340 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



October 26, 1912. 



FRUITS AND FRUIT TREES. 



THE LEMON INDUSTRY OP ITALY. 



The lemon tree grows in Italy, from Lombardy and 

 Venetia as far south as Calabria and Sicily, but it is chiefly 

 in the latter parts, as well as in the peninsula of Sorrento, 

 that the lemon industry is developed, for it is here that the 

 climatic conditions are most favourable to citrus plants. 

 More particularly yet, Sicily is the great centre for the grow- 

 ing of the fruit: out of a little more than 8 million lemon 

 trees planted in the whole of Italy there are about 7 million 

 in Sicily, representing a number of trees of the kind fifteen 

 times greater than that existing in California. 



This information is supplied by the Journal d'Agri- 

 culture Tropicaleiov August 1912, which goes on to say that 

 a report summarized in the Journal de la Chamdre de Com- 

 merce Franr:aise de Milan states that a lemon tree in Sicily, 

 properly cared for, will give 800 to 1,200 fruits a year, and 

 sometimes as many as 2,000. It is therefore not surprising 

 that the crop of lemons in Sicily and Calabria had risen in 

 1907 to the figure of 6,900,000,000 lemons, equivalent to 

 20,000,000 boxes of 300 to 360 fruits; that is to say it 

 would take up 64,000 fruit cars such as are used in California, 

 each of which has a capacity of 312 boxes. 



In Sicily, the lemon orchards stretch from the coast to 

 the fertile valleys of the interior and are found on the sides 

 of the hills up to an altitude not exceeding about 1,450 feet. 

 In this island and in the province of Reggio Calabria, the trees 

 are planted in squares at distances of 12 to 18 feet; they are 

 not given protection of any kind, because of the mildness of 

 the climate, and under the conditions well developed trees 

 are the general rule. 



At Sorrento, on the contrary, on the coast of Amalfi in 

 the district situated further north, where the culture is 

 undertaken, the trees are generally planted at smaller dis- 

 tances and are protected from frost. 



In the province of Palermo the chief shipments are 

 during March to June; in the provinces of Messina 

 and Catania from November to February, and in the 

 peninsula of Sorrento from June to September. There is also 

 a summer harvest of lemons of a kind called Verdelli. The 

 ripening of these fruits in summer is caused by suspending 

 irrigation in June and July, then stimulating the trees by 

 means of a rapidly acting manure, and resuming irrigation in 

 abundance from the time that flowering commences. 



The quality of the lemons varies perceptibly according 

 to the soil and the time of the crop. The best fruits in every 



respect, and those which keep longest, come from the strong 

 soils of the hill gardens. Those raised on light soil ripen 

 earlier, but do not generally possess as good an appearance as 

 the others and are of medium quality. Choice lemons are 

 usually packed for export in boxes containing 300 to 360 fruits. 



The Italian lemon is remarkable for its resistance to 

 disease, the richness in essential oil, for the strength of its 

 juice and for its citric acid content. These matters explain 

 the important demand that exists in the United States for 

 Italian lemons, in spite of the very active competition of fruits 

 from California and the advantages which protection gives to 

 the products of the United States, over those which are 

 imported. 



In Italy, the lemons that are not suited for exportation 

 are employed for making the essential oil; this is prepared 

 chiefly in the districts near Etna, Messina, Palermo, Syracuse, 

 and Barcelona. The time of year for this work lasts generally 

 from December to the end of March. The methods employed 

 vary to a certain extent with the district. Near Etna, 

 Messina and Syracuse the fruit is cut for the purpose into 

 two halves, the pulp is removed with a spatula, then the empty 

 skins are wetted with water for four or five hours before the 

 essential oil is expressed. According to the size, the state of 

 ripeness and the shape of the fruit, 1 B). of oil may be 

 obtained from 1,600 to 2,200 half skins; the green fruits give 

 a little more of the oil than the ripe. A good worker obtains 

 3i to just over 5 pints of oil a day. At Palermo the fruit is 

 cut longitudinally into three parts; in this method the 

 separation of the rind and the pulp is less perfect than in 

 the preceding, but the oil filters better and is more litripid. 



Information concerning the lemon industry of Sicily 

 and the manufacture in that island of citrate of lime and of 

 the essential oil has appeared in the Agricidlural News, 

 Vol. VI, p. 83, and Vol. VIII, pp. 180 and 324. 



Particulars regarding the citrus industry of Sicily in 

 1910-11 have been extracted from the report for the year 

 ended November 30, 1911, of the Royal Commissioner 

 administrating the Camera Agrumaria (see Agricultural 

 News, Vols. VIII, p. 377 and IX, p. 233), and appear in 

 Th9 Board of Trade Journal ior K-agmt 29, 1912. These 

 show that the estimated production of lime and lemon juice 

 in Sicily, in 1911, was 4,800 metric tons, as compared with 

 6,300 tons in 1910 and 7,500 tons in 1909; in making this 

 estimate 162 litres of concentrated lemon juice are calculated 

 as equivalent to 100 kilos, of citrate: there is a relatively 



