130 THE NURSERY. 



regard to them, both by horticultural writers and others. 

 At first it was said that the stocks used by the French, and 

 imported by nurserymen here, were the Portugal. Again, 

 it was discovered they were nothing more than the com- 

 mon apple quince ; consequently, a multitude of the apple 

 quinces have been worked, and sent out as " dwarf pears" 

 The slow and feeble growth of this variety unfits it entirely 

 for a stock for the pear, and only a very few varieties will 

 form a union with it that will last over three or four years. 

 Such trees cannot fail to give general dissatisfaction, and, 

 among people who know no better, create a prejudice 

 against quince stocks in general Indeed, this is the cause 

 why so much has been said about the pears on quince 

 being so short-lived. 



The truth is, that the varieties used in France are nei- 

 ther the Apple nor the Portugal Quince, but vigorous 

 varieties that have been originated there, and found to 

 answer this purpose particularly well. The great requisite 

 of a quince stock for the pear is a t /Vee, vigoroiis, and rapid 

 growth. A variety originated at the town of Angers, in 

 France, and extensively used, propagated, and sold there 

 as the Angers Quince, has proved to be an excellent stock. 

 It is a very rapid, vigorous grower, making strong shoots 

 three feet long, in one season. It has large foliage, resem- 

 bling the Portugal. In some parts of France, as in Nor- 

 mandy, it is known as the broad-leaved. There is another 

 variety, with smaller leaves, but of free, vigorous growth, 

 too, almost exclusively cultivated in some districts. Sev- 

 eral extensive nurserymen at Orleans, Paris, and elsewhere, 

 consider it superior to the broad-leaved, and especially for 

 very vigorous growing sorts. It is known as the Paris 

 or Fontenay Quince. 



We have tried both extensively, and find but very little 

 difference, thus far, in the results obtained. In the first 

 edition of this work, I alluded to an upright growing 

 variety which then promised to be valuable, but has since 



