THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, May 8, 1860. 
89 
“ These are the common names given to Canary birds, they 
being generally called and distinguished by their colours.” 
From this list, it appears that the common Grey colour was 
least prized ; next, Ash-coloured, then Lemon, so on Mottled, 
Buff, and White ; but he makes no mention of Green or Jonque, 
and it seems doubtful what colours are implied by Ash-colour 
and Buff. As to the other points, he values them in order for 
having rough feet (or feather-footed), red-eyed, having a cast of 
gold colour, having white tails, being of the Copple-crowned 
breed (which seems to imply being bred from crested birds), 
being Copple-crowned ; and, highest of all, for having “ regular 
Black and Lemon 'Copple-crowns” (turned crowns or crests). 
The rough-footed or feather-legged Canaries seem now to be 
very scarce, if the breed is not altogether lost, as I do not re¬ 
member having seen but one, and that many years back. 
Peter Boswell in his little work on Bees, Pigeons, Rabbits, 
and Canary Birds, London, 18S2, in describing the varieties 
seems to have taken the above list as his guide, but making some 
alterations and swelling it to twenty-nine sub-varieties, which, 
however, he says, could be easily extended. 
The principal difference consists in the names given to the 
colours. For instance: What the translator of M. Hervieux, 
1718, calls Ash-colour, P. Boswell names Flaxen ; Lemon is 
changed to Yellow ; Mottle into Agate-coloured, and Buff is desig¬ 
nated Yellow dun colour; thus rendering the obscurity of the 
first translator doubly confused, and I could not determine the 
colour intended, unless I had access to the original French work. 
Dr. J. M. Bechstein in his “Natural History of the Birds of 
Germany, 1807,” in which he has given much information 
respecting the Canary, enumerates four principal colours, Grey, 
White, Yellow, and Red-brown. The English fanciers, however, 
recognise five distinct colours, which are named Grey, Mealy, 
Jonque, Cinnamon, and Green. 
Grey is the original colour and least esteemed, the upper parts 
being of a brownish-grey, the under of a yellowish-grey slightly 
tinged with green. 
Mealy is a mixture of white and pale yellow. This has some¬ 
times been called Buff. 
Jonque, or Jonquil, is a rich yellow, and the deeper and brighter 
it is the more it is valued. 
Cinnamon, or Dove, is a soft, light, reddish-grey brown ; a 
rather difficult colour to describe, but varying somewhat in shade. 
Green, called also Green Jonque, Parrot, or Grass Green, is 
as its names imply, a beautiful bright green. 
Pieds and mixtures of these colours are innumerable, but unless 
they are regularly marked are quite disregarded by fanciers. 
Of the various fancy breeds, I shall speak separately.—B. P. 
Brent. 
(To be continued ) 
VARIEGATED IVY-LEAVED GERANIUM. 
Do you consider a variegated (in the way of Brilliant) leaved 
Ivy-leaf Geranium likely to prove an acquisition ?—S. P. 
[Yes, a great acquisition, if the habit is as good in its way as 
that of Brilliant , and the colour the same in its race. There is a 
variegated Ivy-leaf already the oldest of the race, but it is of very 
little use. You sent the letter to the wrong post, and this must 
not be repeated if you require an answer.] 
GROWING VINES ON THE ROD SYSTEM. 
I have the care of a small vinery, and want your opinion how 
to work it. It is a span-roof twenty-eight feet long, and has 
twenty-two Vines in it, eleven on each side, and the distance from 
the border inside to the top of the roof is only seven feet. I have 
been working them on the rod system ; and as I never wrought 
any before the same way, I want to know if I am doing right. 
I bring up a single rod for fruiting next year. I have been told 
that I should bring up two ; the one to run completely over the 
house, the other to stop short. I should be obliged to you if 
you tell me the best way to work it.—T. L. 
[In your case, as the length of the rod can only be seven feet 
or something less, we would prefer growing only one rod for 
fruiting next year. On the rod throwing out its side-shoots and 
fruiting this year, we would stop each side-shoot u joint above 
the fruit; and we would not let many laterals grow on these 
shoots. But on the new rod we would let each lateral proceed a 
couple of joints before stopping at first, and stop to one about 
August or so, and remove all of them before the end of autumn. 
