332 



GARDENING FOR THE SOUTH. 



with a short neck ; skin light, golden yellow ; jSesh firm, 

 but stewing tender ; leaves oval, shoots slender. It bears 

 abundantly. Earlier than the other sorts. 



Fear-shaped. — Fruit of larger size, pjriform ; oblong, 

 tapering to the stalk ; skin, yellow ; flesh of firmer tex- 

 ture, when preserved, and not quite so good in flavor and 

 color as the foregoing ; fruit ripens a fortnight later, and 

 when picked, keeps much longer ; leaves, oblong, ovate. 

 Tree of more vigorous growth, but does not bear so well. 



Portugal ( Cydonia lusitanicaj. — Fruit still more oblong, 

 of lighter color, milder flavor, and better quality than the 

 preceding kinds; leaf, larger and broader; shoots stouter; 

 ripens between the other two ; a shy bearer. Pretty 

 good as a stock for the pear. Tree larger than the other 

 varieties. 



Angers. — A variety of the last, the strongest grower of 

 all the quinces, and best for pear stocks. The fruit is 

 said to be larger and better than any other kind. 



The Chinese and Japan quinces are fine ornamental 

 shrubs. 



Ficiis Carim — Fig. 

 The fig is a large shrub, or a low spreading tree — some 

 varieties gi owiug to the height of twenty-five, or thirty 

 feet, in fiivorable circumstances ; but it does not generally 

 reach over half this height. The leaves are large, cordate, 

 and deeply cut, from three to five lobed, thick, and pubes- 

 cent beneath. The blossoms are not apparent, but con- 

 cealed in the inside of the fleshy receptacle that becomes 

 the fruit; which consists of a pulp, containing numerous 

 pericarps enclosed in a rind, various colored in the dif- 

 ferent varieties. Though the flavor at first is too sweet and 

 luscious for most unaccustomed tastes, it soon becomes a 

 great favorite, and is perhaps the most wholesome and 

 uutritious of all fruits. 



