 Section 21 of the Family Kitchen Gardener. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Linda Ferguson. The Family Kitchen Gardener by Robert Buist. Section 21. The Quince is supposed to be the golden apples of the ancients. It is a native of Austria and is believed to have been cultivated in Britain for 300 years. Pliny writes in his time of their growing wild in hedged rows, so large as to weigh down the boughs to the ground. Moderns use it only after being stewed, baked or preserved. Quince marmalade is a favourite conserve and Quince wine has been known to cure obstinate asthmatic complaints. There are only two varieties and species that are worth notice. Apple or Orange Quince. The fruit large of a round oval shape, skin very smooth, colour when ripe a bright golden yellow. A clean growing tree and a great bearer, ripe in September and October. Portugal Quince. Fruit round, large size, colour bright yellow. A strong growing tree and bears a fair crop. This variety is used as stocks on which to bud or graft pears. They fruit earlier upon it and are much dwarfed by the process. It is a very general practice with the French and for small gardens may be done to advantage in this country but will not do for orchards. Pyrocynosis or Chinese Quince. Shrub of upright growth with pink flowers. Fruit very large, long oval, smooth and regular formed, colour greenish yellow. Flesh firm, rather dry. Ripe about the end of October. A beautiful preserve of a bright pink colour can be made from the fruit. A specimen before me is really beautiful. Propagation. This is readily accomplished by layers or cuttings as they root in either way very freely. Lay down the shoots early in spring or during the mild winter months and they will be rooted by the following November when they can be planted out in rows till they are strong enough to be removed to the orchard. Cuttings taken off the old plants of the past year's wood or even wood of two years old cut into lengths of about eight inches and planted into moist ground will root the first year and soon attain to be good plants. Soil. A heavy loamy soil is said to be the best for the quince. This is not borne out by results. The finest fruit I have ever seen is grown on deep sandy loam, manured every season. If they are not well cultivated they get knotty and deformed, producing fruit of light character. Pruning. Very little assistance is required from the knife and less to give a direction to the formation of the tree and for shortening any shoots that extend beyond the regular bounds. Raspberry. Rubus idios. Framprosi. French. Himber istroge. German. Some species of this plant are natives of all temperate countries and have been much improved by cultivation. Its fruit is extensively used for making syrups, wines, jams and jellies. It also forms an excellent dessert fruit considered healthful, refreshing and cooling. Of late much has been said and written on the raspberry, but as yet we may say there are about two or three sorts worth general culture. Red Antwerp. Canes dark brown, long, short, jointed, fruit fairly thimble shaped, flesh firm, rich, juicy with a fine, sweet flavour, ripe about the fourth of July. There is a variety called red antwerp generally cultivated with small fruit, readily broken into pieces and wood of a reddish brown colour. Franconia is a hardier variety than the former and does better in colder latitudes. Fruit large, conical, of a bright red colour. Flesh firm, flavour sharp, rich and abundant, ripe about the middle of July. White or yellow antwerp. Fruit nearly as large as the red antwerp of the same shape. Flesh yellow, very tender, rich and very sweet. Wood yellow, a great bearer. Fastorf. Within the past few years this variety, though an old one with a new name, has created quite an excitement in England and not little in this country. We fruited it two years ago and considered it one of the best reds, though we do not think it's the very best. Fruit very large, of an oval conical form. Flesh very rich, juicy abundant and makes a beautiful dessert fruit. It will never be a popular market fruit, being so soft that it will not bear carriage, but will hold its place for home consumption. Ripe 4th July. Ohio ever-bearing. Fruit conical, colour black, large size, produced in clusters on the points of the shoot. Flesh dark red, juice not very abundant, produces through the whole season till frost and quite indispensable on this account. Wood strong, of a dark purple colour. There are several very astonishing and superior raspberries raised from seed by an amateur gentleman of this city, some of them of a beautiful orange and others of a bright amber colour, whose true characters will be known in another year. Propagation. This is of the easiest character. Give the plants rich, deep sandy loam soil and they will send up in abundance of suckers every season, each of which will form a plant and produce fruit the year following. Planting. They should be put out in rows three feet apart and four feet from row to row. Two hundred plants is not too many for a family. Give them plenty of manure every year. Dig deep, but