ting needle, so as completely to intercept the passage of the sap.' This insect was shown by Mr. Lowell to the late Professor Peck, and in the account of the insect which was soon after published in the Massachusetts Agricultural Repository, the professor observed, that the mischievous effects of this insect may be observed in June and July, and that the dead part of the branches should be cut off without delay, and burnt. Mr. Lowell has stated, [New England Farmer, Vol. v. p. 2,] that by steadily pursuing the system of cutting off the limbs many inches below the apparent injury, and burning them, the insects have been extirpated from his estate. The account of Professor Peck was republished in the New England Farmer, Vol. 11. p. 42. Some writers have attributed this disease to a stroke of the sun; others attribute it to manuring too high; some to excessive moisture at the roots, and too much pruning, which is supposed to cause a surfeit and produce a stagnation. But all agree that the only remedy is to saw off the limb. QUINCE.-(Cydonia.) The quince tree is a spreading tree of low growth, its limbs generally distorted; the leaves are roundish or ovate, entire, their petioles short; the flowers are large, pale red or white; the fruit a pome, roundish oblong or ovate; the skin is downy, of a green, yellow, or orange color; the pulp firm, of a harsh, astringent, and aromatic flavor. It is said to be a native of Austria, of Candia, and other parts of Europe. According to Goropinus, "quinces were the Golden apples of the Hesperides, and not oranges, as some commentators pretend." — Phillips. USES. The quince is not eaten in a raw state, but is highly esteemed in cookery; preserved in sugar, they are delicious; but previous to being thus preserved, they should be immersed for ten minutes in boiling water; this prevents them Mixed with apples in pies, they com- from becoming hard. municate a fine flavor. lade by the confectioners. "One quart of the juice of quinces, mixed with one pound of sugar and fermented, affords a delicious wine; on adding to the same quantity one pint of the best French brandy, and four ounces of sugar, a celebrated liqueur is prepared on the continent, which is greatly prized as a cordial and stomachic, when taken in the small quantity of two or three spoonfuls before breakfast." Dom. Ency. Phillips relates the case of a gentleman completely cured of an asthmatic complaint of long standing, by the use of Quince Wine, made after the following receipt: "The quinces are cut open and deprived of their seeds, for these communicate an unpleasant flavor. After being ground fine, a gallon of water is to be added to every gallon of pomace; after standing a day or two, it is pressed, and to every gallon of liquor thus produced, three and a quarter pounds of good, moist sugar are added. The liquor is placed in casks, which are to be stopped quite close till March, when it is racked off, and bottled in the second year." VARIETIES. ORANGE QUINCE. Maliforma or Apple Quince is a large, roundish, beautiful fruit, ripening in November. The leaves are oval and woolly the lower side. OBLONG OR PEAR QUINCE. Oblonga. This fruit is pear-shaped, lengthened at the base; leaves oblong, ovate. PORTUGAL QUINCE. Lusitanica. This fruit is of a variable form, sometimes pear-shaped; very juicy and astringent; it is highly esteemed. It is reputed to be rather a shy bearer. Leaves obovate, woolly above. To this list may be added the Winter Quince, and the French Musk Quince, and the following: JAPAN QUINCE. Cydonia Japonica, or Japan Pear. Pyrus Japonica. A shrub growing six or eight feet in height; branches contorted and thorny; leaves small, oval, oblong, of a dark shining green; its flowers splendid, of a fine scarlet, an inch and a half in diameter, and produced in clusters early in April. A native of Northern Asia, and one of the most ornamental plants of the season, and very hardy. The fruit is of good size, but is not thought equal to the other varieties. There is a variety with white double flowers, and another with double red flowers. CHINESE QUINCE. Cognassier de la China. N. Duh. Pl. 155. A new ornamental variety, unlike all others. This fruit is as singular as superb; blossoms fifteen to eighteen lines in diameter; of a fine rose color; their ador that of violets; leaves obovate, stiff, pointed, finely serrated, shining green above, becoming reddish in autumn, downy beneath; the fruit is oblong, truncated, regular; the skin smooth, yellowish green; the flesh is yellowish, dry, coarse-grained, harsh, austere; its juice acid, and not This fruit seldom arrives at maturity in the climate of Paris. But hopes are entertained that by planting the seeds, new and fine varieties will be produced, which will ripen in due season. abundant. CULTIVATION. The quince is raised from the seeds, from layers, and from cuttings, planted in a moist soil. The valuable varieties are propagated by grafting or inoculation. Quinces are extensively used in France as stocks on which are inoculated pears. This is said to improve the quality and productiveness of the Beurrée or Butter Pears, especially the summer and autumn kinds. But breaking or winter pears are seldom or but rarely inoculated on the quince stock, as they are not so much improved. SOIL, SITUATION, PRUNING. Quinces require a rich, moist soil, and a sheltered situation. They flourish near brooks and rivulets. They require little pruning, except taking out old, useless wood and useless suckers; and eight or ten feet asunder is a good distance. Like the apple tree, they are liable to the attacks of the borer. remedies are equally effectual. The same 177 PEACH.