December  5,  id96. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
number  of  the  best  continental  Grapes,  but  chiefly  French,  were  grown 
at  Trentham,  Mr.  Fleming  having  collected  as  many  as  he  could  get 
hold  of  with  any  reputation  for  good  qualities,  but  the  great  majority 
of  them  never  found  their  way  into  general  cultivation  in  this  country. 
Many  of  the  varieties  he  obtained  direct  from  France  and  Germany, 
while  he  had  others  from  Messrs.  Rivers  and  the  Royal  Horticultural 
Society. 
“To  conclude  this  long  story,  of  which  I  am  sure  you  are  tired,  I 
am  promised  fresh  cuttings  of  ‘  Cooper’s  Black’  from  Mr.  Bradshaw  at 
Hillsborough,  with  the  view  of  again  testing  them  against  Gros  Maroc 
from  Messrs.  Rivers,  and  if  in  the  course  of  time  I  find  them  really 
different,  and  the  difference  iKvmanPMt  and  vnmistalieable  by  ordinary 
people,  then  I  will  report  to  you,  and  agree  with  those  who  now  assert 
it  is  a  ‘  distinct  variety.’ 
“  I  have  made  no  reference  to  the  one  or  two  other  varieties  which 
have  been  exhibited  at  one  time  or  another  under  the  name  of  ‘  Cooper’s 
Black,’  as  I  find  no  difference  of  opinion  among  those  who  are  best  able 
to  judge  about  what  is  called  ‘the  true  Cooper’s  Black.’  It  is  not  like 
anything  but  Gros  Maroc,  and  all  appear  to  be  agreed  that  the  other 
varieties  shown  as  ‘  Cooper’s  ’  were  wrong,  be  they  what  they  may.” 
It  will  be  admitted  that  our  representative  has  been  most 
thorough  in  his  investigation,  and  it  is  clear  that  he  had  only  one 
object  in  view — namely,  to  arrive  at  the  truth  about  the  matter  in 
dispute,  so  far  as  it  was  ascertainable.  From  Mr.  Lees’  letter, 
above  referred  to,  we  take  an  extract  as  follows  :  — 
“  ‘  Cooper’s  Black  ’  Grape  was  raised  by  a  Mr.  Cooper,  at  the  Palace 
Gardens,  Armagh,  at  what  date  I  am  unable  to  say,  and  is  also  known 
as  the  ‘  Armagh  Black.’  I  found  an  old  Vine  planted  in  an  outside 
border  at  Hillsborough  Castle  in  1874,  and  on  seeing  the  way  it  finished 
its  bunches,  by  a  little  encouragement  it  finished  still  better  to  my 
satisfaction,  so  that  I  was  enabled  to  gain  first  prize  for  bloom  with  a 
bunch  cut  from  the  old  Vine  at  Carlisle  in  1877,  against  over  twenty 
competitors.  It  is  in  my  opinion  distinct,  and  also  superior  to  ‘Gros 
Maroc,’  taking  a  better  finish,  not  being  so  round  in  the  berry,  and  a 
neater  shaped  bunch  ;  whereas  ‘  Gros  Maroc  ’  is  very  coarse  and  forked 
in  the  bunch.  The  greater  part  of  the  Grapes  shown  as  ‘  Cooper’s’  are 
‘  Gros  Maroc.’  Several  examples  were  to  be  seen  at  the  last  September 
show  in  Edinburgh.  Two  good  examples  of  ‘  Cooper’s  Black  ’  were 
exhibited  by  the  Messrs.  Buchanan.” 
We  well  remember  the  splendidly  finished  bunch  referred  to  at 
the  Carlisle  show.  It  was  one  of  those  striking  exhibits  that  are 
not  easily  forgotten.  There  is  only  one  remark  in  Mr.  Leea’  letter 
on  which  we  pause  to  comment.  His  experience  of  Cooper’s  Black 
is  that  it  is  “  not  so  round  in  the  berry  ”  as  Gros  Maroc.  We  will 
now  give  ours.  Both  in  respect  to  the  berries  of  the  Carlisle 
bunch  (“  Cooper’s  Black  ”)  and  in  respect  to  almost  every  alleged 
bunch  of  the  same  variety  that  has  been  sent  to  us,  the  berries 
were,  if  anything,  rounder  than  those  of  the  typical  bunch  of  Gros 
Maroc  (undoubtedly  true)  from  Sawbridgeworth .  So  much  for 
cultural  influence  and  environment. 
