MISCELLANEOUS FRUITS 203 



ties, hardly enough to warrant any classifica- 

 tion, and these few all belong to one species. 

 Though the fruits of the Japanese quince 

 (Cydonia japonica) and of Maule's quince 

 (C. maulei] are edible, they are not of enough 

 culinary value to have been recognized by 

 fruit growers or fruit dealers. 



The medlar is a fruit mentioned in all the 

 old European books on pomology and in 

 most of the early American works, which 

 were largely copied from the European. The 

 medlar stands nearly midway between the 

 quince and the hawthorns, having a sour fruit 

 one to two inches in diameter. A number of 

 varieties have received names, and have been 

 perpetuated by grafting or budding. The 

 tree or bush is perfectly hardy and fruitful in 

 the middle latitudes of North America, but 

 probably not one fruit grower among one 

 hundred ever saw the plant, and not one in 

 five hundred ever saw the fruit. 



The loquat (Eriobotrya japonica), some- 

 times erroneously called the Japanese medlar, 

 and still more mischievously known as the 

 Japan plum, is now considerably planted from 

 Florida west to Texas, and the fruit comes 

 somewhat regularly to northern markets in 



