708 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
June 29, 1901. 
advance of Royal Sovereign, and being a great 
bearer it is sure to be extensively cultivated both in 
private gardens and for market purposes. (First- 
class Certificate.) Messrs. Laxton Brothers, Bed¬ 
ford, have for years been trying to get a variety of 
this stamp and have succeeded, beating their previ¬ 
ous record with Royal Sovereign. (See illustration 
p. 705). 
JOHN CLAUDIUS LOUDON. 
( Concluded, from p. 690.) 
When Loudon had again settled down in London 
he renewed his labours with increased diligence 
judging from the books and supplements that 
appeared one after the other in relatively quick 
succession. In December, 1841, that is, the same 
year he returned from his second visit to Scotland, 
he published the first number of the Encyclopaedia 
of Trees and Shrubs, and continued the work monthly, 
the whole being issued in ten numbers. The preface 
to this work was dated, Bayswater, April, 1842, 
which would seem to indicate that the work was off 
his hands by the time half of it bad been issued to 
the public. Although this is practically only an 
abridgment of che Aboretum et Fruticetum Bntannicum 
it contains avast amount of information we never see 
in modern books, for besides general and glossarial 
indexes, it contains the full contents of the book, in¬ 
cluding the species and varieties described in the 
body of the work, arranged in the exact order in 
which they are described, and that is on the natural 
system, and therefore different from his Encyclopaedia 
of Plants and other books issued from his pen. 
After the contents comes a summary of the uses of 
the trees and shrubs for a great variety of purposes. 
This is followed by an analysis of the genera accord¬ 
ing to the form and general character of the leaves, 
which would assist the general reader in getting at 
a knowledge of them. At the end of the book is a 
supplementary list of species and other matters 
which would appear to have come from his pen. A 
second edition was published in 1875, containing 
3,oco illustrations, but this is merely a reprint of the 
first edition. 
As soon as the above book was issued to the public 
he published an abridgment of the Horlus Lignosus 
Lcndinensis. Again, in May, 1842, he published the 
First Additional Supplement to the Encyclopaedia of 
Cottage Architecture. Besides his own works he also 
contributed to the Encyclopaedia of Domestic 
Economy and Brande's Die.ionary of Science, Literature 
and Art. The article on " Planting ” which appeared 
in the new edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, also 
came from him. 
In March, 1842, he contracted inflammation of the 
lungs, which laid him up for a time; and when he 
became convalescent he went to Brighton with 
his family, where he spent a few weeks. They then 
set out on a journey through various parts of 
Somerset, Devon, atd Cornwall; and, returning to 
Exeter, Loudon sent his wife and daughter to 
London, while he himself proceeded to Barnstaple, 
in the neighbourhood of which he was to lay out 
some grounds for Lord Clinton. He was in good 
spirits when he returned to London, though still 
suffering from a slight cough. He now set about com¬ 
pleting his Suburban Horticulturist, which had been 
commenced about two years previously, but had 
been stopped when laid up with fever during his 
Scottish journey. This work was published by a 
Mr. Smith, of Fleet Street, a new departure in his 
proceedings, as all his previous works, from the 
Encyclopaedia of Gardening onwards had been issued 
to the public by Messrs. Longman. 
In the following year we find him hard at vo k on 
a new book entitled Cemeteries, which proved very 
expensive on account of the number of engravings 
he had prepared for it. Notwithstanding this, or 
probably on account of it, he took extraordinary 
pains with it to make it as perfect as possible. He 
had a second attack of inflammation of the lungs in 
August, and had reluctantly to decline an invita¬ 
tion to revisit his old friend, Mr. Strutt, at Derby. 
As above mentioned, Mrs. Loudon had taken to 
writing books by this time, and previous to her 
husband's illness she had conceived the idea of 
writing a book on the Isle of Wight, and was to visit 
it for the purpose of collecting information. Owing 
to Loudon's illness she intimated her intention of 
abandoning the project, but his medical advisers 
thought that a change of air might re-establish his 
health, so that the family set out together to the Isle 
of Wight. He became so listless and devoid of 
energy, however, upon the island that his wife 
became alarmed at symptoms she had never seen 
before. He rapidly got worse, and evinced a desire 
to leave the island, which he did. Soon after 
arrival at Southampton he felt better, and being 
engaged to lay out a cemetery there he sent his 
family back to London, while he himself went into 
lodgings. After the lapse of a fortnight his wife 
went to see him, and at the first glance of him she 
instinctively felt that he was dying. 
