78 QUINCE CULTURE. 
The thinning of quinces should not be done till 
we can judge pretty well which would fall of them- 
selves; and this generally shows quite well by the time 
they are as large as a man’s thumb. Whether this 
natural thinning is the effect of insect stings, or of dry 
weather reducing the moisture below a sufficiency, or of 
a natural selection securing ‘‘ the survival of the fittest,” 
is not always easy to determine. Besides all these reduc- 
tions, it will often be best to remove many others from 
very prolific trees. If, for any cause, thinning has been 
delayed till the fruit is quite advanced, still it is best to 
do it, and relieve the strain on the tree. By combining 
with this thinning of the fruit a thorough cultivation 
of the soil, a poor variety may excel a better one that is 
neglected. This will be more especially observable in 
young trees. They seem to be more easily affected than 
when older. But even the old trees seem to be rejuve- 
nated and show fruit improved beyond their possibilities 
under neglect. | 
It is hardly necessary to say that deformed and imper- 
fect specimens are first to be removed, with any that 
show signs of insect stings; and that all wormy fruit 
should be destroyed or placed where the worms will die. 
Deep burial in the earth will generally kill them ; so will 
fire or water. If taken as early as it ought to be, the 
green fruit will have little value as food for any kind of 
stock. 
CHAPTER XV. 
GATHERING AND MARKETING. 
Ir the trees have been properly pruned annually, it 
will be a long time before they are too high to reach 
the fruit from the ground. When, in time, the fruit is 
