582 [Assembly 



Varieties. — There are four kinds only used in cooking, the 

 apple, the orange, the pear shapes and the Portugal. Of these 

 the pear shaped is preferred for cooking. The flesh of the ap- 

 ple quince is rather more tender but not so high flavored. The 

 apple quince is two or three weeks earlier than the pear, but 

 Trill not keep so well. 



Ornamental Varieties. — There are two or three ornamental 

 varieties of the quince, natives of China and Japan, and now 

 generally introduced as garden shrubs. The Japan quince is a 

 thorny shrub with dark green leaf, clothed with clusters of 

 blossoms in April, larger than those of the quince and of the 

 brightest scarlet. The fruit which occasionally succeeds its 

 flowers, is very hard, dark green color and ofa peculiar and not un- 

 pleasant smell but entirely useless. The white or blushed Japan 

 quince resembles the former except that the flowers are white, 

 and the color being like those of the common apple tree. 



Chinese Quince. — Is a very pretty shrub, seldom produces 

 fruit, leaves are dark with a shining surface, the flowers small 

 and red, with a violet odor. This shrub is most beautiful in 

 May, and less showy than the Japan quince. The leaves become 

 beautifully red in autumn. 



Mr. Low. — Had cultivated the gooseberry twenty years ago in 

 England and here. He [had never suffered from mildew, I al- 

 ways kept mine well cultivated, forked up the ground well in dry 

 weather, and litter them well, and give them my soap suds often j 

 my grape vines love that too, I give it to them freely and they 

 flourish. My gooseberries were often three inches and more in 

 circumference. 



The chairman remarked that slips from last year's growth of 

 raspberries and currants will give some fruit the first year of their 

 being set. I let the litter lie about my bushes all summer and 

 then dig it up. 



Mr. Fleet. — This litter of mulch retains the moisture in the 

 soil, keeps down evaporation, and causes an equal or uniform 

 condition as to warmth. 



The Chairman.— Mildew is rarely seen in dry seasons. 



