CHAPTER XXIV 



THE QUINCE 



The quince enjoys California conditions to the utmost, and rewards 

 the grower with large crops of very large and beautiful fruit. A quince 

 weighing a pound is no curiosity, and it is unlikely that any city of the 

 world can show such fine quinces at such low prices as San Francisco. 

 The lesson from this fact is that the fineness of the fruit, and the evi- 

 dent adaptation of the State to its growth, should not alone be con- 

 sidered by the planter. The local consumption of quinces is naturally 

 small, and it is chiefly for home preserving jelly making. The com- 

 mercial jelly makers use apple juice as the basis of nearly all their 

 jellies, only using a little quince for flavoring, and some housewives 

 follow the same course. The hope for profitable sale of the fruit in 

 large quantities must therefore rest on distant markets, and though 

 those well acquainted with the growth and sale of the fruit in the cities 

 of the Mississippi Valley, have predicted a great demand for the Cali- 

 fornia quince in that territory, experiences of shippers thus far have 

 been varied, and not such as to induce the extension of our quince pro- 

 duction, at present at least. 



But though the quince in California has at present narrow commer- 

 cial limitations, a few trees should find a place in every orchard, for 

 family use or local sale. 



CULTURE OF THE QUINCE 



The quince is readily grown from cuttings. Take good-sized shoots 

 of well-matured wood of the current year's growth, after the leaves 

 drop in the fall, and set out at once in nursery row in moist alluvial 

 soil, or in any loose soil which is well drained and can be kept moist 

 enough by cultivation or irrigation. 



Quinces are planted at all distances apart, and are grown either as 

 bushes or trees. Undoubtedly the best way is to plant about fourteen 

 or sixteen feet apart, and prune into low standard tree form. This can 

 be done much as already advised for other fruit trees. An annual 

 cutting back of about half of the new growth, while forming the tree, 

 will strengthen the trunk and limbs and prevent the running out of long 

 leaders, which droop to the ground on all sides when laden with fruit, 

 and are often broken by the weight and the wind. Owing to the dispo- 

 sition of the quince to throw out several small shoots at a single point, 

 it is advisable, when forming the tree, to remove all buds but one, just 

 as the growth is starting. This will give one good, strong branch where 

 it may be needed, instead of several weak ones. Pinching off shoots 

 which start out too vigorously, or at undesirable points is, of course, 

 advisable. 



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