182 



Cultivation of the Quince. — Horticultural Re'port. Vol. IX. 



air could not penetrate. Vegetables may 

 be preserved in the same jars, and by the 

 same method as we have described for the 

 preservation of meat. — ^V«^ Gazette. 



Prom the Western Farmer and Gardener. 

 Caltivation of the Quince. 



Messu.s. Editok.s, — The Quince is but 

 little cultivated, as a useful fruit, in this 

 country;' and it is indeed, from some un- 

 known cause to me, greatly neglected 

 wherever it thrives, although the fruit is 

 always in demand, and generally commands 

 a good price. There is no fruit tree I am 

 acquainted with, that requires more, and 

 pays better for, pruning than the Quince; 

 and there is none, I believe, that receives 

 less, or is more neglected. The Pear, the 

 Apple, the Peach, Cherry, and the many 

 etceteras, are ail cherished, dug around, 

 pruned and trained by the amateur, but the 

 Quince is often left "solitary and alone," 

 by the side of a ditch, with its roots over- 

 grown w^ith grass or rank growing weeds 

 and briars, unpruncd and neglected, only 

 when in fruit, and then the good lady of the 

 house has a jealous eye for its golden load, 

 and would sooner be deprived of her best 

 set of China than tlie crop of Quinces to 

 grace her table, as one of the best preserves; 

 and then every one exclaims. What a fine 

 preserve the Quince is — how very delici- 

 ous ! Now, sir, as I am always an advocate 

 for the ladies, and have one present whilst 

 writing, which gives credence to this asser- 

 tion, I hope this much neglected tree will 

 arrest the attention of the cultivators of 

 fruit, and be pruned and cultivated in con- 

 nection with other trees of the orchard. 



The Quince thrives best in a rich loajr.y 

 soil, and if planted by the side of a ditch, 

 by the side of pig-pound, cow-house shed, 

 or such location, it grows and bears well. 

 The tree is increased and propagated by 

 taking the suckers from the mother plant, 

 by layering, and by putting out cuttings in 

 the spring, precisely the same as the Goose- 

 berry and Currant. Pruning, as I have said 

 before, is essentially necessary, and should 

 be done at the fall of tiie leaf; the method 

 I adopt, is simply to cut out all the small 

 old branches at the points, and leave all 

 young shoots of the last year's wood, which 

 will be the bearing branches next year; tlie 

 small old twigs are always unfruitful, and 

 take a portion of the sap from the fruitful 

 ones, and hence the utility of pruning. The 

 principal object to be kept in view by the 

 pruner, is to cut out a portion of old-bearing 

 wood every year, in order to bring in young 

 shoots for fruiting the succeeding summer, 



'and to keep the tree in regular and uniform 

 shape. 



In addition to the usefulness of the Quince 

 as a fine fruit, tlie tree answers as an excel- 

 lent parent stock to graft or inoculate the 

 Pear upon; and perhaps on giving it a fair 

 trial, will evade some of the diseases the 

 Pear stock is subject to, as the fire-blight, 

 &c. The roots of the Quince do not pene- 

 trate so deep as the Pear tree into the sub- 

 soil, which perjjaps will be traced as an evil 

 to the growth of the Pear in wet weather, 

 as the soil must certainly becorne cold and 

 saturated at a certain depth, and consequent- 

 ly the root of the tree must be in a colder 

 temperature than the branches. 



Yours, E. Sayers. 



Report of the Sixteenth Eshibjiiou 



Of the Pennsylvania Horticnltural Society, 

 by the Recording Sec'ry, T. P. James. 



The sixteenth Exhibition of the Society 

 occurred on the 18th, 19th and 20tli of Sep- 

 tember, 1844, and was held in the Philadel- 

 phia iVIuseum. The. Committee of Arrange- 

 ment, consulting the comfort and convenience 

 of visiters, as also of providing more ample 

 accommodations for displaying the various 

 increased products of a prolific season, very 

 judiciously engaged for the occasion, in ad- 

 dition to the Chinese Saloon, the Grand Sa- 

 loon of the Philadelphia Museum. 



In the Chinese Saloon were shown the 

 fine green-house plants and larger artificial 

 designs; and in the Grand or Upper Saloon, 

 the fruits, vegetables, &c. 



The arrangements of the display in the 

 former Saloon, were similar to those of pre- 

 vious exhibitions, having tables lining the 

 North and South walls, r.anges embracing 

 the colum.ns, and oval and circular forms 

 rnuning through the centre, which contained 

 the choicest plants the city and vicinity could 

 aflbrd; many of which have grown to the 

 size of trees, and become objects of interest 

 for their fine condition. The designs shown 

 on this occasion, although fewer in number, 

 were of more admired construction and em- 

 bellishment than usual. The beautiful mo- 

 del of the Scott Monument was decidedly a 

 happy device; it was an imposinfr structure, 

 towering to the foil altitude of the Saloon, 

 and embellished with much taste and skill. 

 The English Rural Cottage was a aeat piece 

 of architecture and of beautiful finii-h. The 

 smaller model of a jet d'eau, handsomely or- 

 namented with indigenous flowers, was an 

 exceedingly pretty and much admired de* 

 sign. The large evergreen Basket merited 

 praise for the profusico of select Rcscs which 



