108 



DE BOURGEAT 



MEECH 



DE BOURGEAT. Borgeat. Little is 

 known of this quince except that for a quarter 

 of a century it has been listed in the catalogs 

 of several nurserymen. It seems to have been 

 introduced from France about 1885 by J. W. 

 Adams & Co., Springfield, Massachusetts. The 

 following brief description of the variety is 

 recorded at the New York Agricultural Ex- 

 periment Station: 



Tree large, vigorous, healthy. Leaves large. Fruit 

 late, medium in size, round with a short neck, ribbed, 

 regular in outline ; stem set obliquely in a very shallow, 

 russeted cavity ; basin very broad, abrupt, furrowed, 

 deep ; calyx small, open ; color greenish-yellow ; flesh 

 yellow, juicy, mild subacid ; quality good. 



DE MAHON. This variety occasionally 

 appeared in American catalogs toward the close 

 of the last century. It seems not to be listed 

 now. In 1907, the fruit was described at 

 Geneva, New York, as having the following 

 characters : 



Fruit early or midseason, medium in size, nearly 

 round with a short, thick neck ; surface covered with 

 heavy pubescence ; bright yellow in color or sometimes 

 greenish-yellow ; flesh coarse, rather dry, mild in flavor, 

 aromatic ; quality below the average. 



ELEPHANT. In Luther Burbank's catalog 

 for 1919 this variety of what is called the 

 Cathay quince is described as follows: 



"This enormous new type of fruit is produced in the 

 greatest abundance even on quite young trees and will 

 create a sensation in every market and every home, good 

 specimens being a foot and a half around each way. 

 Smooth bright orange, flesh yellow, turning to a deep 

 pink when cooked. Unlike all others of its class it is 

 superior in quality." 



FONTENAY. Pan's. Fontenay is another 

 quince grown as stock for the pear. The tree 

 is less vigorous than that of Angers and also 

 dwarfs the pears grafted on it. It may be read- 

 ily distinguished from Angers by its more 

 glabrous shoots, lighter wood, and freedom 

 from the short thorns with which Angers is 

 armed. The trees are further characterized by 

 their very upright growth. The variety is sel- 

 dom grown for its fruit, which is poorer in qual- 

 ity than that of Angers. The fruits resemble 

 those of the Pear quince in shape and flesh- 

 characters. The variety very readily roots 

 from cuttings. 



FULLER. Fuller is probably the best of 

 the early quinces. It is also characterized by 

 the beauty of its fruits, which are rich golden- 

 yellow. Unfortunately, the trees are a little 

 more subject to blight than other varieties, 

 and, since early quinces are not much in de- 

 mand, are now seldom to be found in com- 

 mercial plantations. Fuller was discovered 

 about 1868 by A. S. Fuller, Ridgewood, New 

 Jersey, and disseminated by him. The fol- 

 lowing description is made from trees propa- 

 gated from the original plant: 



Tree of medium size, lacking in vigor, productive, 

 subject to blight. Fruit very early, medium to large, 

 apple-shaped but with a neck which gives some speci- 

 mens the pear shape ; surface ridged ; heavily covered 

 with pubescence; calyx set in a deep, wide basin; stem 



set in a shallow cavity ; flesh light yellow, juicy, tender, 

 free from granules, very aromatic, mildly subacid ; 

 quality good to very good. 



JAPANESE QUINCE. This is the well- 

 known flowering quince cultivated in all tem- 

 perate climes for its brilliant flowers, which 

 appear early in the spring. The fruits, how- 

 ever, are used for culinary purposes; the jellies 

 and conserves made from them are most ex- 

 cellent. It belongs to a different species from 

 the true quince, and the reader is referred to 

 Chcenomeles lagenaria, page 12, for a fuller 

 description. 



JOHNSON. The Johnson quince was more 

 or less grown a quarter century ago in Penn- 

 sylvania, where it was thought to surpass the 

 Orange, to which it is very similar but su- 

 perior in vigor of tree. Also, the plants were 

 said to be less susceptible to quince-blight 

 than the Orange. The variety is still listed by 

 a few nurserymen, but is probably not much 

 grown. It originated with Jacob Johnson, 

 Bucks County, Pennsylvania, about 1875. The 

 following description of the fruit was made in 

 1908 from specimens sent by the son of the 

 originator to the New York Agricultural Ex- 

 periment Station: 



Fruit ripens with Orange and keeps well ; large, round- 

 oblate, with a short, blunt neck, compressed at the 

 stem, faintly ribbed ; cavity broad, very shallow ; basin 

 large, angular, furrowed, deep ; color pale yellow with 

 small green dots ; pubescence heavy, the quince becoming 

 smooth at maturity ; flesh yellow, juicy, mild, aromatic, 

 fine-grained. 



MEECH. Fig. 102. Meech's Prolific. Many 

 pomologists believe Meech to be a strain of 

 the better-known Champion. A review of the 

 history and characters of the two varieties 



102. Meech. (XV 2 ) 



shows that Meech is the older of the two 

 quinces; ripens its crop two weeks earlier; is 

 much less subject to blight; the trees are 

 hardier, more vigorous, and more productive; 