His wonted energy had returned, however, and he 
proceeded with the work in hand, and also attended 
to literary work by correcting the proofs of the 
second Supplement to the Encyclopaedia of Agriculture. 
After completing his contract at Southampton, he 
proceeded alone to Bath, in spite of the earnest en¬ 
treaties of his wife for permission to accompany 
him. Here he had to be wheeled about in a bath 
chair while he inspected the ground intended for a 
cemetery. He proceeded in the same way to 
inspect the grounds of a private gentleman named 
Pinder. From Bath he went to Kiddington, the 
seat of Mortimer Ricardo, Esq., near Enstone, 
Oxfordshire, where he was also conveyed round the 
grounds in a chair. When leaving this place he 
looked so ill that Mr. Ricardo offered to send some¬ 
one to accompany him to London. 
Arriving at Bayswater on September 30th, 1843, 
he finally consented to call iu medical aid, though 
not fully aware of his dangerous state. On October 
2nd his wife went with him to call upon Dr. Law¬ 
rence, who told him that the disease was in his 
lungs. He had implicit faith in Dr. Lawrence, but 
his friends advised him to call in other help, in¬ 
cluding Dr. Chambers and Dr. Richardson, who 
attended him to the last. 
Loudon was now fully convinced that he had not 
much longer time to live, and he laboured night and 
day to complete all the work he had in hand. With 
the aid of his draughtsman, he completed in succes¬ 
sion plans for Baron Rothschild, Mr. Ricardo, Mr. 
Pinder and for the cemetery at Bath. As he had 
engaged to make additional alterations to the 
grounds of Mr. Fuller, at Streatham, he proceeded 
there on October nth, but was unable to go in the 
garden, and never again attempted to visit a place 
professionally. At home he exercised in his own 
garden, and in the nursery of Mr. Hopwood, Craven 
Hill, for a few days, but his strength was fast failing 
him. After October 16th he did not leave the house 
r 
where he confined himself to two rooms. Though 
in the last stages of bodily debility his mind retained 
all its wonted energy, so that he laboured incessantly 
to finish the works he had in hand. The last work 
he wrote, Self-Instruction for Young Gardeners, he was 
particularly anxious to complete; but though the 
pen fell from his hand, so to speak, the book nearly 
as he left it was published. He had intended to 
carry it much farther than he did. 
About the middle of November his medical 
advisers pronounced his malady to be chronic bron¬ 
chitis, which, added to his pecuniary difficulties, 
had a depressing effect upon him. The next step he 
took was very distressing to one of his independence 
of mind, and that was to write a letter confessing 
his embarrassed situation, and stating that the sale 
of 350 copies of the Arboretum would get him out of 
his difficulties. The letter, dated December 1st, 
was lithographed and copies sent to all the nobility 
who took an interest in gardening, and by the 14th 
of that month the English aristocracy, with their 
usual generosity, had purchased books to the value 
of £360. Other letters were sent with satisfactory 
results, his friend, Joseph Strutt, Esq, taking ten 
copies. 
The debt on th e Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum 
was originally £10,000, and by the sale of that and 
Cottage Architecture the total amount was reduced to 
£2,400. The publication of Trees and Shrubs, his 
edition of Repton, and some other publications, on 
his own account, had increased the above sum to 
£3,600. His creditors all agreed to wait for their 
money by the sale of the bocks, on condition that 
Messrs. Longman should hold the stock of books 
till all the demands of his creditors were satisfied. 
The engraver became bankrupt, however, and his 
assignees began to harass Mr. Loudon. 
On December 13th he sent his wife to see the 
assignees and endeavour to bring them to terms, Mr. 
Joseph Strutt having offered to lend the money for 
that purpose. The assignees were obdurate, how¬ 
ever, and wanted Loudon's edition of Repton, which 
he was very unwilling to part with, as the debt upon 
it was small, and the proceeds would soonest have 
been available for the support of his family. He 
was much disconcerted by the result of the mission, 
but continued dictating Self-Instruction to his wife as 
amanuensis till midnight. Unable to sleep he got 
up next morning before daylight, and told Mrs. 
