DIVISION OF GARDENS AND GROUNDS. 695 



to be about 1 inch in diameter they arc removed and planted where they are to 

 remain When they become well rooted and grovvnng they are budded vyith selected 

 varieties. Two buds are generally inserted, and upon opposite sides of the stock. 



Orange and lemon trees grow luxuriantly in the valleys, and fringe the sea-coast 

 almost to the water line. Those orchards yield the best results which ai-e most dis- 

 tant from the sea and are not of such an altitude as to be affected by the irost. iha 

 rich vailevs above the sea level, where an abundance of water can be had tor irrigation, 

 abound in the best orchards. The trees near the sea are more hable to disease, and the 

 Quahty of the fruit is not so good as that of the orchards more distant. 



Artificial irrigation is necessary in this cUmate. Streams that tumble down from 

 ^tna are utilized for this purpose. Wliere this is impracticable, water la elevated 



from wells by power. -.j.- j_ i -j. ■ 



The ground of the orchards between the ti-eea must be cultivated; it is necessary 

 that the gromid be kept perfectly clean. The soil should be worked at least five 

 times a year, couamencing in March and ending in October. , ^ •. 



The Sicihans regard the month of November the best time for gathering the iruit 

 for export. The fruit is carefully picked from the tree by hand, caution being 

 exercised not to mjure it by rough handling. The fruit is gently placed m a basket 

 lined with cloth. The box used here is generally capable of holding from 3a0 to 300 

 fruits, there being a partition in the center. It is Imed with common silk paper. 

 Each individual fmit is incased in the same kind of paper prior to boxing. The 

 boxes are not made air-tight, but interstices are left between the boards for ventila- 

 tion. Lemons gathered in the month of November and thus boxed are supposed 

 to keep without spoiling for six months. Oranges will not keep so long. The boxes 

 are occasionally opened and any infected fruits removed; especially is this done just 

 prior to shipment. . ■, ^ j. 



During the years 1882 and 1883 there were exported to the United States from 

 Catania 409,964 boxes, of which the invoiced value was $765,512.56. 



M' WALTER B. NO YES, CONSUL, VENICE, ITALY. 



Lemons.— The lake of Garda, the largest of the Italian lakes, while penetrating 

 with its northern extremity far into the mass of the Great Alps, opens out into the 

 plain from the south with barely the difference of level necessary to contain its wa- 

 fers, and the more completely it allows the warm air of the plain to penetrate into 

 its deeply embedded mountain recesses the more completely is the tej^id element 

 sheltered and isolated from the colder currents of the north. Bathed in this genial 

 atmosphere, the precipitous shores form a range of natural espahers, exposed to the 

 southern sun in all its course and enjoying a climate of their own, where the cul- 

 tivation of oranges and lemons has been a profitable industry for several centuries. 

 It is on the western shore of this lake, in the region of Brescia, that both fruits are 

 produced with success, while to the east, and properly within the Venetian terri- 

 tory, the lemon only is cultivated to any extent for commerce. 



An analysis of the trunk and fniit of the lemon shows in the fruit the presence of 

 47.48 per cent, of potassa, 22.83 per cent, of lime, and 11.57 per cent, of phosphoric 

 acid; in the trunk, 55.13 per cent, of lime, 17.09 per cent, of phosphoric acid, and 

 14.76 per cent, of potassa, with smaller proportions of other substances. 



Culture and propagation. — Italy is not the natural home of the oi'ange and lemon, 

 for wliile they thrive well in the open air dui'ing summer, they require protection 

 in winter. 



Propagation is commenced by sowing orange seed in rows, and the young plants 

 are gi-afted with good varieties. Great care is given to the preparation of the soil 

 where trees are to be transplanted. A broad ditch is dug out the whole length of 

 the proposed line of trees, and the earth is broken as finely as possible. The plants 

 are removed with a mass of earth adhering to their roots. The young trees are shel- 

 tered during the winter, and a poi-tion of manure is well worked in about the roots 

 of the trees in spring. -The yield here is precarious, and is always hable to be pros- 

 trated by any extraordinary severitv of the season. It is estimated that the avex-age 

 yearly yield is 500,000 lemons, worth about |3,000. 



RICHARD LOWENBTEIN, CONSULAR AGENT, GRAO, SPAIN, 



The system of propagation adopted in tliis province is that of grafting on stocks 

 of the bitter orange. The buds for grafting are taken from the center of the tree, 

 as it has been found that if taken from the lower part the branches of the tree pro- 

 duced always inchne towards the earth, and young twigs are not liked, as they pro- 

 duce large trees, bearing but Little fruit. 



