THE QUINCE. 273 



ion with the yearly application of good manure, a special 

 manuring of salt is eminently beneficial. The salt should be 

 spread early in spring beneath the trees just thick enough to 

 half conceal the surface of the ground. Common manure, 

 without salt, will not give the finest quinces, nor will an 

 unmanured or poor .soil endure heavy doses of salt. 



The total neglect of the cultivation of the quince by many 

 who have planted out the trees, has resulted in their dwarfish 

 and stunted growth, and entire unproductiveness. To reno- 

 vate such trees, cut or saw out the thick profusion of suckers 

 which surround the stem, ("fig- 226,) deepen the soil with 

 the space as much as the roots will admit, and apply a large 

 barrow-load of compost to each tree, made by a thorough in- 

 termixtnre some weeks previously, of stable manure and 



Fig. 225. Fig. 226. 



black muck, and then spread a thin coating of salt upon the 

 surface. This should be done in the spring of the year. 

 The pruning may be such as to remove the suckers, and 

 reduce the number of stems to three or four, or the tree 

 may be trimmed to one clean stem, as shown in fig. 225. 



The wide difference between the results of these two 

 modes of treatment, can be only appreciated by those who 

 have witnessed the experiment. By neglect, the crop will 

 at best be small, and the quinces diminutive and knotty ; 

 by enriched culture, a profusion of large golden fruit will 

 load the tree, which will at all times command a ready sale 

 even in a well supplied market. 



In planting quince orchards, the distance asunder may be 

 about ten or twelve feet, which will be found near enough 

 for full-grown trees, on a deep, rich, and well-treated soil. 

 If the ground is previously subsoiled, and well manured by 

 trench-plowing, the young trees will come into bearing in 



