Life of J. C. Loudon. — We have long wished to present this biography of one of nature's 

 noblemen, and the greatest writer on the topics of horticulture, to the American public. 

 By dividing it into three numbers, we trench but little on the ground devoted to our corre- 

 spondents, who will, we are confident, pardon a little delay for the pleasure of perusing this 

 very graceful " story of a life." 



In many respects, Mr. Loudon resembled our own Downing ; the same enthusiasm and 

 love of horticulture, the same indifference for mere money matters, and indomitable per- 

 severance in writing, when other affairs pressed for attention, mark the career of each. 

 Mr. Downing, however, entered more thoroughly into descriptions of the pleasures of the 

 mind; Mr. Loudon was engaged in the useful. The account of his sufferings, and the 

 curious circumstance of his writing his greatest works with his left hand, and that 

 seriously mutilated, are entirely novel in the whole history of literary effort. This life, 

 which appeared in a posthumous edition of his Instructions for Gardeners, has never before 

 been printed in America. 



Mr. Loudon's works are still standards, and continue to be extensively sold, more espe- 

 cially his Arboretum Britannicarn, which was the cause of his pecuniary ruin, and his 

 Encyclopcedia of Plants, to which a supplement has just been issued, bringing down this 

 most laborious and invaluable work to the present day. 



Feax(jois Andre Michaux. — The death of this distinguished botanist and writer on Ame- 

 rican forest-trees, took place at Vaureal, near Pontoise, France, in November, 1855, as has 

 already been announced. His will proves to be of very great interest to America ; he leaves 

 twenty-two thousand dollars to the American Philosophical Society and the Massachusetts 

 Agricultural Society, fourteen thousand dollars to the former, and eight thousand dollars to 

 the latter, for the purpose of promoting sylviculture and horticulture, and of making ex- 

 periments on the growth of trees in " sandy, rocky, and bog soils." The principal portion of 

 the bequest is to be invested for income in good farm land ; cheap and unproductive land 

 is to be purchased with another portion, and the remainder is to be appropriated to seeding 

 and planting the exjjerimental plantations. We look upon this bequest with peculiar inte- 

 rest ; the liberality of a foreigner in thus considering the Ijenefit he can confer upon our 

 country, strikes us as something unique and highly creditable to the donor, as well as being 

 of rare advantage to the world. It should, and probably will, teach great lessons of prac- 

 tical knowledge. The widow of the donor, who is advanced in life, has a life estate in the 

 money. 



It will be in the memory of some of our readers, that we stated some months since the 

 destraction by fire of the entire edition of letter press of Michaux's great work on trees ; 

 the engraved plates, however, were saved, and the stereotyper has been since engaged in 

 preparing a new and greatly improved edition, which will be ready for delivery in a short 

 time, in company with the Supplement of Nuttall, making, together, five superb royal octavo 

 volumes, with elegantly colored plates. A sixth may hereafter be added containing the 

 newer discovered California trees. 



Vol. YII — Jan. 1857. 



