LEMON CULTURE. 155 



The first rock that of the lemons reaching market in 

 bad condition has been removed. They used to be picked 

 when quite ripe, packed at once, and sent off, to be found 

 almost invariably heated and rotten at their journey's end. 

 But now they may be kept perfectly good for six months 

 or more by proper treatment, and they will improve rather 

 than deteriorate by being so kept. 



It is a very simple matter, this preparation of lemons 

 for market, being exactly the same process we have already 

 described as applied to oranges, namely, an avoidance of 

 moisture while curing, by spreading the fruit on well-ven- 

 tilated shelves, and afterward sorting in grades and wrap- 

 ping in manilla paper. 



But at the outset there is one point of difference, and 

 this it is which is of paramount importance, involving suc- 

 cess or failure. The orange will keep well, even if picked 

 when quite ripe ; the lemon will not. It must be picked 

 when just commencing to turn yellow, and at least one 

 half of the rind is still green ; picked in this condition it 

 should be kept on the drying shelves for at least six or 

 eight weeks. 



This is the secret of curing lemons successfully, as recom- 

 mended by a special committee of California citrus-fruit 

 growers, appointed expressly for the purpose of investigat- 

 ing this important subject. 



The second rock that has stood in the way of lemon cul- 

 ture in the United States the idea that the tree is more 

 subject to disease than the orange doubtless arose from 

 the pioneer trees having been planted on soil too moist for 

 them, under the belief that wherever the orange would 

 flourish, the lemon should do likewise. 



As a matter of fact the latter, in suitable locations, 

 outstrips the orange in the rapidity of its growth, even 

 though on much poorer soil ; it is even less liable to dis- 



