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THE QUINCE. 



Uses. — The Quince is, in all its varieties, unfit for eating raw. It is, 

 however, much esteemed when cooked. For preserving it is every- 

 where valued, and an excellent marmalade is also made from it. 

 Stewed, it is very frequently used to communicate additional flavor and 

 piquancy to apple-tarts, pies, or other pastry. In England, wine is 

 frequently made from the fruit by adding sugar and water, as in 

 other fruit wines ; and it is a popular notion there that it has a 

 most beneficial effect upon asthmatic patients. Dried Quinces are 

 excellent. 



In this country large plantations are sometimes made of the Quince ; 

 and as it is in good soil a plentiful bearer, it is considered one of the 

 most valuable market fruits. The Apple Quince is the most productive 

 and salable ; but as the Pear Quince ripens and can be sent to market 

 much later, it frequently is the most profitable. The Angers is also a 

 profitable market sort, producing abundantly, and keeping equally as 

 well as the Pear-shaped. 



Propagation. — The Quince is easily propagated from seed, layers, or 

 cuttings. From seeds the Quince is somewhat liable to vary in its 

 seedlings, sometimes proving the apple-shaped and sometimes the pear- 

 shaped variety. Cuttings prepared in the autumn, heeled-in, and pro- 

 tected during winter, and planted in a shaded situation early in the 

 spring, root very easily, and this is perhaps the simplest and best way 

 of continuing a good variety. Another way is to bud upon free grow- 

 ing sorts, as that of the Angers. 



Quince stocks are extensively used in engrafting or budding the pear, 

 when it is wished to render that tree dwarf in its habit. 



Soil and Culture. — The Quince grows naturally in rather moist soil, 

 by the side of rivulets and streams of water. Hence it is a common idea 

 that it should always be planted in some damp, neglected part of the 

 garden, where it usually receives little care, and the fruit is often knotty 

 and inferior. 



This practice is a very erroneous one. No tree is more benefited by 

 manuring than the quince. In a rich, mellow, deep soil, even if quite 

 dry, it grows with thrice its usual vigor, and bears abundant crops of 

 large and fair fruit. It should therefore be planted in a deep and good 

 soil, kept in constant cultivation, and it should have a top-dressing of 

 manure every season when fair and abundant crops are desired. As to 

 pruning or other care, it requires very little indeed — an occasional 

 thinning out of crowding or decayed branches being quite sufficient. 

 Thinning the fruit when there is an overcrop improves the size of the 

 remainder. Twelve feet apart is a suitable distance at which to plant 

 this tree. 



The Quince, like the apple, is occasionally subject to the attacks of 

 the borer and a few other insects, which a little care will prevent or 

 destroy. For their habits we refer the reader to the Apple. 



VARIETIES. 

 Angers. 



This is the variety most generally used for stocks on which to bud 

 the pear. It is only within a few years that its value as a fruit has been 



