PREFACE. 



To cultivate any fruit with the highest success there 

 must be sufficient knowledge of what is involved to 

 enable the cultivator to assign a reason for what he does 

 both to the soil and to the tree. 



The object of this work is to furnish a manual or 

 hand-book for the novice and those who are already more 

 or less informed, and yet desire a work of reference to 

 consult in the various operations necessary to attain the 

 highest success in quince culture. 



Aware of the imperfections of everything human, the 

 author does not expect that this attempt to furnish a 

 collective exhibit of the points of greatest interest per- 

 taining to this culture of a much-neglected fruit will be 

 beyond criticism. The demand for a work on quince 

 culture is urgent, and is shown by many letters of in- 

 quiry from all parts of the country. Solicitations have 

 been numerous, asking the author to write this book, 

 and give the world the results of his experience. 



On consulting the large libraries of the great cities, 

 and those in smaller cities and towns, no separate work 

 was found on quince culture. Interesting articles are 

 scattered through many volumes on agriculture, horti- 

 culture, and gardening, showing marked improvement in 

 the culture of nearly all fruits. There are works more 

 or less pretentious on the culture of the apple, pear, 

 peach, etc., but the various articles relating to the quince 

 are dispersed through so many different books, that 

 the labor of finding them, when the information they 

 contain is wanted, is too great to be generally undertaken 

 by even those having access to ample libraries. 



After deciding to prepare this manual, the author spent 

 a year re-examining all the points, as the seasons favored, 



(9) 



