CHAPTER XXIV 

 THE QUINCE 



4 



The quince enjoys California conditions to the utmost, and re- 

 wards 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 evident adaptation of the State to its growth, 

 should not alone be considered by the planter. The local consump- 

 tion of quinces is naturally small, and it is chiefly for home preserv- 

 ing and jelly making. Profitable sale of the fruit in large quantities 

 in distant markets has been freely prophesied, but experience of 

 shippers thus far has not warranted extension of quince production. 



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

 mercial 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 put 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 alpout 

 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 disposition 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. 



Fruiting of the quince can be promoted by summer pruning 

 thinning out or reducing the number of shoots and stopping the 

 extension of those which you retain by pinching the tips and causing 

 them to send out laterals. This should be done in June, when the 

 new growth has run out a foot or two. When the foliage is reduced 

 by opening the center, removing a great many shoots entirely and 

 shortening the others, the overgrowth of wood is discouraged and 





