240 THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



Many of the older grapefruit orchards were planted on the lower valley 

 and heavier soils, while most of the more recent plantings have been 

 made either on higher lands having lighter soils or on soils possessing 

 the desirable characters of texture and other conditions found by 

 experience to be best for the production of this fruit. 



A part of the California grapefruit crop is usually picked green or 

 before it has fully ripened, and, as a result, its quality and flavor are 

 frequently poor. An early variety is needed, producing fruit which 

 will ripen from October until February for California markets, and this 

 is one of the achievements worthy of the serious attention of citrus 

 breeders and propagators. As a rule, the California grapefruit crop 

 of the established valuable variety ripens from May until July, and 

 some of the fruit can usually be held on the trees until September. 

 Under proper conditions, this late fruit can usually be held in storage 

 safely until about the last of November with constantly improving 

 flavor and little loss of weight from shrinkage. These conditions are: 

 first, a uniform, cool temperature ; and, second, a uniform condition of 

 humidity of about 90 per cent. The uniformity of humidity can be 

 secured by ventilation and the use of proper humidifiers. The condi- 

 tion of humidity in the storage rooms should be carefully determined 

 by means of the sling psychrometer two or three times each day. Natu- 

 rally, the fruit for storage must be picked with the best of care in order 

 to eliminate so far as possible all mechanical injuries which are likely 

 to result in decay, the development of which is particularly favored 

 by the high humidity necessary for successful storage conditions. 



NAME. 



A few years ago, about the time when grapefruit became recognized 

 as a valuable citrus fruit, an extended discussion of the proper name 

 for this fruit was carried on by several horticultural associations. The 

 American Pomological Society, various state horticultural associations, 

 and other similar organizations, agreed upon and adopted the name 

 pomelo. Considerable confusion has existed as to the proper scientific 

 name of the grapefruit. Hume^ gives both the pomelo and the shad- 

 dock under Citrus decumana L. More recently Swingle places them 

 in another species. Citrus grandis. 



The name pomelo has never been accepted by the fruit trade or pub- 

 lic generally. It does not seem likely that it will ever come into com- 

 mon use. For this reason, when the writer began six years ago some 

 systematic studies of one variety commercially important in southern 

 California, the name grapefruit instead of pomelo was adopted for per- 

 formance record aiid other investigations. Later, such authorities as 

 Webber and others have agreed upon the desirability of using the name 

 grapefruit for all purposes, so that it has seemed wise in this paper 

 and in our work as a whole to accept this commercial and almost uni- 

 versally used name. Hume- quotes Eisso and Porteau in their "His- 

 tory and Culture of Oranges," published in 1872, as follows: 



"The author of the Flora of the Antilles has equally observed 

 the pomelo cultivated in Jamaica, where the inhabitants call it 

 grapefruit. * * * The fruits are gathered in cluster-s of from 

 15 to 18 on the branch, each of the size of the fist, spherical, firm, 

 with a slightly rough skin of sulphurish yellow." 



^Citrus Fruits and Their Culture, p. 17. 



"Florida Elxperiment Station. Bulletin No. 58, p. 387. 