not close to the bottom of the plant. A situation partially shaded or naturally moist, though not wet, is the best locality. A plantation will last twenty years if properly attended to by enriching every year. Pruning. The first fruit I have pruned was the raspberry, and it is the only one that can be reduced to a simple rule. In the autumn cut out all the old wood that produced fruit the past summer, close to the ground. Tie up the new shoots to a stake or trellis, about five feet high, then cut off about a foot of the tops of the shoots, and the work is done. In cold situations the plants, after having been deprived of their old wood, have to be laid down all winter and covered with earth, spruce or pine branches till spring, when they are lifted and tied up as above. The Ohio and Franconia varieties do not require this protection. Strawberry. Fragaria variant. Frésille French. Erdbeerpflanzer, German. The strawberry, so called from the ancient practice, and still continued, of laying straw between the rows to keep the fruit clean. It is not properly a berry, but considered a fleshy receptacle studded with seeds. It is a wholesome and most luscious fruit and wisely distributed by a bountiful hand over nearly every part of the world. Its cultivation has been little regarded till within the past thirty years, and even at the present period is very imperfectly understood. Its healthful influence upon nearly all constitutions, when taken in moderate quantities, is admitted by medical men. The demand for it in a commercial point of view is rapidly on the increase, which has created a desire to know its character and improve its culture. Its uses are generally known. A certain species of beauty is compared to strawberry smothered in cream. A portion of the dessert palatable to all, though the beneficial effects of the fruit, is most certain when fresh from the vine, unmixed and unadulterated. The immense number of varieties now cultivated renders it rather difficult to select from them a few sorts that will continue the season to the longest possible period. In attempting to do so, however, we give preference to varieties obtained from seed in this country which resists the vicissitudes of our climate and give more general satisfaction than any imported variety. Our selection comprises two seedlings of Pennsylvania origin, one of New York and one of Massachusetts. Early May is a pistolet female variety. Fruit above medium size, colour bright red, shape conical, flavour very rich with a delightful aroma. Ripened last year on the 14th of May, season two weeks later than usual, this variety requires to have a row of the Hudson strawberry planted with it to produce the very great crops of which it is capable. It will be a general market fruit. Hobbies seedling. This pistolet female variety is now universally cultivated in every part of the United States and greatly admired. Fruit very large, heart shaped, colour dark red when fully ripe, flavour good with a fine aroma. Ripened last year about the 22nd of May, this variety requires a few of the Hudson or some other stamina sort to be planted near it when it produces extraordinary crops is a general market fruit. Prize seedling. One of the finest flavoured strawberries in cultivation, a staminate variety and produces a crop of fruit when planted alone of a very large size of a rounded heart shaped form. Colour dark crimson when fully ripe with a polished surface, seeds prominent, ripened last year on the 20th of May and continues fully three weeks as bearing an unusual length of time with us. Ross One Phoenix. A staminate plant producing a crop when planted by itself. Fruit very large and frequently of a coxcomb shape of a dark red colour with a smooth polished surface. Flesh firm and of a very rich flavour with a delightful aroma. Ripened last year about the 26th of May. Monthly Kopai. This variety of the alpine strawberry is an improvement on the old sort. The fruit is larger, of a finer flavour and produces copiously the whole year and is veritably a monthly strawberry. There are several varieties recently produced from seeds in this vicinity and other parts of the country which will entirely supplant every foreign sort and we doubt not may even display some of those we have named though they are not yet fully driven. Propagation of Strawberries from Seed. Every person who has any partiality for this fruit that can devote a few hours to their culture in their season should sow the seeds the very best kinds any time from August to April in pots of light earth, water them regularly and they will be above ground in four or five weeks. After they have attained a few leaves to each, plant them into a piece of rich ground in the garden about twenty inches apart. The second season they will produce fruit to prove their merits. The seed is obtained by drying the ripe fruit and washing the flesh from the seed which are all on the outside of the berry. These seeds, when perfectly dry, will keep three years. Flowers that have an entirely green centre are called female or pistolet. Those that have a great many yellow stamens are called male or