424 TnANSACTioxs of the American Institute. 



and moldj hay that has been allowed to sweat and heat and reek, 

 while being cured, like a Thomsonian steam-box, and I will guaran- 

 tee that the notions about drying and curing hay by sweating will be 

 cherished no longer. 



A Quince Orchard, 



Mr. A. J. Stirling, of Eochester, N. Y., "has made arrangements 

 to set four acres of this fruit, and would like replies to the subjoined 

 interrogations: " Are there two or more kinds, and if so, which is 

 best for bearing and market ? Second, how far apart should they be 

 set both ways? Third, what kind of soil is most suitable ? 



Mr, A. S. Fuller. — If we may credit the ancient chroniclers, 

 quinces have been cultivated 2,000 or 3,000 years. Of course, an 

 immense number of seedlings has been originated during that time, 

 and the names have become so complicated that it is exceedingly- 

 difficult to say which is best. For instance, the sort known to nur- 

 serymen as the Portugal is not valued at all, and yet I have heard 

 some cultivators speak of it in the highest terms. Of course, the 

 quince they were thinking of was not the quince the nurserymen 

 were talking of. A heavy, moist, tenacious soil is the most desirable ; 

 along the bank of a stream is an excellent location, and muck or 

 peat is the best manure. The Anglers quince will probably outbear 

 the other varieties. It is doubtful whether four acres in quinces 

 would pay. They should be plated in muck meadows and beside 

 ditches. 



Dr. Isaac P. Trimble. — I remember tliat ten or fifteen years ago a 

 great number of quince bushes M-ere planted in the vicinity of New- 

 ark, but tliey did not succeed at all well. The remains of the 

 orchards are there yet. The trouble was, the apple-tree borer got at 

 the roots underground, and, unsuspected, silently he worked the 

 devastation. I don't advise the writer of the letter to plant quinces 

 so extensively as he has planned, but if he persists in doing so, by all 

 means let him not neglect to be careful in selecting his stock, examine 

 each root carefully, and be sure tliat he does not plant the quince 

 root and its enemy together. 



Farming in Virginia. 



Messrs. S. C, and R. Denisc, of Norfolk, Ya., sends some large, 



fine looking potatoes, the eai'ly rose. From four bushels of seed they 



have taken a yield of sixty-five barrels; planted on the 12th of 



March, dug 12th of June. They find the rose ten days earlier than 



