FRUITS 263 



pal market variety. In a general way lemons are 

 subject to the same diseases and insects as oranges. 

 They are, however, very susceptible to scab, and 

 lemon orchards will have to be sprayed with Bor- 

 deaux mixture to secure smooth, marketable fruit. 



Limes (^Citrus Limett a). — Although closely related 

 to lemons, botanically and in the purposes for which 

 they are used, limes are really quite distinct. They 

 are also quite tender to frost. They occur abun- 

 dantly in south Florida and most parts of the Ameri- 

 can tropics. They have long been one of the chief 

 crops in certain of the smaller of tlie British West 

 Indies, where they are grown for pickling and for 

 making commercial lime juice and citric acid. They 

 are also shipped to some extent in the fresh state. 

 It is really remarkable that limes are not more 

 widely known and used at the North. They almost 

 entirely replace lemons for local use in the tropics, 

 and every one who goes there soon learns to greatly 

 prefer them. They have an aromatic quality that 

 makes the lemon seem flat and flavorless by compari- 

 son. Some trouble has been experienced in ship- 

 ping them, since they do not keep as well as lemons, 

 but this is largely due to crude methods in handling 

 them. When the matter of proper handling and 

 curing shall have received sufficient attention, fresh 

 limes will doubtless become a much more important 

 commercial factor. In general, limes are subject to 

 the same diseases and insects as the orange. They are 

 particularly susceptible to a fungous disease known 

 as "wither tip" (^G-loeosporium)^ which also attacks 

 many of the other citrus fruits. It causes a spot- 



