FEBRUARY. 89 



be ascertained whether the qualities would be the same in 

 our climate. This was doubtless a difficult problem to solve. 

 On the recommendation of M, d'Airoles we subscribed for 

 ten specimens. The resolution was taken to cover the sub- 

 scriptions and to purchase the seedling. It was thus that the 

 parent tree and three hundred plants propagated from it, on 

 quince, were planted in different situations as regards soil 

 and aspect in the open ground in our gardens. Moreover, a 

 number of grafts, taken from the upper part of the original 

 tree, were worked on stocks at standard height. From that 

 time we have observed this plantation during the periods of 

 its growth, flowering, and fruiting ; and we have examined 

 the fruits at the time of their maturity. In the autumn of 

 1851, nearly all the plants that had been two or three years 

 propagated on quince bore from three to six fruits, not only 

 in one part of the garden, but in the different situations in 

 which they had been planted. This circumstance is a proof 

 of the hardiness and fertility of the variety. However, it 

 was resolved not to send out a single plant until all the fruits 

 grown on the quince stock had been tasted. Among these 

 fruits, some which commenced to ripen towards the 20th of 

 October were found inferior in quality to those received from 

 Nantes ; but among some very large fruits grown on trees. 

 planted in excellent soil, we tasted several whose quality was 

 equally as good as at Nantes. The maturity of the latter oc- 

 curred about the 25th November. Having paid attention to 

 this variety, we had a description made of it, 8th October, 

 1851. This was inserted at p. 143 of the ^^ Album de Po- 

 mologies'''' accompanied with a figure of a handsome fruit, ob- 

 tained in our grounds, and drawn from nature by a good ar- 

 tist, M. Yerna, of Brussels. 



[The following are some extracts from the description al- 

 luded to ; the original tree appears to have been raised about 

 1835 or 1836. The young shoots are short-jointed, of a 

 bright brov/n, dotted with white specks ; leaves nearly flat, 

 lanceolate, the margins finely toothed. The parent tree was 

 transplanted from Nantes to Brussels in the month of Novem- 

 ber, 1850, and had then many of its upper branches furnished, 



VOL. XXI. NO. II. 12 



