With the advent of the glad New Year, we cheerfully perform the annual duty of turning over the leaves of our volume just closed, as we have done many and many a time before, so that the mistakes and errors, which somehow mysteriously creep in, may be avoided in the future.

As we lean back in the old editorial chair and allow full license to our thoughts, the the whole lifetime, as it were, of the Horticulturist passes in array before us.

We recall vividly its host of brilliant writers, many of whom, including him who wrote its first line, have now passed from earth to their reward, yet the legacy whioh they bequeathed to us is yet unaeoom-Plishes; yes, and will be for all coming time.

We turn to the pages where a Brinckle and a Longworth, with all their deep enthusiasm and love for the beautiful, have recorded their labors for the benefit of us who survive them; and where, too, the magic pen of Downing himself graces the opening of each monthly number, those charming essays, world-wide in their popularity, and which taught bis readers to regard him as a friend, whether differing from his views or not.

And, as we glance over all these lines that we have so often read before, our memory brightens with the same old-time feeling of pleasure that gladdened us as we perused them fresh from his almost inspired pen.

But we can see no cause for discouragement on the part of hie successors, for, although our efforts may be divested of that captivating style, which, like the fragrance of the violet, was inherent in him, a gift from hie Maker, we are still aware that a great work remains undone, and it is our task, as it should be our pleasure, to follow the line of duty that he so beautifully portrayed.

And now, what have we learned since the initial number of our journal went forth on its peaceful mission? Are we to-day the wiser for its teachings, and can we honestly say that our pursuit is any more systematic than it was twenty-seven years ago? True, we have, and are yet, continually learning in the great school of experience. How else could it be otherwise?

And, although we are far, very far, from perfection, a point that we may very readily believe will never be reached, yet any one, be he ever so obtuse, must feel that he has not lived in vain, and that new truths must inevitably be discovered, when daily personal labor in one's own garden is the rule of life.

Systems change, and varieties that were good in their day change with them. Still, others rise to take their places as regularly as the planets revolve in their orbits; so that, in a long succession of years, we find that we have not suffered, neither are we any nearer perfection than when we first learned to love our occupation.

In the place of the White Doyenne Pear, we now plant the Bartlett. Apples vary in different localities, as they did in the past, although that fine old variety, the Newtown Pippin, has now very nearly finished its course. Instead of the old Morris White and Melocoton, we have the splendid Craw-fords, with varieties earlier and later than ever before, and in this we have made a gain.

The Green Gage Plum has, perhaps, not found a successor in point of flavor, but it certainly has in size and beauty.

Where the Catawba formerly reigned supreme, we now grow the Concord for the million; a sacrifice of quality, but an increase in productiveness and reliability.

Among the small fruits, we have now substituted the Wilson's Albany for the old-time Hovey's Seedling Strawberry, and the host of hardy raspberries for those of tender proclivities, still another sacrifice of quality for hardiness and profit. Blackberries are now added to our list of cultivated fruits, when formerly we were content to gather the wild, inferior specimens from our fence corners. In gooseberries, we have Dot made great improvements, yet we believe the few new seedlings of late will prove to be the forerunners of a new race, at once hardy, reliable and worthy of the dessert. Currants, too, have been neglected for several years, so far as the introduction of new varieties is concerned; and now for a recapitulation :

We formerly had, as standards of excellence, the Newtown Pippin among apples; White Doyenne and Seckel in pears ; Green Gage in plums; Coe's Transparent and Belle de Choisey in cherries; Grosse Mig-nonne and Morris White in peaches; Catawba in grapes, etc; and we would ask that, for the last quarter of a century, where are all our boasted improvements in quality over these?

Let us inquire whether popular opinion has not retrograded somewhat in this re -spect, and substituted in the place of flavor a desire for mere outward appearance and productiveness? In other words, are we not giving the preference to such varieties as will please the pocket, rather than the palate? We greatly fear that the majority of our orchardists are drifting in that direction, and although they may not be cultivating the taste of the masses to a higher standard of excellence, they are performing a very creditable work by increasing the demand for the most healthful of all articles of food, whilst supplying it at a constantly reduced rate.

The systems of cultivation, as we said before, have changed, but new diseases and the presence of new destructive insects have had their influence in bringing it about. Therefore, as a natural result, new methods of culture had to be adopted, and improved plans for the routine of the orchardist were put in practice; that such answer a better purpose, or secure for us a greater result, than formerly, is a question that we are not now prepared to answer.

Two prominent parties espouse the opposite extremes, the one taking for its motto- "there is nothing new under the sun; "the other, that we are making astonishing strides. Each may be right in one sense, and yet each may be wrong when we view it from another standpoint.

In the ornamental department, all must acknowledge that we have progressed in a wonderful manner, not only in the methods of laying out lawns and gardens, but in the variety of trees and plants of quite recent introduction.

The use of sub-tropical plants, so called, creates a wonderful change in the effect of our gardening operations; and the introduction of a class of tender plants for bedding-out during the summer months, such as the Coleus and Alternanthera, have instituted a new and entirely distinct feature.

All of the old class of florists' flowers have undergone a change for the better. Take, for instance, the Geranium. What an endless profusion of varieties we now have, even producing the bloom as double as the Ranunculus, and of almost every color. The Fuchsia, too, improved with white and double corollas; and lastly, glance at the list of Roses recommended in the opening numbers of our journal, and compare such with the leading varieties of to-day.

Where is the end to such improvement, and how long can we go on adding new colors and increased size to this "Queen of the parterre? "

The patrons of the esculent vegetable department tell us that the new varieties here are introduced so rapidly that they find it impossible to test them all, and that whero, in former times, some vegetables matured all at once, now the season has become so lengthened as to afford a supply for the table all summer long.

Such in brief is a summary of the past as compared with the present, and the moral of it all is, that, to succeed in our work, we must bring to the task a determination to investigate what has been termed the mysterious operations of nature, and turn them to account.

Let us carry on our investigations in a proper spirit, with a full understanding of nature's laws relating to the growth of plants, and never in any case jump at hasty conclusions. In the •testing of new varieties, bear in mind how many of us condemned the Concord grape when it was first brought out; and, later yet, how nearly the Black Eagle cherry came to being forever lost by one season's trial of the fruit. Then shall we be on the correct path to improvement, and confer countless blessings, not only on ourselves, but on our fellow-laborers, wherever they may be found; for, in, helping others, we help ourselves, both directly and indirectly.

In wishing our readers, one and all, a happy New Year, allow us to hint that in no way can they make our New Year happier than by giving us the benefit of their experience in the orchard, lawn and garden, so that we may in turn help others, who have never enjoyed the same opportunities for gaining practical information.