QUINCE

a fruit of the apple and pear cla , native to southern Europe and Asia. It was an article of popular consumption among the ancient Greeks and Romans and was the original marmalade fruit (see Mar man apr). It is in season here from October to December, western New York supplying the greater part of the American crop. The tree is dwarf in habit, more often below than above fifteen feet in height, with branches numerous, crooked, and distorted; leaves dusky green above and downy on the under side, and flowers similar in shape to apple-blo oms, but larger and more open, and white or of pale pink tint. The fruit varies in form from round to pear shape, and when ripe is of a rich yellow or greenish yellow and of strong odor. The best varieties are The first-named is generally rated as the choicest, its flesh in good specimens being especially tender and excellent in flavor. The Portugal is the largest. (Juinces require very careful handling, for bruises rapidly develop into dark brown discolorations. If stored in a cool, dry place and occasionally wiped with a dry cloth, they can be kept fresh and good for a considerable length of time. They are not eaten raw either in this country or in Europe, but they are delicious in the form of jam, jelly, and sauce, plain-boiled to eat with sugar, and mixed with apples in stewing. They are one of the best of ‘‘jelly’’ fruits. The tree seldom enjoys either the location or the attention it needs to give the best results, the penalty being an unnece arily large proportion of over-woody fruits. Careful cultivation of selected varieties in warm, dry, moderately fertilized soil produces quinces that are a revelation to the ordinary orchardist. In some parts of Asia their delicacy has been so enhanced that they take high rank among fresh table-fruits.