Loudon he had made up his mind to sacrifice Repton 
though it would break bis heart to do so. He hesi¬ 
tated to send his wife to town, and becoming 
very restless paced his rooms several times, and 
while his mind retained its vigour he died standing 
on his feet. His wife noticed the change in his face 
and had just time to clasp him in her arms, when 
his head sank upon her shoulder and he was no 
more. He died on December 14th, 1843, and on 
the 21st was buried in the cemetery at Kensall Green. 
- —— 
BARR’S HARDY FLOWERS AT 
REGENT’S PARK. 
There was a brilliant display of flowers throughout 
last week in the corridor of the Royal Botanic Gar¬ 
dens. They were supplied by Messrs. Barr & Sons, 
of Covent Garden, from their large and well-known 
flower growing establishment at Long Ditton. 
Paeonies were much in evidence and made the air 
heavy with their delightful scent. There were many 
handsome varieties, both of the double and single type; 
amongst the former we noticed three of exceptional 
merit, they were Bastian Sipage, a deep pure blush ; 
Lord Salisbury, deep magenta ; and Prince Imperial, 
a rich ruby. Next to the stand containing the 
Paeonies was a large and representative collection of 
the Iris family, the Spanish type figuring conspicu¬ 
ously ; also the old-fashioned, but nevertheless, 
handsome Flag Iris. A Spanish Iris, bearing the 
name of I. California, is, we think, one of the most 
striking of this handsome type. It is a full yellow 
with old gold lip and a deep orange blotch, the 
flower is of good size and gracefully formed. I. 
longipetala was another handsome and attractive 
variety. Ixias were also well staged and included 
most of the best varieties. 
We also noticed several plants of Francoa ramosa, 
better known perhaps as the Bridal Wreath. It is a 
flower that is not often seen now at shows, having 
followed many of its old acquaintances into the back¬ 
ground of fashion. There was a small but choice 
collection of rockery plants, including such fine sub¬ 
jects as Prunella webbiana major, Campanula 
portenschlagiana, and C. p. divarica, a variety with 
larger flowers and of a deeper blue ; also Linum 
arboreum, Ramondia pyrenaica, Saxifraga macna- 
biana, S. lingulata superba, Shirley Poppies, 
Gladioli, hardy Cypripediums, &c. 
There was also a large assortment of herbaceous 
cut bloom, including fine samples of Armeria cepha- 
lotes rubra, Gillenia trifoliata, also known as Spiraea 
trifoliata, Linaria dalmatica, Helenium Bolanderi, 
Heuchera micrantha, Ornithogalum p/ramidalis, 
Dictamnus Fraxinella, Delphinium grandiflorum.and 
a large variety of Canterbury Bells. 
There was a large and interesting collection of 
pigmy trees, which included numerous quaint little 
Acers, also a plant of Lagestroemia indica, eighty 
years old; indeed, by its gnarled appearance, it 
looked twice that age; Styraxjaponica, twenty years 
old ; Pinus pentaphylla, eighty years old ; and a fine 
little plant of Larix leptolepis 180 years old. 
The collection of Water Lilies in separate trays 
was admired more than anything, and they were 
well worthy of praise, for they were an exquisite col¬ 
lection of these fascinating plants. Besides a large 
number of the Marliacea type, there were several 
varieties of Nymphaea Laydekeri, a variety we should 
recommend everyone to choose who has a limited 
water space. N. L. fulgens, one of the best of this 
type exhibited, has flowers of a rich amaranth red; 
N. L. purpurata has very large flowers of a rich 
crimson colour with fiery coloured anthers ; in addi¬ 
tion to a fine form and colour this flower has the 
extra attraction of a delightful scent. N. L. rosea, a 
deep rose coloured flower, is also very fragrant, and 
is made doubly attractive by the showy, rich, orange 
anthers. N. Robinsoni was also in good form ; it is 
a flower too well known to need any description. 
N. sanguinea is a newer variety of this beautiful 
species; it has flowers of a very deep crim c on. N. 
e’lisiana is a very dark carmine. N. flava has sweetly 
