Cole's Quince

type: Cooking, Eating

synonyms: Pear Apple, Quince Apple, Seneca, Seneca Favorite, Seneca Spice

identification: Medium to large, flattened with distinctly angular sides and an uneven crown. The base colour is yellow over which is often a rusty, red blush. The scattered lenticels are red and star-shaped.

characteristics: The flesh is white, coarse-grained, crisp. Juicy and tangy with a distinct aromatic quince flavour, but should be picked before it is fully ripe and allowed to ripen in storage. A full ripeness, the apple is tender, rich with a quince flavour.

uses: Used as a cooking apple when harvested a month before maturity and a fresh-eating apple when ripe.

origins: Found by Captain Henry Cole as a chance seedling already bearing fruit near Cornish, Maine (U.S.A.) perhaps as early as 1806. His son, Samuel W. Cole, described it in glowing terms in "The American Fruit Book" published in 1849, but failed to provide any clue as to its origin. Concrete milestones are muddled by the existence of another similar quince apple which was said to have originated in New York state. American pomologist William Coxe described a Quince Apple in his "A View of the Cultivation of Fruit Trees and the Management of Orchards and Cider" (published in 1817) as "The tree is of large in vigorous growth--the size of the apple is large; the shape flat, the skin, when fully ripe is yellow; the flesh rich, yellow and juicy--in appearance, it somewhat resembles a large yellow Newton Pippin." He adds, however, that it originally came from the state of New York. In Charles Downing's 1869 update of A.J. Downing's "The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America," he also described a Quince Apple which resembles a large Newton Pippin and added that "There is another Quince or Coles Quince which is claimed to have originated in Cornish, Maine. The fruit of the two is very similar and we have at time questioned its identity. The young wood is, however, different in shade of color, being clear rich reddish brown, with buds short, abrupt and prominent."

cultivation: Moderately vigorous. Medium size tree. Precocious. Produces fruit annually, but crops are shy every other year. Tolerates Hardiness Zones 4 to 8.

cold storage: Does not store well.

harvest: Fully ready for harvest in the late third period.

notes: Though called a quince because of its rich flavours, tartness, shape and colouring, this is in fact an apple. When grown in rich soils and under ideal conditions, the fruit is excellent, under less than ideal conditions, it can be disappointing.