We  only  attach  small,  if  any,  importance  to  slight  variations 
in  shape  of  berry  as  a  factor  in  distinctness  of  variety.  A  few  years 
ago  we  called  on  a  large  grower  of  Muscat  Grapes  for  market.  He 
was  busy  at  the  moment  superintending  the  forking  into  half  the 
length  of  the  inside  border  the  heaviest  dressing  of  nitrate  of 
soda  we  have  ever  seen  or  heard  of  being  used.  “  Just  an 
experiment,”  he  remarked.  When  the  Grapes  were  nearly  ripe 
we  were  shown  the  results.  The  berries  were  half  as  large  again 
as  those  banging  from  the  other  half  of  the  roof,  and  the  oval 
shape  had  practically  vanished.  To  use  the  expressive  phrase  of 
the  owner  the  nitrate  of  soda  had  “  blown  them  out ;  ”  those  on 
the  other  half  of  the  roof  (border  undressed)  were  much  smaller 
and  quite  oval.  This  is  mentioned  as  a  striking  example  of 
variation  in  which  the  direct  cause  was  known.  We  do  not 
advise  private  gardeners  to  follow  the  example  mentioned,  or  they 
might  “wear  out”  their  Vines  too  soon.  This  market  grower 
is  always  working  on  the  express  system — clearing  out  some 
houses  and  planting  others  every  year  ;  but  this  cannot  be  done 
in  private  gardens. 
Referring  again  to  the  Black  Grapes,  Mr.  David  Airdrie, 
Larbert  House  Gardens,  sends  us  a  bunch  each  of  “  Cooper’s  Black  ” 
and  “  Gros  Maroc  ”  with  an  intimation  that  the  Vines  were  raised 
from  eyes  obtained  from  the  same  source  as  Mr.  Bsisant’s.  Mr. 
Airdrie  says  he  “  cannot  see  one  bit  of  difference  between  either 
in  their  growth,  bunch,  berry,  or  flavour.”  We  could  perceive  no 
difference  whatever  in  the  Grapes  we  received.  Mr.  Kirk,  Norwood, 
Alloa,  writes  again  : — 
“  ‘  Rusticus  ’  is  still  of  the  opinion  that  Cooper’s  Black  and  Gros 
Maroc  are  distinct.  I  am  perfectly  convinced  that  the  two  Grapes 
named  will  never  be  exhibited  with  any  success  as  two  distinct  varieties 
in  a  collection  of  Grapes,  for  I  consider  you  might  as  well  show  in  a 
collection  Mill  Hill  Hamburgh  with  Black  Hamburgh,  Bowood  Muscat 
with  Muscat  of  Alexandria,  Barbarossa  with  Gros  Guillaumes,  and 
so  on.” 
We  agree  with  Mr.  Kirk,  except  in  his  reference  to  Gros 
Guillaume  and  Barbarossa.  He  dees  not  know  the  last-named 
Grape,  but  he  is  right  practically,  for  all  the  Grapes  grown  and 
exhibited  in  this  country  as  Barbarossa  ar-e  Gros  Guillaume.  One 
more  word.  We  have  had  Grapes  sent  to  us  cut  from  a  Vine 
raised  from  an  eye  supplied  by  Mr.  Lees,  from  what  he  regards  as 
the  true  “  Cooper’s  Black,”  and  when  theie  Grapes  were  critically 
examined  and  compared  with  the  Sawbridgeworth  sample  of  Gros 
Maroc  no  difference  whatever  could  be  discovered  between  them. 
Adopting  the  extreme  caution  of  our  experienced  representa¬ 
tive,  we  do  not  say  that  some  slight  differences  are  not  discoverable 
between  the  two  alleged  varieties  by  some  cultivators,  but  granting 
them  all  they  can  see,  we  are  decidedly  of  opinion  that  the  Grapes 
grown  as  “  Gros  Maroc  ”  and  “  Cooper  s  Blade  ”  much  too  closely 
resemble  each  other  to  he  shown  as  distinct  varieties,  and  consequently 
an  exhibit  containing  them  must  be  liable  to  disqualification. 
