710 



PRACTICE OF GARDENING. 



Part III. 



as the apple-treo ; and the fruit of the summer kinds, when ripe, is liable to be eaten by 

 birds, wasps, &c. which must be kept off by shooting, hanging bottles of water, and 

 other usual preventives. 



For other points of culture, and gathering and storing, see Chap. II., Chap. IV. Sect. 

 IX., and Chap. V. Sect. III. 



Subsect. 3. Quince. Fyrus Cydonia, L. ; Cydonia Vulgaris, W. en. Icos. Di-Pen- 

 tag. L. and Rosacea:, J. Coignassier, Fr. ; Quittenbaum, Ger. ; and Cotogno, Ital. 



4459. The quince-tree is of low growth, much branched, and generally crooked and 

 distorted. The leaves are roundish or ovate, entire, above dusky-green, underneath 

 whitish, on short petioles. The flowers are large, white, or pale-red, and appear in May 

 and June ; the fruit, a pome, varying in shape in the different varieties, globular, ob- 

 long, or ovate ; it has a peculiar and rather disagreeable smell and austere taste. It is 

 a native of Austria and other parts of Europe; is mentioned by Tusser, in 1753; but 

 has never been very generally cultivated. 



4460. Use. The fruit is not eaten raw ; but stewed, or in pies or tarts, along with 

 apples, is much esteemed. In confectionary, it forms an excellent marmalade and syrup. 

 When apples are flat, and have lost their flavor, Forsyth observes, a quince or two, in a 

 pie or pudding, will add a quickness to them. In medicine, the expressed juice, repeat- 

 edly taken in small quantities, is said to be cooling, astringent, and stomachic, &c. 

 A mucilage prepared from the seeds was formerly much in use, but is now supplanted 

 by the simple gums. In nursery-gardening, the plants are much used as stocks for the 

 pear. 



4461. Varieties. Miller enumerates 



The oblong, or pear-quince; with oblong 

 ovate leaves, and an oblong fruit 

 lengthened at the base. 



The apple-quince ; with ovate leaves and 

 a rounder fruit. 



The Portugal quince (Lang. Bom. t. 73.); 



with obovate leaves, and an ob- 

 long fruit, which is more juicy and 

 less harsh than the others, and there- 

 fore the most valuable. It is rather 

 a shy bearer, but is highly esteemed 



for marmalade, as the pulp has the 

 property of assuming a fine purplo 

 tint in the course of being prepared. 

 The mild or eatable quince ; less austere 

 and astringent than the others. 



4462. Propagation. Generally by layers, but also by cuttings, and approved sorts may be perpetuated 

 by grafting. In propagating for stocks, nothing more is necessary than removing the lower shoots from 

 the larger, so as to preserve a clean stem as high as the graft ; but for fruit-bearing trees, it is necessary 

 to train the stem to a rod, till it has attained four or five feet in height, and can support itself upright. 



4463. Soil and site. The quince prefers a soft moist soil, and rather shady, or, at least, sheltered situ- 

 ation. It is seldom planted but as a standard in the orchard, and a very few trees are sufficient for any 

 family. 



4464. The time of planting, the mode of bearing, and all the other particulars of culture, are the same 

 as for the apple and pear. 



Subsect. 4. Medlar. Mespilus Germanica, L. (E?ig.Bot. 1523.) Icos. Di-Pentag. L. 

 and Rosacea, J. Nejlier, Fr. ; Mis})elbaum, Ger. ; and Nesjwlo, Ital. 



4465. The medlar is a small or middle-sized branching tree ; the branches woolly, and 

 covered with an ash-colored bark, and, in a wild state, armed with stiff spines. Leaves 

 oval-lanceolate, serrate, towards the point somewhat woolly, on very short channelled 

 petioles. Flowers produced on small natural spurs, at the ends and sides of the branches. 

 Bracte as long as the corolla ; calyxes terminating, fleshy ; petals, white ; fruit, a tur- 

 binated berry, crowned with five calycine leaflets ; pulp thick, mixed with callose gra- 

 nules, and containing five gibbous wrinkled stones. The tree flowers in June and July, 

 and the fruit is ripe in November. It is a native of the south of Europe ; but appears to 

 be naturalised in some parts of England, where it has been sown in copses by binds. 



4466. Use. The fruit is eaten raw in a state of incipient decay ; its taste and flavor 

 are peculiar, and by some much esteemed. 



4467. Varieties. Those in common cultivation are 



The Dutch medlar (Pom. Franc. 2. 

 p. 45. t. 2, 3.) ; a crooked, deformed, 

 low tree with very large leaves, entire, 

 and downy on the under side. The 

 flowers and fruit are very large ; the 



latter approaching to the shape of an 

 apple. 

 The Nottingham medlar ; with fruit of a 

 quicker and more poignant taste. 



The wild medlar; a smaller tree, with 

 smaller leaves, flowers, and fruit than 

 any of the former sorts, and the fruit 

 is pear-shaped. 



4468. Propagation. By seeds, by layers, and cuttings, or by grafting on seedlings of their own species, 

 or on any other species of mespilus, or of cydonia, or Crataegus. Miller observes, that if the stones are 

 taken out of the fruit as soon as it is ripe, and immediately planted, they will come up next spring, and 

 make good plants in two years. He prefers raising from seed to grafting on the Crataegus. Forsyth says, 

 " Those who wish to keep the sorts true, should propagate them by grafting on their own stocks." The 

 plant is rather difficult to strike by cuttings. 



4469. Soil. The soil in which the medlar thrives best is a loamy rich earth, rather moist than dry ; but 

 not on a wet bottom. 



4470. Final planting. The medlar, like the quince, is usually grown as a standard or espalier ; the 

 former may be planted from twenty to thirty, and the latter from fifteen to twenty feet apart. 



4471. Mode of bearing. On small spurs at the ends and sides of the branches. 



4472. Pruning. Forsyth recommends the same sort of treatment as for the quince. Cut out all the 

 dead and cankery wood, and keep the tree thin of branches when it is desired to have large fruit. Care 

 is requisite to train standards with tall stems. Espaliers will require a summer and winter pruning, as in 

 the apple-tree. 



For other details of culture^ see the Apple and Pear. 



