The Quince. 75 



87. Soil and culture methods. The quince appears to 

 thrive best ou a heavy, retentive clay loam, well-drained. 

 On lighter soils the trees are rarely long-lived. The trees 

 are commonly planted about 15 feet apart each way, three- 

 year-old trees being preferred for planting. The soil of the 

 quince orchard should not be deeply plowed and should 

 always be protected in winter with a cover crop. The vig- 

 orous shoots of bearing trees may be profitably cut back 

 more or less each winter or early spring to promote the de- 

 velopment of fruit spurs. 



88. Insect enemies. The fruit of the quince is injured 

 by a curculio {Conotrachelus cratcegi — Fig. 2i) of which 



the larva develops within the fruit. 



The eggs are laid in the young fruit 



during June, and the beetle may be 



caught and destroyed in the manner 



prescribed for the plum curculio (99). 



The round-headed apple-tree borer 



(57) attacks the trunk and the pear- 



FiG. 24. Quince curculio, ^^^^ slug (SI) attacks the foliage. 



back and side view. Much 89. FUUgOUS diSCaSeS. The fire 



enlarged. (After Saunders.) ^^.^.^^j. ^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^g^) at- 



tack the foliage of the quince and are its most serious 

 fungous enemies. A rust [Eoestelia aurantiaca) sometimes 

 blotches the fruit and may envelop it in an orange-colored, 

 fringe-like growth. Bordeaux mixture, used as directed 

 for leaf blight, generally prevents this disease. 



Section 3. — The Stone or Drupe Fruits. 



90. The principal cultivated stone fruits are the plum, 



cherry, peach, apricot and nectarine. Of these the plum 



and cherry include several different botanical species. All 



are small trees or shrubs that exude more or less gum from 



