288 COME INTO THE GARDEN 



thrive on, but otherwise their requirements are 

 the same. The fruit, famihar enough in its 

 dried form, is dehciously sweet and delicate 

 when eaten from the tree. It comes moreover 

 between the cherries and the peaches, when gar- 

 den fruit is scarce. 



Of all fruits in the world the quince is to me 

 the most beautiful in bloom — and one of the 

 loveliest in fruit and one of the most delicious, 

 when properly handled. One or two quince 

 bushes backing a shrubbery border — or as many 

 as there may be space for — furnish a display of 

 bloom more gorgeous than anything else of the 

 same size or same period; and indeed more gor- 

 geous than almost any shrub, at any time. 

 Great single pink blossoms like wild roses, cov- 

 ering every branch until they look more like 

 huge bouquets than like shrubs or bushes, dis- 

 tinguish this from everything else; and the only 

 thing comparable to a quince bush in bloom is an 

 apple tree — or perhaps a flowering dogwood. 

 The fruit is of course quite impossible to eat in 

 the raw state; but as it is one of the most de- 

 licious of all when properly cooked (and that 

 means cooked slowly until it is the color of rich 

 port wine) its failure to tempt from the tree may 

 very well be regarded as an advantage — espe- 

 cially if the situation is exposed! 



