THE GARDENING WORLD. 
August 18, 1900. 
many new things, including Countess of Haddington, 
which is still cherished in cultivation. R. 
dalhousieanum was one of the parents. 
Cinerarias, Calceolarias, and Chrysanthemums 
were all, in turn, undertaken by Mr. Laingand grown 
to perfection, as testified by his successes for years 
at the exhibitions of the Royal Caledonian Horti¬ 
cultural Society. On the testimony of Mr. James 
Douglas, the Dysart House Chrysanthemums were 
as fine as any seen in the south up to ten or twelve 
years ago. 
After twelve years’ service at Dysart, Mr. Laing 
joined the firm of Downie & Laird, in Edinburgh, in 
i860, the title then becoming Downie, Laird & Laing 
with whose legend of superscription the gardeners 
of the British Isles soon became familiar. Mr. Laing 
opened a branch for the firm at Stanstead Park, 
Forest Hill, where he has just closed his brilliant 
career. After fifteen years, namely in 1875, the firm 
was dissolved so far as Mr. Laing was concerned. 
He improved and extended the nursery at Forest 
Hill till he became the leading nurseryman in the 
district. Floriculture was his strong right arm; and 
his exhibits of show and fancy Pansies. Antirrhinums, 
Fuchsias, Pentstemons, Phloxes, Hollyhocks, bronze 
and tricolor Pelargoniums, and latterly Chrysanthe¬ 
mums, amply testified to the real and substantia! 
improvements he effected. 
When progress in the above became slow he turned 
his attention to tuberous Begonias, with what results 
we all know for he quite revolutionised the genus. 
The start was made in 1875, when he had established 
himself on an independent footing. He felt there 
was a grand future before the tuberous Begonia for 
the decoration of the greenhouse and conservatory, 
and as an outdoor bedding plant. He commenced 
by hybridising and cross breeding with B. boliviensis, 
B. Veitchi and B. Pearcei, together with the then ex¬ 
isting varieties Dr. Masters, Mrs. Masters and Dr. 
Hooker. The results were Unpromising enough; 
but he was not disheartened. By getting together 
the best home and Continental raised varieties he set 
to crossing them with his own and one another, and 
in the following year had the pleasure of noticing 
some decided improvements. This fired his old zeal, 
and he continued the work, with the result that he 
saved seeds of some 57 crosses which he sowed in 
January, 1878. At South Kensington in the summer 
of that year he startled the floricultural world by 
showing a splendid group of his seedlings at a meeting 
of the Royal Horticultural Society, which awarded 
him a Gold Medal and several First-class Certificates. 
From this time the tuberous Begonia was regarded 
as the coming flower. 
By repeatedly crossing Veitch’s Queen of Whites 
and Henderson’s White Queen, Mr. Laing raised 
500 white flowered seedlings in 1879, recording a great 
improvement upon existing whites. Stanstead Rival 
was the best, being the first with nearly erect flower 
stems and round flowers. He redoubled his energy, 
and in 1880 he had seeds of 161 crosses of single and 
double varieties. Year by year this number mounted 
up until his annual raising numbered some quarter 
of a million seedlings, several long houses being filled 
with pot plants, and nearly two acres being planted 
with them. From B. Sedeni, the first hybrid, to 
Queen Victoria, which formed one of the set of Royal 
Begonias in the Jubilee set of 1887, was a far cry, but 
that was not the goal of the race. 
Mr. Laing read a paper on "Tubercus Begonias," 
at the Begonia Conference, held at Chiswick on 
August 23rd, 1892, when his name was accompanied 
by such titles as F.R.H.S., A.B.S.E , F.S.A., F.S.A.F., 
F.S H.F , and F.N.C.S. In 1897, ihe well-known 
V.M.H. was added. At the Conference, Dr. Masters 
admitted that botanically speaking, the Begonia was 
no longer a Begonia according to the descriptions of 
the botanists, but has been improved and transformed 
into something else. 
Thus dies an eminent horticulturist, a florist of the 
first water, by whose labours many thousands of his 
fellow men in the British Empire, and on the Con¬ 
tinent, and in America have been cheered. He has 
been a member of the Floral Committee and a Fellow 
of the Royal Horticultural Society for considerably 
over a quarter of a century (about 39 years), and was 
a familiar feature at all the leading shows about Lon¬ 
don and at the meetings of the R.H.S., till recent 
years when failing health kept him more at home. 
Many of our readers will recognise the accompanying 
portrait (see p. 805) of a gentleman who was a court¬ 
eous, warm-hearted and sociable companion. He 
leaves a widow and two sons in the business. The 
funeral took place at Brockley Cemetery, Kent, at 
3 p.m., on the nth inst. 
