1G4 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



May 28. 1910. 



WEST INDIAN FRUIT. 



LEMON CULTIVATION IN ITALY. 



The following information concerning the way in 

 which lemon trees are cultivated in Italy is taken from 

 Bulletin Xo. 160 of the Bureau of Plant Industry, 

 United States Department of Agriculture, entitled 

 Italian Lemons and Their By-products. 



PEOPAGATiON. There are no extensive nurseries in Italy 

 ■where lemon trees are grown as they are in the United States. 

 The stocks of bitter orange are usually grown by the owners 

 in small seed beds under the bearing lemon trees. The bitter 

 orange grows \\ild in Sicily and in the mountains of 

 Calabria, and is now used universally as a stock on account 

 of its resistance to the gum disease, which devastated the 

 groves of Sicily about thirty years ago, when the trees were 

 propagated on lemon stocks. 



The orange seeds are sown in the spring, in a well pre- 

 pared bed, and the seedlings are usually transplanted, when 

 a year old, at a distance apart of 10 inches or a foot, in small 

 clumps under the bearing trees, or in distinct areas. When 

 the trees reach a diameter of 1 to 2 inches and a height of 

 5 to 6 feet, they are transplanted to the garden or grove. 

 They may or may not have been budded or grafted with the 

 desired type of lemon before transplanting. The lemon bud 

 is usually inserted from 2 to .3 feet from the ground, and the 

 top of the lemon tree is started from 6 to -i feet from it. 

 As the trees grow older the lower, shaded branches die and, 

 as with the apple trees of the Eastern States, the main branches 

 lose the lower, bearing wood and the trees become increas- 

 ingly high-headed and spreading. In many of the old groves 

 in Sicily, the lowest fruit-bearing branches are from 6 to 10 

 feet from the ground. Many of the closely planted lemon 

 trees are irregular in form in both trunk and top, the trunks 

 of many of the trees assuming a crooked, almost tortuous, 

 outline. 



While the lemon trees are young, it is a common practice 

 to grow cereals or vegetables between the rows. This cro]j 

 may be grown by the owner or by the tenant, or the land 

 may be sublet to a second or third party for this purpose. 



PRUNING. The lemon trees of Italy are not jtruned 

 sy.stematieally as they are in California. Pruning in Sicily 

 means the cutting out of dead wood and the shortening of 

 the vigorous suckers every year or two, and the opening of 

 the top when the trees become dense. The object of pruning 

 is similar to the general practice of pruning orange trees in 

 California, though it is much more roughly done; an axe is often 



used in cutting out the wood. No system of pruning has 

 been developed, the purpose of which is to keep the trees low- 

 headed, to modify the density of the tree, to stimulate the 

 production of new bearing wood, or to modify the growth of 

 the bearing wood in different parts of the tree The growers 

 generally believe that the low, dense-headed tree produces 

 a tender lemon, of poor keeping qualities, and that scale 

 insects and diseases are much less serious in the trees with the 

 high, open, spreading form, which admits the air and sunlight 

 to the greatest extent. 



TILLAGE. The tillage of the Italian lemon groves is 

 practically all flone by hand labour; occasionally it may be 

 done in the larger groves with oxen and a primitive one- 

 handled plough, though ploughing in the lemon groves in 

 Italy is a rare operation. The land is generally turned over 

 from 5 to 10 inches deep with a short, heavy hoe, twice 

 a year, in Feliruary or March, and again in September, and 

 twice lightly, 3 inches or more deep, in May or .June and in 

 November, to turn under the weeds. The relation of tillage 

 to the conservation of moisture and to the liberation of plant 

 food is not understood. 



M ANURixc. The principal manure used in the lemon groves 

 is compasted sheep, goat, or cow manure. Chemical manures 

 have come into use to a limited extent in recent years. 

 Sulphate of ammonia is the principal source of nitrogen, with 

 nitrate of soda used to a less extent; sulphate of potash and 

 ashes are used chiefly for potash; and bone meal, slag and 

 ground rock are among the sources of phosphoric acid. 

 Artificial manures have been experimented with, in recent 

 years, " in connexion with cover crops and with organic 

 manures. Several factories have been organized in Sicily for 

 the manufacture of artificial manures. 



There is no definite system of manuring used by the 

 Italian lemon growers. There seems to be the same lack of 

 exact knowledge among the growers as to the manurial 

 requirements of the trees as there is among the lemon growers 

 of the United States. There is no agreement as to the kind 

 of manure or the quantity to use, or the time or Tnethod of 

 application. The manure that is advocated most plausibly 

 is likely to be employed most generally, and difterent growers 

 using different kinds are likely to get equally good 

 results, if the land is kept in }{ood physical condition. 

 All are agreed that the trees need to be fed liberally, though 

 they are not fertilized as regularly, or to the extent practised 

 by the growers of California. 



There is a general agreement among the growers that 



