STRUCTURE OF THE QUINCE TREE. 19 



also of the fruit. If we would have perfect fruit, we 

 must have plenty of good healthy leaves to mature it. If 

 diseases or insect enemies are allowed to deprive a tree of 

 its leaves, the growth both of wood and fruit will suffer 

 accordingly. 



The flower of the quince consists of a five-parted calyx, 

 urn-shaped, of a green color ; a corolla of five pinkish 

 colored petals, quite broad at the outer end, and five 

 styles in the midst of many stamens that fructify the 

 seeds. In exceptional cases there are six petals, and oc- 

 casionally a semi-double blossom with ten. The seeds 

 are in five large cells, in each of which are two rows 

 of seeds, covered with a thick mucilage. The quince 

 flowers in May, and sometimes a few flowers ap- 

 pear in June. In exceptional seasons the quince, like' 

 other trees, will bloom in autumn. I had a young tree 

 bloom full in the fall, that put out quite feebly the 

 next spring, and died entirely the second year after. 



The fruit is either apple or pear shaped, and covered 

 with a white down, that affords partial protection from 

 insect enemies. If the quince is gathered before it is 

 fully ripe it is very slow in coloring, and may never wear 

 the rich golden yellow it would if left to mature as 

 Nature intended. Though one of the hardest of all 

 fruits, it is also one of the easiest bruised, and then most 

 rapidly decays. Early ripening varieties are not as high 

 flavored as the later, and much sooner decay. 



The life force or vital principle acts on the carbon, 

 oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, and mineral matters which 

 are combined in the formation of the cellular structure 

 of the tree in all its parts. The mystery of plant life is, 

 that the germ in the seed has in it the organizing power 

 that determines both the form and functions of the cells 

 by which it builds up all its growth. Chemical analysis 

 reveals the various elements and their proportions in the 

 vegetable cell; but the utmost skill of the chemist, with 