We here reproduce the portraits of his two sons, 
Mr. John Alexander Laing, and Mr. James Henry 
Laing,the elder and younger respectively. (Seep.Sog.) 
As befitting the particular work in which 
Mr. Laing’s life had been so well spent, the coffin 
and hearse were smothered with lovely wreaths; 
some of them, made up by the staff at Forest Hill, 
excited the keenest admiration of the professional 
horticulturists present at the burial service. 
The two sons, Mr. John A. and Mr. James H., 
were present, and were accompanied by their uncle, 
Mr. M. Hales ; their cousins, Messrs. A. Garside 
and John Soutar; Mr. Alfred Sykes (executor), 
Messrs. Geo. Howe, J. Stewart, G. W. Frowd, J. 
Deacon, S. Catchpole, Fred. Boyle, J. W. Wilkinson 
(Royal Aquarium), John Carline (Surveyor to 
Lewisham Board), B. W. Bennett, J. F. McLeod, J. 
T. Hayes, W. Padbury, H. J. Brewer, and T. C. 
Ward (of Pollett’s, Ltd ), R. Glendinning, Fred. A. 
Cobbold, and a great number of others to whom the 
deceased was well known. 
The managers of the various departments at the 
nurseries occupied one of the numerous carriages. 
They were Mr. H. Hedges, manager of the Stanstead 
Park nursery department; Mr. G. M. Bick, 
manager of the floral, decorative, and landscape de¬ 
partment; Mr. P. Laflin, manager of the farm 
nurseries ; Mr. W. King, manager of the Begonia 
department; Mr. J. Wright, manager of the herba¬ 
ceous department. 
The service was conducted by the Rev. J. C. 
Foster, Pastor of the Chapel at Sydenham, where 
Mr. Laing had for fifteen years been Deacon. _ Mr. 
Foster was assisted at the graveside by the Rev. W. 
J. Salt. 
Others amongst the numerous sorrowing friends 
following the deceased were the Rev. Dr. Todd, Rev. 
A ChancelloD, Mr. Wballey (Addington Park), 
Messrs. Brewer and Ward (Messrs. Pollett, Ltd.), 
Mr. A. J. Tozea (Yalehock).Mr. J. Bannerman and Mr. 
Johnson of Kenley, representatives from the Lewis¬ 
ham Board of Works, Guardians, Vestry, other local 
secretaries, Crystal Palace Co., &c. 
Wreaths were sent by pastor and deacon of Syden¬ 
ham Chapel, Mrs. C. F.. Bause, Mr. Jules Fox 
(Lager Beer Co.), E. H. Gough (Australian Press), 
Mr. J. Soutar (Dundee), Crystal Palace Co , Mr. J. 
T. Hayes (Castle Ashby Gardens), Rev. J. and Miss 
Lascelles, Mrs. Arthur Hall, Mr. and Mrs. Padbury. 
H. Overton (Victoria), Messrs. W. Y. and A. J. 
Baker (Thames Bank Iron Co.), Mr. Whalley 
(Addington Park Gardens), Mr. A. Sykes (executor), 
Mr. and Mrs. W. Iceton (Putney), the employees of 
the shop and nurseries department, and many others. 
-■» ! «■ - 
GARDENING IN TRINIDAD. 
Special to The Gardening World. 
A correspondent writes from the Royal Botanic 
Gardens, Port of Spain, Trinidad, B.W.I.:—" Our 
new Botanic Station is getting into good working 
order now. We have had a fine two-storey building 
put up as offices, herbarium, laboratory, and lecture 
room. This month (August) we have a three weeks’ 
course of lectures in scientific and practical agricul¬ 
ture for the benefit of about forty school teachers. I 
had to give eight of these lectures in last January's 
course. They occur twice a year — in January and 
August—lectures five days a week, the theoretical 
lasting one and a quarter hours, and the practical 
the same period each afternoon. There is a different 
set of teachers each time. 
“ Our new nursery is about full of young plants— 
tropical timbers, fruit trees, Palms, Coffee, Cocoa, 
Cola, and decorative plants of many kinds. We 
had two plants of Acalypha hispida (Sanderi) from 
Kew last year, and they promise to do well, for we 
have now about a dozen young ones growing finely 
from cuttings. 
" This is the Mango season, and no doubt a good 
Mango is delicious. Our only bearing Mangosteen 
tree has an enormous crop this year, but the fruits 
are not ripe yet. You would require to come out 
here to get a good idea of plants and scenery, and of 
the life in this luxuriant corner of the globe. Read¬ 
ing Kingsley's ‘ At Last' gives one some knowledge 
of it.” 
