548 THE QUINCE. 



therefore be placed in that division of the fruit-room which is devoted 

 to summer fruits. Those which are intended to be kept for winter 

 and spring use may be laid on open shelves, and the latest keeping 

 kinds may be packed in jars, as recommended for apples. 



The diseases, insects, and casualties to which the pear is liable, are 

 much the same as for the apple ; but the pear is less subject to canker, 

 is seldom affected with the woolly aphis, and the tree being of more ver- 

 tical growth is also less liable to be broken by winds. The brown and 

 white scale are sometimes very troublesome ; however, perhaps the best 

 remedy is to paint the trees thoroughly over with a thick mixture of 

 equal parts of soot, lime, and cow-dung, or to wash them with spirits 

 of wine. The former dressing smothers, the latter kills the scale. 



The Quince. 



The quince (Pyrus Cydonia, L.) is a low, much-branched, crowded, 

 and distorted deciduous tree, a native of Austria and other parts of 

 Europe, generally in moist soil or near water, and in a somewhat 

 shady situation. It blossoms in May or June, and ripens its fruit in 

 October and November. The tree has been grown for its fruit since 

 the time of the Romans. The fruit is not eaten raw but stewed, or in 

 pies or tarts, along with apples ; it is much esteemed, and it makes ex- 

 cellent marmalade. When apples have become flat, or have lost their 

 flavour, a quince, or a part of one, in a pie or pudding, will add sharp- 

 ness, and communicate a flavour by many preferred to that of apples 

 alone. The fruit is large, and of a golden yellow when ripe, and its 

 appearance on the tree bears a nearer resemblance to the orange than 

 any other hardy fruit ; and on this account, and also the beauty of its 

 large pale-pink and white blossoms, the tree well deserves a place in the 

 ornamental landscape. On the borders of a pond it attains the highest 

 degree of beauty, which is doubled by its reflection in the water. The 

 use of the quince, as a stock for dwarfing the pear, has been already 

 mentioned. 



Varieties.* -These are the oblong, or pear quince ; the ovate, or 

 apple quince ; and the Portugal quince. The Portugal quince has 

 broad cordate leaves, and an oblong fruit, which is more juicy and 

 less harsh than that of the other varieties, and is therefore the most 

 valuable. It is rather a shy bearer, but is highly esteemed for mar- 

 malade, as the pulp has the property of assuming a fine purple tint in 

 the course of being prepared. This is also the best sort upon which to 

 work the pear-tree, its wood swelling more in conformity with that of 

 the latter than the harder wood of other sorts. 



Propagation, Soil, and other points of Culture and Management. 

 The quince is generally propagated by layers, but cuttings root without 

 difficulty, and the Portugal quince is sometimes grafted on the pear 

 quince, or the wild pear or thorn. In propagating for stocks, no par- 

 ticular care is requisite in training the plants ; but for fruit-bearing 

 trees, it is necessary to train the stem to a rod, till it has attained four 

 feet or five feet in height, and can support itself upright. The best 



