If shoots are only lightly frosted they should be cut off at once as low as you can detect injury. This may save the lower parts of the shoot, from which a later growth can be made. Frosted parts ferment and carry destruction downward, and therefore should be disposed of as soon as possible. Where vines have run out considerably and badly frosted, the best practice usually is to strip off the frozen shoots so as to get rid of the dormant buds at the base, which often give sterile shoots. A new break of canes from other buds is generally more productive. Dipping Thompson Seedless. What is the process of dipping and bleaching Thompson seedless grapes? One recipe for dipped raisins is as follows: One quart olive oil; 3/4-pound Greenbank soda and 3 quarts water are made into an emulsion, and then reduced with 10 gallons water in the dipping tank, adding more soda to get lye-strength enough to cut the skins, and more soda has to be added from time to time to keep up the strength. The grapes are dipped in this solution and sulphured to the proper color. This is the general outline of the process. The ability to use it well can only be attained by experience and close observation. The Zante Currant. Is the currant that grows in the United States in any way related to the currant that grows in Greece? If so, could it be cured like the currant that comes from Greece? The dried currants of commerce are made in Greece and in California (to a slight extent) from the grape known as the grape of Corinth. They are not made from the bush currant which is generally grown in the United States, and the two plants are not in any way related. Grape Vines for an Arbor. How shall I prune grape vines, viz: Tokay, Black Cornichon, Muscat, Thompson Seedless, Rose of Peru, planted for a grape arbor? You can grow all the vines you mention with high stumps reaching part way or to the top of the arbor as you desire side or top shade or both. You can also grow them with permanent side branches on the side slats of the arbor if you desire. Each winter pruning would consist in cutting back all the previous summer's growth to a few buds from which new canes will grow for shade or fruiting, or you can work on the renewal system, keeping some of these canes long for quick foliage and more fruit perhaps and cutting some of them short to grow new wood for the following year's service, as they often do in growing Eastern grapes. Pruning Old Vines. I have some Muscat grape vines 30 years old. Can I chop off most of the old wood with a hatchet and thereby bring them back to proper bearing?