QUINCH. 195 



Some are valuable only for cooking, others are of finest dessert 

 quality. The fruit should be protected by spraying and should 

 be picked when full grown, even if very hard, as they are im- 

 proved by being ripened under cover. Some varieties that 

 water core badly on the tree are exempt from it when tha 

 fruit is ripened under cover. Fruit allowed to hang long on 

 the trees in autumn does not keep well. 



The fruit is marketed as fresh fruit, dried, canned and used 

 for making pear cider known as "perry." 



Insects and diseases commonly attacking the pear are 

 much the same as those attacking the apple. The pear is, if 

 anything, more liable to fire blight than the apple. See Chapter 

 III, Insects, and Chapter IV, Diseases. 



The varieties of the pear that are most popular include the 

 Bartlett, Kieffer, Clairgeau, Anjou, Howell, Sheldon, Seckel and 

 Nelis. The Duchess is the most popular dwarf kind. By the 

 proper selection of varieties the season for the pear may be 

 extended from early summer to late winter, but the very early, 

 and especially the very late, pears are not of the best quality 

 and are generally supplanted by the apple which is more easily 

 grown. 



Quince. 



Origin. The quince (Cydonia vulgaris) is a fruit of com- 

 paratively little importance. It is a native of Asia and South- 

 eastern Europe. There are not many varieties of it and few 

 of these are much known. The plant is a shallow rooted shrub, 

 seldom over twelve feet high, and is sometimes trained to the 

 tree form. It is chiefly grown in New York, New England and 

 on the Pacific coast. It prefers a cool, rather moist climate and 

 is uncertain elsewhere. There is a demand for it in most of the 

 markets of the Northern states. 



Flowers. The flowers of the quince much resemble those 

 of the apple but are larger and more open, are white, shaded to 

 pink, are produced singly at the ends of the twigs and are very 

 ornamental. They are supposed to be self-fertile. 



Propagation. The quince is easily propagated. The most 

 common ways are as follows: 



(a) Cuttings of the new wood planted in autumn (com- 

 mon) and from cuttings of the surface roots (uncommon). 



