286 [ THE QUINCE TREE 



THE QUINCE TREE. 



Pirus (Pyrus) Cydonia Lin. = Cydonia vulgar is Pers. 



Maltese =.sfargel. Italian cotogno. French =coing, cognassier. 



The Quince is native of Western Asia and the 

 Caucasus, aud is found growing half-wild in valleys and 

 old gardens in these Islands. It is a shrub or a shrub- 

 like tree, which here may reach a height of 3 or 4 

 metres, and has an erect habit of growth, with dark 

 brown or greyish -black bark, long slender twigs, and 

 oval, acuminate, entire leaves. The flowers are produced 

 singly or in small clusters, and come out along with the 

 foliage. The fruit is a pome, of variable size and shape, 

 of a yellow colour, thickly covered with down or short 

 hairs, which are easily removed with the finger, leaving 

 a smooth rind. 



The quince grows in all soils and in all situations. 

 On stiff or clayey soils it has a tendency to throw up a 

 large number of suckers around the base of the stem, 

 owing to which it assumes a more spreading habit. 

 Stands well the drought of summer, but on watered 

 lands its growth is very rapid and produces fruit of 

 larger size. It offers a marked resistance to the poison 

 left in the soil by other rosaceous trees, but when 

 budded or grafted, that is when used as stock, much 

 of this resistance is lost. 



The fruit of the quince is too astringent to be 

 of use for the dessert but is frequently used for jams 

 and in confectionery. Certain sorts of quince are more 

 useful for this purpose than the common types, the 

 fruits of which are often excessively astringent and 

 rather devoid of aroma, particularly when grown on 

 stiff soils in cold situations. The fruit of the Chinese 

 quince (Pirus sinensis or Cydonia sinensis) attains an 

 enormous size, but is hardly worth growing except for 

 ornament. 



