January 18,1883. ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 53 
culture in pots. I had a plant here in an 11-inch pot, which flowered 
from March to November, including those months, and had at one 
time upwards of one thousand trusses, with an average of ten pips 
each, some of them having fifteen. My object in writing is to recom¬ 
mend flowering Stephanotises in a small state. I strike them annu¬ 
ally, grow them from 4 to 6 inches high, and obtain from each three 
or four trusses of flowers. I have them at the present time with the 
trusses just showing, and expect they will be open by the end of 
March.—J. G., Brentrey. 
THE WAY TO GROW SO-CALLED LARGE BUNCHES 
OF GRAPES. 
With the debatable question whether they are genuine and 
bona fide single bunches 1 do not propose to deal, although with¬ 
out doubt this is a question which urgently requires some official 
and trustworthy solution if such a thing be possible. A dis¬ 
cussion on this point in the Journal could not fail to have a 
beneficial result by drawing public attention to the subject, and 
perhaps clear the way to a solution of the question. The present 
seems an opportune time to mention the subject before the sche¬ 
dules for the summer shows have been drafted. In the classes for 
weight of bunch this matter has often caused sore dissatisfaction 
among exhibitors, and justly so too in many instances. I send 
you herewith a small bunch as a sample of how the thing is mani¬ 
pulated. I am afraid it would be difficult to figure the shoot and 
bunch, or this would help very much to show the process. 
You will perceive that after the second bunch had shown, the 
shoot on which the first bunch, A, is grown was stopped and the 
leaf nipped off. The consequence of this was that the shoot broke 
again behind the second bunch, B. This second break or sub-lateral 
is then encouraged to grow to form the leading or permanent shoot 
at C, instead of the first that formed ; and the end of the first shoot, 
which of course is soft, green, and pliable, is appropriated as it 
were by the two bunches to wed them together and form the 
stalk to the united bunches. Anyone feeling sceptical on the 
subject can try it for themselves this spring and summer. I am 
far from condemning the practice—on the contrary, strongly com¬ 
mend it, especially to those who wish and are expected to grow 
large clusters of fruit, and where three bunches show on a shoot 
the clusters may still be had heavier by stopping at the third 
instead of the second bunch. Another interesting point in Grape 
culture which this practice demonstrates is the fallacy of the old, 
and for that modern teaching too, that it is quite necessary to 
have two or three leaves ahead of the bunch to secure perfect 
development of berry. To show that this condition is not abso¬ 
lutely necessary to produce first-quality Grapes, I may mention 
that often in carrying out their practice the shoot does not break 
the second time, and the bunch is left with only the three or 
four leaves between it and the stem of the Vine, and it not un- 
frequently happens that these prove to be some of the best 
clusters in the vinery.— Druid. 
Filmy Ferns and the Frost. —It is no small recommendation 
to the more extended culture of this charming section of the Fern 
tribe that the majority of those in cultivation ignore coddling and 
fire heat altogether, and will not wince even with the mercury in- 
