iSyi.] CULTIVATION OF HARDY FRUITS. 173 



THE CULTIVATION OF HARDY FRUITS. 



(Continued from ■page 127.) 

 THE QUINCE. 



This is a fruit which is not very extensively cultivated in Britain. Our horticul- 

 tural experience extends to several of the best places in the kingdom, and yet, 

 strange to say, in only one of these places was it in cultivation, and attended to 

 in the regular course with the rest of the representatives of Pomona's realm. How 

 this is to be accounted for it is not easy to say, for we find that the Eomans held 

 it in some esteem, as Columella informs us that "Quinces not only yield plea- 

 sure but health." The fruit in a raw state is acid and astringent, with a power- 

 ful odour, and quite unfit for eating. It is used for making Quince marmalade, 

 for stewing, and for flavouring Apple-pies and suchlike, as well as for making a 

 nice light wine, which some hold in high esteem. The principal use for which 

 the Quince is grown is to make stocks for the Pear, but as we spoke pretty fully 

 of this when writing about that fruity it is unnecessary to say more regarding 

 it here. 



There are four varieties in cultivation in Britain — viz., the common English, 

 the common Portugal, the Apple-shaped, and the Pear-shaped Quince. The 

 English is the most inferior of all, while the common Portugal is the best variety, 

 but, unfortunately, a very shy bearer. The variety which is most generally cul- 

 tivated is the Apple-shaped, which is a free bearer, and produces fruit about 3 

 inches in diameter, of a beautiful golden colour. It is the hardiest of all the 

 four varieties, and consequently the best suited for our climate. 



The Quince may be propagated by any one of the following methods — viz., by 

 cuttings, by layers, or from seed. In propagating by cuttings, nice strong shoots 

 of the present year's growth, with a heel of last year's wood attached, ought to be 

 selected, and put in in September or October. They may be planted in rows 

 1 foot apart, and 4 or 6 inches plant from plant. They will root before next sum- 

 mer ; and should they make good growths, it may be necessary during winter 

 to transplant them into rows 2 feet apart and 1 foot plant from plant. Layers 

 are propagated in the usual way by bending down the branches, and fixing them 

 in the soil with a peg, until such time as they are fit to be removed from the 

 parent tree. Another method, and a much better one, is to cut down a Quince- 

 tree so as to form a stool, which during the following season will send forth a 

 number of young shoots, which in autumn may be layered in the usual way, cut- 

 ting back each shoot to within two or three buds of the soil. During the follow- 

 ing season all these buds may start, but as soon as it is evident which will be the 

 best shoot, the others should be removed. In autumn of this year, layers done 

 in this way will be well enough rooted to admit of their being removed into nur- 

 sery-lines, where they may be planted 2 feet between the rows and 1 foot apart 

 plant from plant. In France, the general practice is to cut down a young tree 

 to 8 or 10 inches from the ground, and after it has made its young shoots and 

 got them well ripened, earth is thrown up into a cone, so that these shoots are 

 covered to the depth of 6 or 8 inches, and are generally well enough rooted by 

 the end of the following season to be removed to nursery-lines. The soil being 

 again removed, the tree will soon produce more shoots, which can be treated after 

 the same method as before, so that a crop of young trees may be got every second 

 year for a length of time by a very simple and easily-accomplished plan. 



The Quince not being an erect-growing tree, there is some difficulty in getting 



