652 
THE QUINCE. 
It is, however, much esteemed when cooked. For preserving 
it is everywhere valued, and an excellent marmalade is alsc 
made from it. Stewed, it is very frequently used, to communi- 
cate additional flavour 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 consi- 
dered one of the most valuable market fruits. The Apple 
quince is the most productive and saleable ; but as the Pear 
quince ripens, and can be sent to market much later, it fre- 
quently is the most profitable. 
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, 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 va- 
riety. The better sorts are also frequently budded on common 
seedling quince stocks, or on the common thorn. 
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 bene- 
fited by manuring than the quince. In a rich, mellow, deep 
soil, even if quite dry, it grows with thrice its usual vigour, and 
bears abundant crops of large and fair fruit. It should, there- 
fore, be planted in deep and good soil, kept in constant cultiva- 
tion, 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. Ten 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 . — Several varieties of the common Quince are enu- 
merated in many catalogues, but there are in reality only three 
distinct forms of this fruit worth enumerating, viz. : 
