274 THE GARDENER. [June 



soon sent out two more. The old one was then pinched back, which 

 made it send out three more shoots, making five, equal to the num- 

 ber of wires we had for training them on. Each shoot was loosely tied 

 to a wire, then nature did the rest, twisting itself round the wires in 

 the same manner as a Scarlet-Runner Bean, and growing almost as fast, 

 and of course very soon reached the end of the house, which is only 

 25 feet long : the end of each slioot was then pinched out, and it was 

 allowed to go no further. About the end of May and June it flowered 

 nearly up each stem. In the winter, each shoot was cut back 

 nearly all the way : this I consider now to be too much for it, as it did 

 not flower quite so well the next year, although the growth was the 

 same. The last two or three years we have only cut back the main shoot 

 a little way, but have cut the laterals back much the same as we do a 

 Grape- Vine ; and it does better, flowering pretty well in May and June, 

 with a few flowers in the autumn. We have also an old plant that 

 has stood for years in a large box in the conservatory trained up the 

 back wall, but it flowers very little compared with the one in the stove. 

 Some time back a friend remarked that the best way to manage the 

 Stephanotis was to grow it in the stove till flowering-time, and then 

 remove it to a greenhouse, where it would remain in flower a long 

 time ; and this is what I would recommend. About the last week of 

 February 1870 I took off a short stubby cutting and struck it in a 

 dung-frame. As soon as it had rooted, I placed it in the stove : it had 

 two shifts during the summer, giving a size larger pot each time. By 

 February this year it had grown considerably, when I shifted it into 

 an 11-inch pot, training it round a balloon-shaped wire, which is about 

 3 feet high. It is now a handsome plant, with an abundance of flowers 

 just making their appearance at nearly every joint. About the first of 

 June I shall remove it to a greenhouse. I consider the Stephanotis 

 to be a strong grower and a gross feeder, and when growing it should 

 be watered with liquid-manure twice a-week. W. JSTokes. 



GRAPES AT PITCAIRLIE. 



Three years ago we gave a brief memorandum, of the Grape-houses 

 at Pitcairlie, and the prodigious crops which had been produced for so 

 many years. Some thought we had, on that occasion, "thrown the 

 hammer ! " but those who visited the place and saw for themselves, 

 thought we were far within the mark. It is not our purpose now to give 

 details, as it would in every way be going over the same ground — as 

 the Muscats, Lady Downes, Hamburgs, and other kinds are as fine and 

 as promising as ever, and the Vines equally strong, if not stronger 