The reasons for this have frequently been given. We would 
clear away the whole of the fruiting-shoot of this year as soon as 
the fruit was gathered, and cut clean off every side-shoot as wo 
gathered the bunch. This would give more strength, light, and 
air for the young shoot that was to fruit next year. It will be 
necessary to secure a young shoot close to the bottom every 
season. So much for fruiting on rods on the side of the house 
on which the Vines are planted. Were we, however, to grow 
such Vines on the rod system in such a house, we would prefer a 
different plan, though it may be a prejudice of ours. Prejudice 
or no prejudice, howevor, we have an idea that length of rod or 
stem is an advantage ; and therefore in such a house we would 
gradually work the Vines, so that they should have a clear stem, 
to the ridge on the side on which the roots are planted, and have 
the bearing-shoot down the glass on the other side opposite. 
This would give a length of Vine-stem of fourteen feet instead of 
seven, and the appearance of the house would be much the same 
as now. Of course seven feet of that would be a bare rod ; and 
instead of taking the rod of this year, which will be the fruiting 
one of the next, from the base near the roots, it would be taken 
from the ridge on both sides. Even if the Vines were spur- 
pruned we would prefer such a plan in such a house. You may 
train the bearing-shoot of the one side over the bare stem of its 
opposite, and, without examining, visitors would see nothing out 
of the usual way. We incline to think that the bearing-shoots 
being thus trained down instead of upwards, that the wood 
would be more short-jointed and prolific. We certainly have 
bad good crops of fruit in pits narrower than your seven feet; 
but were wo planting narrow pits for Vines again, so convinced 
are wo of the superiority of length of stem, that we would plant 
at the ends, and train longitudinally, so as to have something 
like twelve feet of stem, or shoot, instead of five or six, which is 
all that can be had in a narrow pit, when the Vines are planted in 
front and trained up the glass. There is more trouble with the 
long rod than with spurring, but the claims are nearly equal. 
The last generally swells the fruit best; the first shows best as to 
quantity.] 
NEW BOOKS. 
TnE Florae Magazine.* —For a period of nearly eighty 
years the “ Botanical Magazine ” has continued uninterruptedly 
to be the medium for illustrating plants of botanical interest; 
but the present advanced state of horticulture, and the rapid 
development of a new taste in the cultivation of garden flowers 
have called forth the necessity of a similar work more exclusively 
devoted to those new creations, so to speak, which florists have of 
late years been instrumental in producing. While the “ Botanical 
Magazine” will continue to illustrate, and be the exponent of 
those subjects which are more immediately botanical, the “ Floral 
Magazine ” will take up those which more properly belong to 
Floriculture, and are usually termed Florists’ Flowers and De¬ 
corative riants. 
That such a publication was wanted there can be no doubt; 
and when we find that it has such men as Mr. Moore for its 
editor, and Mr. Fitch for its artist, there is every assurance that 
it will be carried out with that skill and fidelity which alone can 
; secure confidence and success. The first number is nbw before 
us, and we must own that all our anticipations have been fully 
realised. The work is somewhat larger than the “ Botanical 
Magazine,” and consists of four plates, with corresponding letter- 
press. The former are most beautifully executed ; the drawing 
pictorial, and yet strictly faithful to Nature, and the colouring 
natural and unexaggerated. The letter-press is descriptive and 
historical, affording all the information to be had respecting the 
subjects to which it refers, and furnishing full directions for 
their cultivation and management. 
The subjects which have been chosen to illustrate the present 
number are:—I, Camellia Countess of Derby , a lovely striped 
variety, introduced by Messrs. Veitch & Son, of Chelsea. 2, 
Double Fringed Chinese Primrose , of a fine deep rose colour; 
raised at Ilamberslone, near Leicester, by Mr. V . Draycott, but 
now in the hands of Mr. Turner, of Slough, o, A group of four 
seedling varieties of Cyclamen Persicum , raised by Messrs. E. G. 
* The Floral Magazine, comprising Figures and Descriptions of Popular 
Garden Flowers. By Thomas Moore, F.I..S., F.H.S., Secretary to the 
Floral Committee of the Horticultural Society of London. The Drew ngs 
by Walter Fi'ch, F T. s. London : !.<> Ml in , ve. 
