THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



281 



PROFITABLE GROWING OF QUINCES, 



W. J. Fowler, in the Rural New 

 Yorker, writes to that paper as follows : 



" Having just received returns from 

 a small plantation of quinces, I am 

 satisfied that no portion of ray land, 

 whether in grain or other fruit crops, 

 pays so well, either for the land occu- 

 pied or the time and money expended. 

 I have comparatively few trees in full 

 bearing, but from those which fully 

 occupied the ground I sold fruit at the 

 rate of fully $500 per acre, and this, 

 too, though quinces have, the past fall, 

 sold lower, proportionately, than other 

 fruit. I am satisfied that this is not 

 likely to happen again, and that the 

 price of quinces, profitable as quince 

 growing proves in the right localities 

 and properly conducted, is likely to 

 rule high for years to come. The quince 

 is a more difficult fruit to grow than 

 the pear, despite the blight which 

 affects the latter. There are large 

 areas where pears thrive well where 

 the quince entirely fails. The last 

 winter killed or rendered nearly worth- 

 less thousands of trees in this section. 

 The drouth has also seriously affected 

 many young orchards, causing the 

 leaves to fall long before frost, and the 

 few specimens that the trees bore were 

 in consequence small and poor. It will 

 be impossible for such trees to mature 

 buds for next year's fruiting, so that 

 whatever the season the crop is sure to 

 be a small one. 



" My success with quinces I attri- 

 bute to the accident that most of my 

 trees and all those now in bearing were 

 set in low, mucky ground, and with 

 such shelter that their own fallen leaves 

 and those of an adjoining apple orchard 

 made a good annual mulch. The trouble 

 in growing quinces has been lack of 

 hardiness in our severe winters. It is 

 not the trunk and top that are tender, 

 but the root. I have always noticed 

 2 



that trees in exposed situations were 

 killed in years when the frost pene- 

 trated deeply. In a mucky, rather 

 wet soil, covered with a mulch of leaves, 

 the frost has rarely penetrated to the 

 roots of my older quince trees. Since 

 I have learned this requirement of the 

 quince I have taken some pains to 

 gather leaves and put them under my 

 quince trees, doing this easily, as they 

 are on the bank of a small brook, which 

 is full of leaves every fall. This winter 

 I shall add a little well-rotted stable 

 manure, as there is no crop to which I 

 can apply it where it will do more 

 good. I am not afraid of making the 

 soil too rich for quinces, as the heavier 

 manuring I give, within reasonable 

 limits, the larger and fairer will be 

 the fruit, I am not sure that a vigor- 

 ous growth will not also prevent to 

 some extent the evils of twig blight 

 and the red rust on the fruit, which 

 was less prevalent on my trees the 

 past summer than on many that I 

 have seen. 



" Another help to success is a libei-al 

 application of salt every spring, and 

 occasionally during the growing season. 

 It is not good policy to empty brine 

 from old pork barrels under the quince 

 tree. Too much is liable to be thus 

 given, and the tree may be killed. The 

 salt is not a manure for the tree, but 

 valuable mainly in keeping the soil 

 cool and moist. About one quart to a 

 tree, sown as far around, at least as 

 the branches extend, is sufficient at one 

 time. The salt also has an effect in 

 making the fertility of the soil more 

 available. The mulch should be kept 

 up all summer, and occasionally re- 

 newed to keep out grass and weeds. 

 Salt will help this result, and will also 

 hasten the decomposition of the mulch 

 into fine manure. No cultivation is 

 needed or should be allowed save with 

 the hoe, and that on the surface, lest 

 the roots be injured. Plowing among 



