l8o THE CONNECTICUT POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



more finely divided, more evenly divided, and acts more ef- 

 fectively on the fungus. 



A Member: I would like to hear question number 31, 

 and especially the quince part of it: "Why are vv'e not giving 

 more attention to growing such fruits as the cherry, plum and 

 quince?" Quinces are getting to be in good demand at the 

 present time. 



Mr. George F. Platt: Mr. Chairman, al)out thirty 

 years ago I planted an acre of quince orchard, and with two 

 exceptions I have had a good crop every year since. They 

 are quite a profitable crop with us, and we get sometimes 500 

 baskets to the acre, and from that down to 200. Every year 

 we get a crop, and since we have been spraying, we get 

 pretty good fruit, and get a pretty good price. It is all right 

 with us. 



A Member : Do you cultivate ? 



Mr. Platt: I think I cultivated for about fifteen years. 

 The trees are 20 feet apart, and they came so close together 

 it is very difficult to cultivate. Now I let my stock run through 

 it and do not cultivate it at all. We sprayed the trees with Bor- 

 deaux once, and I have no trouble with blight at all. About 

 ten years ago we were troubled a little with blight, but it i^ 

 not like the pear blight, it doesn't spread over the orchard. 

 We haven't had any of the blight for ten years. 



Mr. Wilcox : When do you spray ? 



Mr. Platt: I spray when the quinces are about as big 

 as marbles. 



Mr. Wilcox : Any borers ? 



Mr. Platt: Yes, we have borers, but we don't prune our 

 trees. The quince naturally throws up a great many sprouts, 

 and some of the old trunks are pretty well pierced with borers, 

 but there is enough left to make a tree, and enough young ones 

 come up so that the orchard keeps growing every year. We 

 cut out the branches that the borers have killed and still have 

 tree enough left. We tried to kill the borers in the quince, tried 

 to get them out when the orchard was young, but they are such 

 a bad insect to kill with a wire or by cutting out. that they go 



