyors — old 
friends  “seasoned”  by  long  practice,  and  probationers  of  promise  coming  on.  To  all  and  every  one  of  our 
friends  and  constituents,  at  home  and  abroad,  regardless  of  age,  creed,  position,  profession,  or  vocation,  we 
wish  in  all  sincerity,  in  ancient  phrase,  yet  ever  young, 
A  HAPPY  ISEW  YEAR. 