HOLLAND HOUSE, KENSINGTON. 
[Concluded from p 796.) 
Among other fine flowering trees pointed out was a 
double white flowered Horse Chestnut. This beside 
Aesculus rubicunda both heightens its own effect and 
that of the red species. A reference was made in 
the previous note to the Lilies which are promiscu¬ 
ously displayed by the thousand. Another telling 
feature at the present time is the Foxgloves; these 
and the red Lychnis coronaria brighten up many a 
corner and patch of ground. An effective group 
(everything is in groups) is composed of Nut trees, 
the dark red Diervilla Eva Rathke and the Foxgloves 
and Lychnis. Cytisus capitata is a distinct member, 
having pretty foliage and capitate yellow flower 
heads. It grows in graceful, yet compact form and 
favours a sheltered corner. 
By the margin of a pool the tall and arching 
blades of Cyperus longus stood out in pleasant con¬ 
trast to the glaucous grassy leaves of Elymus 
arenarius. The tall growing aquatic Ranunculus 
(R. Lingua) with its glittering canary-yellow flowers 
is a queen among present blooming water plants. 
Fancy a free spreading head of bright, large sized 
Buttercup flowers on slender, though erect stems, 
and having long tongue-like leaves below, and the 
whole thing growing from a still sheet of dark water ; 
it is splendid. Cladium Mariscus, a rush-like plant, 
was also well represented. Scirpus lacustris, grow¬ 
ing 4 ft. high and having dark rounded stems with 
the brown flowers at the apex, may be added. S. 
erectus and S. riparius, &c., are at present included. 
The common S. sylvatica for damp places and S. 
lucustris zebrinus are two other fine plants. Mr. 
Dixon finds it difficult to keep the labels for the 
aquatic plants from corroding or from becoming con¬ 
fusing by being shifted. In water of an ordinary 
depth, say 3 ft., flat lead labels with the name im¬ 
pressed and painted white, raised above the water 
by fixing them to stout wooden stakes is perhaps as 
good a method as any. 
Both the red and white flowered Epilobiums (E. 
angustifolium) are liberally planted. The plan is to 
make a bed of about a dozen plants around the 
stems of standard trees. This is real gardening, and 
furnishes a charming scene. Fraxinus aucubaefolia 
forms a handsome tree; and Celtis cordata varie- 
gata, with its yellow and green foliage, is very beauti- 
tiful. Beds of Wichuraiana Briers, Cornus Spathei 
aureus and suchlike, further go to demonstrate the 
Variety of hardy ornamental subjects in the gardens 
at Holland House. 
Pterocarya laevigata with pinnate foliage like so 
many other trees already named, Pyrus Sorbus, 
Fraxinus Ornus, Xanthoceras, &c., all have beautiful 
pinnate leaves. One of the handsomest trees so far 
as foliage goes, that we have in our gardens, is 
Dimorphanthus mandschuricus, something after the 
character of the Tree of Heaven or a Giant Sumach, 
but altogether distinct. It is fairly well known and 
coming from Manchuria ought to be quite hardy in 
the British Isles. Another large leaved shrub, and 
one which is handsome enough in its way is the 
Paper Mulberry, Broussonettia papyrifera, a Chinese 
native. The leaves sometimes develop to J ft. or 
more in length and breadth, and become most pecu¬ 
liarly lobed. It is certainly an interesting tree and a 
very valuable one economically. B. Kaempferii is 
somewhat more erect in growth, with darker leaves 
shaped like a top. It also is worth the having. 
After having spent so long among some of the beds 
and shrubs, a nice little rockery, having a dripping 
stream flowing over steep set boulders at the higher 
end, and being continued in a narrow channel 
between each rocky side forming the contortious 
home of alpine gems, was reached Like so many 
of the other features of the Holland House of the 
present, this delightful little rockery has not long 
been completed. So well planned and planted has 
it been that it wears quite a natural and furnished 
presentment. The deep brilliant blue flowered 
Lithospermum prostratum has at last been success¬ 
fully established, much to the pleasure of both Earl 
Ilchester and his head gardener. Hippocrepis 
comosa with its yellow flowers, Delphinium nudi- 
caule with orange-red racemes, and D. Belladonna 
with spikes of brightest blue, were flowering in com¬ 
pany with Veronica prostrata, Lavandula purpurea, 
Ramondia pyrenaica (now just past), various Linums, 
among which was the L, arboreum, doing splendidly. 
Thymus Serpyllum and T. S. coccineum spread over 
the stony path and send up a pungent agreeable 
