464 SECOND ANNUAL CITRUS EXHIBITION 



imported, and having the statement of a reliable friend who had 

 tested the fruit of the Lisbon and found it equal to the imported, I 

 set out over 600 of that variety. Later I put out a few Eurekas, but 

 stopped when I found, after the third specimen had failed to give 

 satisfactory results, that it wasn't the variety I wanted. 



So far I have written of my own experience, and I will add that 

 since these trees have come into bearing, I have repeatedly put the 

 Lisbon to all tests it is ever likely to receive, and almost invariably 

 with satisfactory res'ults. It is possible the Olivia, which the Horti- 

 culturist has so highly recommended, is as good a lemon, but it does 

 not appear from the committee's report that it is more than an equal 

 in any respect of the Lisbon; and if the specimen the committee 

 tested is a fair representative, should consider its small size an 

 objection. Now, it has been urged that the size of the Lisbon was an 

 objection — that a seven ounce lemon was, too large. I do not find 

 the Lisbons all seven ounce lemons, by any means; and that it is not 

 proper to assume because those exhibited are large that they invari- 

 ably grow of that size. The average weight of those I have raised is 

 not over five ounces; but I hope the coming season to grow them 

 larger, for the reason that so long as our market is in San Francisco, 

 so long it will be necessary to produce a lemon which can success- 

 fully compete with the China lemon. Quality is of no account 

 in that market — China lemons bringing thirty-five and forty dollars 

 when first quality five-ounce Lisbons only brought fifteen to twenty 

 dollars. 



Theoretically, a medium sized lemon is the most desirable; but it 

 is a fact that they do not at the present time bring so good a price 

 on this coast. I am very sure that when communications direct by 

 rail are opened with the East, a more satisfactory market will be 

 found, where a superior article will sell because it is of better quality. 

 From the present outlook one might question if we were not upon 

 the wrong track, that our judgment as to what constitutes a good 

 lemon is wrong, and that this kind of fruit is nearest a success when 

 it has as many seeds as a pomegranate, and is as dry as a desert wind 

 in June. At all events, I repeat, so long as we have only this coast for 

 a market, it would seem that size in a lemon is nothing against it. 

 If it is fine grained, has sweet pulp, and is juicy, a lemon of five or 

 six ounces is none too large. • In the market report of the Boston 

 Herald, a few weeks since, I noticed a commendation of Florida 

 lemons because they were so much larger and better looking than 

 the imported fruit; and here is another argument in favor of a good 

 sized lemon. 



Let us at this point review the report of last year's committee, as 

 presented in the Horticulturist. It will be remembered that while 

 giving a very full and satisfactory report of the tests made, they 

 abstained from giving the credit of preeminence to any variety, very 

 properly, perhaps, leaving that for each orchardist to do for himself. 

 Of the thirty-two varieties tested, seventeen were unanimously 

 rejected for bitterness of rind. Among these rejected specimens were 

 four known as the " Sweet Rind " and two of the " Eureka." Only 

 two specimens were entirely free from the hitter quality. One of 

 these was the Lisbon, and the other the thornless variety submitted 

 by Fisher, Richardson & Co., the latter, in the acid test, falling much 

 below the former. In regard to the percentage of citric acid con- 

 tained, we find that one of the Lisbons showed as high figures as 9.8 