We  thank  all  who  have  aided  us  with  samples  and  information 
in  investigating  this  subject. 
BERRIED  PLANTS. 
The  traditions  which  cluster  round  berried  plants  in  association 
with  the  Christmas  season  have  formed  liberal  diet  for  romancers, 
storytellers,  and  artists  for  generations.  No  pictorial  representa¬ 
tion  of  Christma.s,  either  real  or  imaginary,  seems  complete  with¬ 
out  a  considerable  infusion  of  Holly  and  Mistletoe  ;  indeed,  in 
myriads  of  pictures  these  features  constitute  the  chief  indication 
that  the  illustration  is  of  Christmas.  It  may  be  that  the  time  is 
not  far  distant  when  traditions  of  this  nature  will  be  regarded  as 
absurd  and  unreal,  as  they  are  already  largely,  and  yet  no  one  can 
look  to  a  Christmas  time  devoid  of  Holly  and  Mistletoe  without  a 
pang  of  regret. 
It  is  not  so  much  that  these  berried  plants  add  mirth  or  jollity 
to  the  festive  season,  so  called,  but  they  do  add  to  our  domestic 
surroundings  charm  that  is  as  welcome  at  Christmas  as  Roses 
in  the  summer,  or  Chrysanthemums  in  November.  But  these 
beautiful  flowers  are  never  associated  with  festivities,  domestic 
or  otherwise,  in  the  traditional  way  that  berried  plants  are  at 
Christmas,  simply  because  we  have  made  of  Christmas  a  sort  of 
national  physical  feast,  when  we  are  supposed  to  eat  more,  drink  more, 
and  generally  do  things  which  it  would  be  far  wiser  and  healthy  to 
have  left  undone.  The  world  is  gradually  becoming  too  matter  of 
fact,  too  impatient  of  traditions  and  absurd  customs,  to  lead  to  the 
much  longer  retention  of  Christmastide  as  a  boisterous  festival — 
indeed,  to-day  it  is  more  enforced  upon  our  lives  through  the 
agency  of  the  printer  and  lithographer,  and  even  here  far  too 
obnoxiously  than  in  any  other  way. 
But  it  is  doubtful,  even  if  the  traditional  Christmas  should  die 
out  eventually,  whether  we  shall  ever  lose  touch  with  the  Holly 
and  the  Mistletoe.  Even  if  the  bold  traditions  once  fixed  on  our 
minds  and  habits  be  slackening,  yet  we  do  not  in  any  way  become 
too  matter-of-fact  to  ignore  the  beauty  which  flowers  or  berried 
plants  bring  into  our  domestic  associations.  So  far  from  that 
being  the  case  we  find  that  these  things  are  rather  becoming  more 
and  more  popular  with  us,  and  in  greater  request.  Thus  in  mid¬ 
winter,  the  dull  season  of  the  year,  when  flowers  are  scarce  and 
dear,  we  welcome  for  their  own  beauty,  apart  from  traditional 
associations,  any  things  berry-bearing,  so  long  as  they  add  natural 
charm  and  give  colour  to  our  homes  and  firesides.  It  is  strange 
that  with  this  growing  taste  we  have  not  more  largely  catered  for 
the  supply  of  berried  plants  in  pots  rather  than  leaving  the  public 
so  largely  dependent  on  branches  or  sprays,  which  soon  wither 
and  decay. 
It  seems  to  be  quite  beyond  our  capacity  to  produce  miniature 
Hollies  in  berry.  Is  it  possible  in  connection  with  these  shrubs  to 
dwarf  them  for  such  purposes  on  Chinese  lines,  and  thus  be  enabled 
to  offer  them  in  pots  of  very  moderate  dimensions,  and  set  with 
berries  ?  How  beautiful  and  acceptable  would  such  plants  be  if 
they  were  also  well  foliaged  !  As  a  rule,  all  efforts  in  the  direction 