- (Amygdalus Persica.) The peach tree is a tree below the middle size, with spreading branches, of rapid growth; the leaves smooth, lanceolate, serrated; the flowers are sessile, their calyces reddish, corollas pale or dark red; the fruit a drupe of a roundish form, sometimes pointed, with a longitudinal suture or groove; the skin is downy in the peach, but smooth in the nectarine, its color varying from white or yellow to red and violet; the pulp thick, fleshy, or succulent, white or yellowish, sometimes red; juice sweet, or subacid, and abundant, of a grateful and delicious flavor; stone hard, ovate, pointed, compressed, irregularly furrowed; the kernel bitter. The tree blossoms in April; the fruit ripens from July to late in autumn. The tree is not of long duration. Persia is considered the original country of the peach, although it is said to have been cultivated from time immemorial in most parts of Asia. Sickler asserts, according to Loudon, that "in Media, it is deemed unwholesome; but when planted in Egypt, it becomes pulpy, delicious, and salubrious." The peach, according to Columella, when brought from Persia into the Roman empire, possessed deleterious qualities; which Mr. Knight concluded to have arisen from those peaches being only swollen almonds, (tuberes,) or imperfect peaches; and which are known to abound in the prussic acid. The best peaches in Europe are at present grown in Italy on standards. The best peaches of France, according to Phillips, are those produced at Montreuil, a village near Paris, where the whole population are exclusively employed in their cultivation, and by this have been maintained for several ages. They are cultivated here on lime-whited walls of great extent. Their climate requires it. In the United States, they flourish as in their native land, producing fruit of an excellent quality, wherever the maize or Indian corn will ripen to maturity. In New Jersey, there are those who cultivate this fruit exclusively; and at Shrewsbury, on a single plantation, 10,000 bushels are annually produced for the New York market. Another, on the Delaware, yields 20,000 bushels. It is also extensively cultivated in the Middle, Southern, and Western States, for the purposes of distillation; on the refuse of the orchard or distillery, numerous swine are fattened. USES. The peach is not only a first-rate dessert fruit, but it makes a delicious preserve. In cooking, the most delicious pies are made of them. For this purpose they require no preparation; they are used whole, simply placed in deep layers, sprinkled with sugar, and enveloped in the pastry; no further additions are necessary; the stone or kernel communicates its flavor, which is superior to that of the costly spices. Peaches are preserved by drying, and in this state they may be long preserved; and thus prepared, they may be either eaten at the dessert like raisins, figs, and prunes, or used in cooking; and might form a valuable article for sea stores or for exportation. I will here describe three modes of drying; and will suggest, that in drying them in-doors, the furnace should be placed in the cellar, and the drying effected in the apartment above, by an ascending current of heated air. In some of the Southern States, the drying process is facilitated by a previous scalding. This is effected by immersing baskets of the fruit a few minutes in kettles of boiling water. They are afterwards halved, the stone separated, and being laid with the skins downwards, the drying is effected in the sun in three days of good weather. They then may be stored in boxes. In France, as we are informed, peaches and other fruits are thus dried whole. The peaches or other fruits, being pared, are boiled for a few minutes in a sirup consisting of one pound of sugar dissolved in three quarts of water, and after being drained by being laid singly on broad dishes, they are placed in the oven after the bread is taken out, and when sufficiently dry they are packed in boxes. The following is the mode of drying practised by Mr. Thomas Bellangee, of Egg Harbor, New Jersey. He has a small house provided with a stove, and drawers in the sides of the house lathed at their bottoms, with void intervals. The peaches should be ripe, and cut in two, not peeled, and laid in a single layer on the laths, with their skins downward, to save the juice. On shoving in the drawer, they are soon dried by the hot air produced by the stove. In this way great quantities may successively |