43 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, April 17, 1SG0. 
evergreen trees, and by their suitability to the soil and climate, 
these two Cuprosses stand unrivalled.—D. Pjjessly. —(Dublin 
Agric. Review.) 
THE CANARY AND THE BRITISH FINCHES. 
(Continued from page 26.) 
THE WILD CANARY OF MADEIRA (Fringilla butgracea). 
I hate not yet met with a good description of the Wild 
Canary (Fringilla Canaria), of the Canary Islands ; but some 
naturalists regard tho Fringilla butgracea of Madeira, and 
Fringilla Canaria of the Canary Islands, as identical, or, at least, 
very similar, possibly a description of the Madeira variety may 
suffice. 
C. Darwin, Esq., has kindly forwarded me the skin of a Wild 
Canary, brought direct from Madeira. This measures—length’ 
of the beak four lines ; breadth at base, two lines ; and depth of 
base, three lines. The shank of the leg is eight lines in height; 
the middle toe measures six lines, and the hind toe four lines in 
length. The colour of the plumage is what Canary fanciers term 
grey. The quill-feathers of wings and tail are blackish edged with 
grey ; the top of the head and upper parts of the body arc dark 
grey, with longitudinal black marks between the shoulders ; the 
throat and breast are yellowish-grey tinged with green ; the belly 
white, with a few longitudinal dark spots above the thighs. 
From a few I saw in one of the aviaries at the Crystal Palace 
(1859), they appeared short and rounded in form, much re¬ 
sembling the Norwich birds in shape. 
The following description is from Dr. Heineken, “ Zoological 
Journal,” vol. v., p. 70. He considers Fringilla Canaria and 
Fringilla butgracea as synonymes, and he here gives an elaborate 
description of the bird as it appears in Madeira. Of its habits, 
Dr. Heineken says, “ that it builds in thick, bushy, high shrubs 
and trees, with roots, moss, feathers, hair, &c.; that it pairs in 
February, lays from four to six eggs of a pale-blue colour, and 
hatches five times (not unfrequently six), in a season. He 
observes that it is very familiar, haunting and breeding in 
gardens about the city. It is a delightful songster, says the 
Doctor, with, beyond doubt, much of the Nightingale’s and 
Skylark’s, but none of the Woodlark’s song, although three or 
four Skylarks in confinement, in Funchal, are the only examples 
of any of these three birds in the island; and notwithstanding 
the general opinion that such notes arc the result of education in 
tho Canary, it is in full song about nine months in the year. I 
have heard one sing on the wing, and passing from one tree to 
another at some distance, and am told that during the pairing 
season this is common. Each ilock has its own song, and, front 
individuals in the same garden differing considerably, I suspect 
that each nest varies more or less. Alter the breeding season, 
they flock together with Linnets, Goldfinches, &c., and arc then 
seldom seen in gardens. The moult takes place in August and 
September. An old bird caught and put in a cage will some¬ 
times sing immediately ; but it seldom lives longer than the 
second year, in confinement. The young from the nest are diffi¬ 
cult to rear, dying generally at the first moult. They cross readily 
with tho domesticated variety, and the progeny are larger, 
stronger, better breeders, and, to my taste, also better songsters 
than the latter; but a pure wild song from an island Canary, at 
liberty in lull throat, and in apart of the country so distant lroni 
the haunts of men, that it is quite unsophisticated, is unequalled 
in its kind by anything I have ever heard in the way of bird 
music.”— B. P. Brent. 
PRUNING BACK CALCEOLARIAS. 
DIANTHUS HEDDEVVIG1I IN SUCCESSION—TOM THUMB 
GERANIUM CUTTINGS. 
Will Calceolaria Prince of Orange bear pinching back till 
the end of July-? I want it to succeed a bed that will not bo 
out of bloom tdl that time. 
Will tho spring-sown Dianthus Heddcwigii (up March 16), do 
to succeed autumn-sown plants ? 
I see in a back volume that spring cuttings of Tom Thumb 
Geranium go too much to leaf. Would it, therefore, be best (o 
plant them out in pots ? and Crgslal Palace Trentham the same ? 
Which is best, Gishurst Compound or Parmcnter’s ?—Q. Q. 
[You may keep this and all the bedding Calceolarias from 
blooming till late in the summer, by merely cutting off the flower- 
stalks as fast as they rise, not bg stopping the shoots; but if you 
keep them in the pots in the meantime, you will get very little 
good out of them. The plants should be planted at good distances 
apart early in May, and transplanted with very large balls when 
the beds are ready for them. 
The spring-sown Dianthus Heddewigii should be treated 
generously from pot to pot, and then they will succeed those sown 
in the autumn certainly ; but, to do them justice, they ought to be 
planted out in May, as early as each of them fills a No. 60-pot 
with its roots. Then they should stand from a foot to fifteen 
inches apart to get them into a most gorgeous mass, and tho soil 
should be good enough for Broccoli, but not too strong. 
The specimen of Campanula carpatica was lost. If it did pro¬ 
duce seeds it would bo one of the “mad tricks” to sow them. 
The plants increase at the roots from sixty to six hundredfold 
faster than you can find room for them. Also, from cuttings like 
the blue Lobelias, when you have only one plant. 
You surely never saw from any of our own staff of writers, 
that spring cuttings of Tom Thumb Geraniums went too much to 
leaf, nor spring or autumn cuttings of the Crystal Palace Scarlet 
either. The latter we have grown seventeen years, and can 
vouch for it to do better than any other scarlet, from cuttings 
made anytime the year round. 
As to those “ compounds,” there has not been sufficient time 
yet to test their comparative merits.] 
A HELP TO KEEP WALKS IN GOOD TRIM. 
It has been asserted, and, I believe, generally admitted, that 
well-kept walks are a great “ setting off,” both to large and small 
gardens, and, undoubtedly, tho assertion is true. For what is 
more unsightly than a walk, or terrace, with a “ little path ” as 
it were down its centre, and, perhaps, weeds or moss continually 
springing up on its sides, the labour of which, where many have 
to be attended to, is somewhat considerable ? 
In walking through a garden (of no small importance in most 
matters), some weeks back, I could not help noticing some of 
those “ little paths,”- and which looked (in my mind’s eye), little 
better than “ hare’s-runs ” or “ sheep-walks.” Now, to an admirer 
of a well-kept walk, a sight like the ajjove is something odious. In 
these gardens (Thornham), we make it a rule that no working 