barren plants. Those that have only a portion of stamens around the base of the green conical centre of the flower are called staminate or perfect blossoms. Soil. All admit that the best soil for this fruit is a deep, light, rich loam if not naturally deep to be made so by trenching. Rich it must be if large and good fruit is required. Therefore prepare the ground of the season before planting and incorporating it with an abundance of manure to the depth of eighteen inches. The exposure must be entirely free from the shade of trees or buildings. For early crops plant on an aspect that has an inclination to the south or southeast. For late crops choose the north or west. By this method the strawberry season is greatly prolonged. Planting. The periods for performing this is in March and April or August and September. In either of these months we have been equally successful. Beds four feet wide each containing three rows and plants fifteen inches apart in the row leaving alleys two and a half feet wide between the beds for the operations of gathering, weeding, hoeing etc. Never take any other crop from among them except a few radishes or lettuce the first season. Destroy the runners after the middle of July unless they are wanted for plants. Hoe them freely and keep the ground in an open condition. Some light rough litter should be sprinkled over the plants during winter in cold localities. In light soils dig in between the rows every autumn a few inches of well rotted dung but in strong and deep alluvial soils it may be dispensed with. In dry seasons give the plants a few waterings after they have done blooming with any liquid manure or other rich water which will greatly promote the swelling of the fruit. A plantation will last three or four years and to have this fruit in perfection plant out a portion each year. For this purpose we advise to plant those sorts that are called pistolet or female plants allowing every sixth row to be a variety that is called stamina or male plant. This latter sort keep within bounds to prevent the runners into mingling with the bearing kinds. It is a prudent precaution to lay straw or other clean material between the rows of the fruiting plants before they come into bloom to prevent the fruit being injured by heavy rains, sand or dust. Gathering the fruit. The common practice of picking the fruit with foot stalks attached is one of the very worst systems causing them to be handled and re-picked before they go to the table. Early in the morning take a vessel, basket or box of convenient size and pick the fruit before it is softened by the sun. Lay hold of the calyx or cup at the base of the fruit with the nail of the first finger and thumb of the left hand and with the first finger of the right give the fruit a gentle but quick draw and it will come off into the hand without the least bruise or damage of any kind and thus proceed till your vessel is full. Strawberries should go to the table without being turned or handled in any way when the full rich aroma of the fruit will be preserved. Those that are carried to market to be retailed for family use should all be in portable boxes in the same way as raspberries. The present mode is disgusting in the extreme. Large tubfuls, bruised and crushed, spooned into quart measures from vessels of very questionable character in both colour and appearance. The denizens carrying home their quantum of mashed matter under the name of strawberry from such a mixture can know little of the delicious aroma and rich flavour of the pure fruit called strawberry. Peppa Capsicum annum Pimoe, French Spanisher Pfeffer, German. There are several varieties of the pepper cultivated for pickling and kitchen purposes. Its natural locality is very generally diffused over all tropic countries requiring in artificial culture a very warm locality, rich light soil and careful cultivation. The green pods or small berries of all the varieties are used for pickling. The ripe fruit is dried and used in small portions as a seasoning of the hottest quality. Bell or sweet Large bell shaped and most esteemed for pickles, the skin being thick and more pulpy than any of the others. Tomato or flat About the size and shape of the tomato is also very generally used for the same purpose. It is of a hotter nature than the former. Cayenne Fruit small, round, tapering, long or curved and of the very hottest quality. We have seen about twenty varieties of the pepper. They're fruit when ripe from about the size of peas to the size of melons and all of a bright red or bright yellow colour. Culture Small portion of seed thinly half an inch deep on a hot bed or in a pot in a warm window any time in March or April and transplant in May or June on good ground one foot apart and 18 inches from row to row. In a mild climate so at the same period in the open ground in a small bed of light soil and transplant when three to four inches high during moist weather or water freely in time of planting. As they grow hoe frequently and earth up the stems similar to cabbage. End of section 21 Recording by Linda Ferguson End of the Family Kitchen Gardener by Robert Buist