105 



THE CHAMPION QUINCE. 



The general neglect into which Quince 

 culture has fallen has resulted in great 

 scarcity of the fruit and consequent high 

 prices. A well managed Quince orchard in 

 full bearing is about as profitable an invest- 

 ment as a fruit grower can have, and when 

 it is considered that almost the only ob- 

 stacle in Quince growing consists in the 

 preventable attacks of the borer, it seems 

 strange that more attention is not given to 

 its cultivation. 



The borer enters the stem near the surface 

 of the ground, working its way upward, and 

 anything that protects the few inches of 

 stem above the soil insures the trees against 

 its ravages. The best and easiest way to 

 accomplish this is to dig down to the branch- 

 ing off of the roots, and wrap and tie a piece 

 of tarred paper, reaching not less than six 

 inches above ground, secure- 

 ly around the stem, and level 

 the soil around it. Of course, 

 a careful examination has to 

 be made that the borer has 

 not already made its home 

 in the stem, in which case it 

 should be destroyed by push- 

 ing a flexible wire up into 

 its track before applying the 

 paper. 



The list of varieties of 

 Quinces is not large, and 

 any real improvement in this 

 direction will meet due ap- 

 preciation. 



The Champion is now at- 

 tracting considerable atten- 

 tion from fruit growers. 

 It originated in Fairfield 

 County, Conn., some eight 

 or ten years ago, but has 

 not come into general notice 

 until lately. The tree is a 

 strong, free, upright grower, 

 producing mostly a single 

 stem with smooth bark, re- 

 sembling in general appear- 

 ance a standard Pear tree 

 more than a Quince bush. 

 It is extremely hardy, and 

 has the characteristic ten- 

 dency to bear early, yielding 

 good crops the third and 

 fourth year. The fruit is 

 large, handsome, of bright 

 yellow color, more tender 

 and uniform than the older 

 kinds, and in flavor equal to the best. It 

 ripens about two weeks later than the Orange 

 Quince, and keeps in good condition for a 

 long time. From all that we have seen and 

 heard of this new variety, we consider it a 

 valuable addition to our fruit list. 



[For the accompanying excellent illustra- 

 tion, drawn from nature, we are indebted to 

 Mr. W. C. Scranton, 76 Chamber* street, 

 Xew-Yorl; who, as a designer of horticultural 

 objects, has no superior in this country. ] 



CHERRIES. 



The severe cold weather of last wilder 

 injured my Cherry trees, some of them 

 severely. The old Morellos are the only 

 ones that did not suffer. The branchlets of 

 the others are killed for a distance of from 



the first instance of the kind I have met 

 with. Apples, Pears, Plums, and especially 

 Peaches, succumb to the winters of this 

 latitude (exactly on the fortieth parallel) 

 but my cherries were never before injured 

 by frost. They are upon rather high and 

 dry ground. The lowest temperature which 

 I noticed during the winter was twenty- 

 eight degrees below zero. The thermometer 

 stood at that several mornings, and for six 

 weeks it rarely rose above zero. Several 

 times during my residence here the mercury 

 has sunk to twenty-six or twenty-eight de- 

 grees below. zero ; but it was for only a short 

 time. Was it the long continuance rather 

 than the severity of the cold which killed 

 the trees ? Other fruit trees in my orchards 

 suffered much. 



Those parts of the branches not killed 

 are full of bloom, and appear to be full 



THE CHAMPION QUINCE. 



of vitality. The trunks are not at all in- 

 jured ; at least, it is not apparent if they 

 are. 



The Cherry is the only fruit tree which I 

 can recommend for shade. The tramping 

 of stock injures all others, but it has no 

 effect Tipon the hardier Cherries. They can j 

 also be planted along road-ways and paths 

 where the passing of vehicles and animals 

 would prove injurious to other trees. The 

 orchardist will find this quality of the Cherry 

 quite valuable and important, for he can 

 plant it along the drives between his or- 

 chards. 



I believe that, as a general thing, Cherries 

 do not receive that attention which they 

 should. They certainly do not receive the 

 tare bestowed upon Apples, Peaches, or 

 Plums. Like Topsy, they just grow. Or- 

 chardists are very careful in the selec- 



one to two feet from the extremities. It is | tion of varieties of Apples, Peaches, etc. 



they prune the trees and guard against 

 enemies, and stir and fertilize the ground. 

 Yet very few .Cherry trees receive this atten- 

 tion. The selection of varieties is often a 

 matter of chance. Horticultural societies 

 give lists of best varieties of nearly every 

 other fruit quite frequently, but lists of 

 Cherries are remarkable for their scarcity. 

 A Cherry tree is stuck indifferently into 

 the ground, and rarely pruned or manured. 

 Yet no tree is more grateful for attention, 

 or expresses its latitude in a more substan- 

 tial way. 



The earliest Cherries are the most profit- 

 able. The first in the market bring the 

 highest price. The earliest ripened of the 

 early varieties are nearly worth their weight 

 in silver. The man, therefore, that has the 

 first ripe Cherries to sell will get the largest 

 profits. The bloom will open earliest on 

 trees standing on a south- 

 ern slope. The rays of the 

 sun, falling most directly 

 upon ground sloping toward 

 the south, will warm it ear- 

 lier in the spring than ground 

 upon which the rays fall 

 obliquely ; and the sooner 

 the sun warms the ground 

 the sooner the blossoms will 

 wake to life. And from 

 blossom to mature fruit the 

 successive stages of devel- 

 opment will be most rapid 

 on the warmer soil ; so that 

 a southern slope will secure 

 the earliest Cherries. But 

 this entails a risk. The blos- 

 som-buds may expand too 

 soon. Always in spring, 

 warm and cold weather al- 

 ternates for a few weeks. 

 This period proves most de- 

 structive to the hopes of 

 the fruit grower. The buds 

 will lie secure and unharmed 

 in a casing of ice during mid- 

 winter, but in the spring, 

 after a few warm days have 

 made them swell, a slight 

 frost may greatly injure 

 them. If the Cherry grower 

 plants his trees on a south- 

 ern exposure he may overdo 

 matters and have no early 

 Cherries at all. My plan is 

 to risk some trees on south- 

 ern slopes, and plant the 

 rest on high, dry ground, sloping to the 

 north. 



Cherries, both tree and fruit, have few ene- 

 mies. In this they clearly have an advantage 

 over other fruits. I would not unnecessarily 

 draw invidious distinctions, but a proper 

 recognition of this fact will add materially 

 to the estimation in which Cherries are held. 

 The only enemy of the fruit that has proved 

 troublesome to me is the red-headed wood- 

 pecker. 



The Cherry is generally undervalued. Of 

 our commoner orchard fruits it ranks among 

 the highest in hardiness and fruitfulness ; 

 requires little care, and less protection 

 from enemies ; is really a luscious fruit, 

 beautiful to look upon, and more pleasing to 

 the palate than the eye, and loses none of 

 its good qualities by being stewed, dried, 

 preserved, or canned. 



John M. Stahl. 



