Although not largely grown, quinces generally find a ready sale, and they are desirable for home use. The trees are usually planted about 12 feet each way, and may be trained either in a shrub or tree form, but it will generally be best to grow them with a short trunk.

They succeed best on a deep, moist, and fertile soil. They require much the same care as the pear. The insects and diseases by which they are attacked are also the same as for that fruit. Blight is particularly bad. The fruit is borne on short shoots of the same season, and strong head-ing-in of the growth in winter removes a good part of the buds from which the shoots arise. The Orange is the most common variety, but Champion, Meech (Fig. 283), and Rea are sometimes grown.

285. Meech Quince (Meech's Prolific).