LIFE OF JOHN C. LOUDON. 



his right arm so close to the shoulder as to render it impossible to have it set in 

 the usual manner, and, consequently, it never united properly, though he continued 

 to use his hand to write with for several years. 



In 1822 appeared the first edition of the Encydopcedia of Gardening — a most 

 laborious work, remarkable both for the immense mass of useful matter it contains, 

 and for the then unusual circumstance of a great number of finished wood engrav- 

 ings being printed with the text instead of being in separate pages. This book 

 had an extraordinary sale, and fully established the literary fame of its author. 



In the early part of the year 1823, he wrote a work entitled "The Different 

 Modes of Cultivating the Pine-Apple, from its First Introduction to Europe to 

 the Improvements of T. A. Knight, Esq., in 1822." 



About this time, also, a little work was published anonymously, called Tlte 

 Greenhouse Companion, which, I believe, was written, either entirely or in part, 

 by Mr. Loudon : but it must have been by a wonderful exertion, if he did write 

 it; as, during the whole of the year 1823, he suffered most excruciating pain, not 

 only from his right arm, the bone of which had never properly united, and to re- 

 tain which in its place he was compelled to wear an iron case night and day, but 

 from the rheumatism which had settled in his left hand, and which contracted two 

 of his fingers and his thumb, so as to render them useless. It is, however, worthy 

 of remark, and quite characteristic of Mr. Loudon, that, at the very time he was 

 suffering such acute bodily pain, he formed the plan of his houses in Porchester 

 Terrace, Bayswater, and superintended the building of them himself, rising at four 

 o'clock every morning, that he might be on the spot when the workmen came. 



In 1824, a second edition was published of the EncyclopcBdia of Gardening, in 

 which the work was nearly all rewritten, and very considerable additions were 

 made to it. In the following year, 1825, the Encydopcedia of Agriculture was 

 written and published. These extensive and laborious works following closely 

 upon each other, in Mr. Loudon's state of health, speak strongly as to his un- 

 paralleled energy of mind. When, shortly after, his right arm was broken a second 

 time, and he was obliged to submit to amputation, though he gave up landscape- 

 gardening, it was only to devote himself more assiduously to his pen. He was, 

 however, now no longer able to write or draw himself, and he was compelled to 

 employ both an amanuensis and a draughtsman. Still, though he had only the 

 use of the third and little finger of his left hand, he would frequently take a pen 

 or pencil, and make sketches with astonishing vigor, so as fully to explain to his 

 draughtsman what he wished to be done. 



During the time that he was suffering so severely from the pain in his arm, he 

 found no ease but from taking laudanum ; and he became at last so habituated to 

 the use of this noxious potion, that he took a wineglassful every eight hours. After 

 the amputation of his arm, however, he wished to leave off taking it, as he was 

 aware of its injurious effects upon his general health ; and he contrived to cure 

 himself by putting a wineglassful of water into his quart bottle of laudanum every 

 time he took out a wineglassful of the potion, so that the mixture became gradually 

 weaker every day, till at last it was little more than water ; and he found he had 

 cured himself of this dangerous habit without experiencing any inconvenience. 



In 1826, he established 'The Gardener'' s Magazine, the first periodical devoted 

 exclusively to horticultural subjects. This work was always Mr. Loudon's favorite, 

 and the organ through which he communicated his own thoughts and feelings to 

 the public. It was originally undertaken principally for the benefit of gardeners 

 in the country, in order to put them " on a footing with those about the metropolis;" 

 but it soon became the universal means of communication among gardeners, and (g" 

 was of incalculable benefit to them. It also became a source of great pleasure to ^ 



