For some reason, or probably without any reason, the quince has been a
neglected fruit with us. True, in some parts of the province, indeed in
a very large part, the climate is too severe for the successful
cultivation of this tree, but there is yet a very considerable portion
where it would flourish and bear fruit, and handsomely repay the
cultivator. Our fruit growers are awake to the value of the apple, and
many orchards have been planted which are yielding a very handsome
return to their owners, and the same may be said of most of our fruits,
but the quince seems to have been quite overlooked. Perhaps one reason
why attention has not been turned to this fruit is the fact that those
who have a few trees never give them any care, but leave them to grow as
best they may, in some out of the way corner; and because under such
circumstances they yield but little fruit, and that not of the best, it
is taken for granted that it does not pay to grow them. Now, on the
contrary, we believe that an orchard of quince trees, properly
cultivated, will prove to be fully as profitable as an apple orchard of
the same size, and that at the present time the demand for good quinces
is in excess of the supply.
The quince thrives best on a strong clay loam, that is well drained, has
been deeply plowed and is in a good state of cultivation. In preparing
the soil for a plantation of quinces, it is very desirable that the
sub-soil should be thoroughly broken up and loosened by the sub-soil
plow, and the surface well pulverized. In this the trees may be planted
ten feet apart each way, which will give four hundred and thirty trees
to the acre. It surely is not necessary to tell the readers of the
CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST that the planting should be done with care, and
after it is completed, each tree should be well mulched with a good
thick covering of coarse, strawy manure. The space between the rows may
be planted with potatoes, which will perhaps insure the tillage of the
ground. In the autumn, fork in the manure that was placed around the
trees as a mulch, and replace it with a fresh supply, this will not only
protect the roots from severe frosts, but will fill the soil with food
for the tree by the time that it starts into growth again. In the
spring, plow the ground between the rows, not running so near to the
quince trees as to injure the roots, stir the soil lightly around the
trees; we say lightly, for the quince roots are comparatively small and
fibrous, and might be seriously broken and injured by a too energetic
use of the digging fork; and then sow the whole broadcast with salt, at
the rate of ten bushels to the acre, which will be sufficient to half
conceal the ground under each tree. Do not neglect to apply the salt, it
is essential to your fullest success. Not only will the quince tree bear
salt, but the tree will be more healthy, and yield more and better fruit
than if it be withheld; indeed if any of our readers have quince trees
that do not yield fruit, they will bring them at once into bearing if
they will give them a dressing of salt and manure.
This treatment should be kept up from year to year, a top-dressing
around each tree in the autumn, manure enough on the ground between the
rows in spring to make it yield a good crop of potatoes or of some other
root, and salt around the quince trees at least, and as they increase in
size the salt should be extended over the whole, and it will be found to
be beneficial to the root crops as well. When the quince trees have
grown to such size that it is no longer profitable to grow roots among
them, let not that prevent the quince orchard from receiving an abundant
supply of manure and good tillage. A plantation treated in this way will
begin to bear in three years, and will continue to yield profitable
crops for ten times that length of time.
A word about the pruning. The trees do not require much pruning, but
they should have the little they do need regularly every spring. They
should not be allowed to grow in bush style, with shoots coming up from
the ground, but should be trained as dwarf trees, with a clean stem or
trunk. The head will need to be thinned out just sufficiently to give
the foliage a good exposure to the sun and air, yet not so much as to
leave the branches unshaded by the leaves. The twiggy shoots that have
borne fruit the previous summer should be shortened back, so that new
fruit-spurs may be produced from them, and thus the fruit be distributed
uniformly over the whole tree.
We hope some one of our readers may be induced to undertake the
cultivation of an acre of quince trees, and that he will communicate the
results, keeping an account of all expenditure for trees, use of ground,
fertilizers, cultivation, picking, and marketing the fruit, and of the
amount received from sales, so that our readers may see his balance
sheet.
As to varieties, we advise that only one be planted, and that the Orange
Quince, sometimes called the Apple Quince. It is, when well grown, a
large fruit, roundish or apple shaped, with a very short neck, of a
beautiful golden yellow color when ripe, and of excellent flavor. If
disposed to experiment with any other sort, try a dozen trees of Rea’s
Mammoth Quince; it is usually larger than the Orange, but as far as we
have tested it, not as productive.
Quinces are easily bruised, and the bruises sadly disfigure the fruit,
they should therefore be gathered and handled with care, securely put up
in small packages so that they cannot shake about in them, and the
packages be easily handled. They are in good demand in all our large
cities for culinary purposes, and could they be obtained in sufficient
quantities would be much sought after by the large manufacturers of
jellies from apples, for flavoring their products.
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