THE QUINCE 249 



son, making a gorgeous display in the early 

 springtime. The fruit is variable, but is usually 

 long, green, very hard, bitter, and uneatable how- 

 ever prepared, but quite fragrant. 



In shape as well as in size the fruit suggests a 

 large, full-grown, white-spine cucumber. It has 

 usually a smooth, though sometimes netted waxy 

 skin. A single fruit may weigh more than two 

 pounds. 



It will be clear from this description that the 

 Chinese quince, or Cathay pear, differs very 

 widely from the European quince. Its fruit is 

 wholly inedible, yet there is no reason why this 

 might not be made over into a profitable and 

 delicious fruit. It is merely a fruit that has 

 retained the qualities, undesirable from the 

 human standpoint, of its remote ancestors. 

 Perhaps it is not much worse to-day than 

 the common quince was in the time of the 

 Romans. 



In hybridizing this peculiar fruit with the com- 

 mon quince I worked with an open mind, anxious 

 to see what result the experiment might bring 

 forth. 



The pollen of the common quince was applied 

 to the pistils of the Chinese species. Pollination 

 was successful; the appearance of the young 

 seedlings grown the following season left no 



