LE MOINE 



3378 



LEMON 



their destination; if, however, a large body of 

 water appears before them they plunge in and 

 meet death by drowning. 



LE MOINE, lemoyn', or lemwhaN', SIR 

 JAMES MACPHERSON (1825-1916), a Canadian 

 historian and naturalist, who wrote with equal 

 facility in French and English. He was born 

 at Quebec, was educated there at Le Petit 

 Seminaire, and was called to the bar in 1850. 

 For a number of years he was collector, and 

 then inspector, of inland revenue at Quebec, 

 but later he devoted himself to literary work. 

 He gave much of his time to the study of 

 natural history, especially birds, and his Birds 

 of Quebec and L'Ornithologie du Canada are 

 among his most popular writings. In addition 

 to ornithology Sir James became a specialist 

 in archaeology and history, subjects in which 

 he was noted for carefulness in investigation 

 and impartiality in his conclusions. Among his 

 many books are Legendary Lore of the Saint 

 Lawrence; The Fisheries of Canada; Quebec, 

 Past and Present; Canadian Heroines, and An- 

 nals of the Port of Quebec. 



LEMON, lem'un, the fruit of a tree of the 

 citrus group, whose thick outer rind is the 

 source of a valuable oil, and in whose pulp 

 is found the acid juice used everywhere in 

 making the popular beverage known as lemon- 

 ade and as a flavor in cookery. The lemon 

 tree, which belongs to the same group as the 

 orange and the lime, grows wild in India, and 

 is supposed to have been introduced into 

 Europe during the Crusades, about the year 

 1200. It is now cultivated in Italy and the 

 neighboring islands, in Spain and Portugal, in 

 Mexico and in the warm states of California 

 and Florida. It grows from ten to twenty feet 

 in height, bearing long, willowy branches which 

 are meagerly clothed with pale-green leaves. 

 The flowers, which are small and marked on 

 the outside with purplish lines, are fragrant, 

 but less so than their cousins, the orange blos- 

 soms. 



The lemon tree begins to bear the third or 

 fourth year and comes into full bearing the 

 sixth or seventh year. The average yield for 

 one tree is between 200 and 300 pounds a year, 

 this figure varying with the care given and the 

 weather conditions. Trees are usually planted 

 one hundred to the acre, so a grower expects 

 an annual yield of from 2,000 to 3,000 pounds 

 per acre. In Northern California lemon groves 

 in full bearing have a value of from $750 to 

 $1,500 per acre, and in Southern California 

 the price ranges from $1,000 to $2,500. The 



life of the lemon tree averages about forty 

 years. 



The fruit of the lemon tree is classed by 

 botanists as a berry. It is shaped like an egg, 

 and its light-yellow outer rind has a rough 

 appearance, which is due to the numerous oil 

 glands imbedded in its surface. On the inside 

 of the peel is a white, spongy, almost taste- 



THE LEMON 

 (a) Cross section of (c) Stamens and pistil 



fruit (d) Whole fruit 



(6) Flower 



Above is a branch showing arrangement of 

 leaves. 



less inner rind, while the whole interior of the 

 fruit is filled with a juicy, sour, light-colored 

 pulp. This is divided into ten or twelve sec- 

 tions, each of which contains two or three 

 seeds. 



Since lemons do not keep well if allowed to 

 ripen on the tree, they are gathered while still 

 green and placed upon trays in cool, dark 

 rooms. As the fruit slowly ripens, its rind 

 becomes tougher, thinner and more pliable, 

 conditions which promise good keeping quali- 

 ties during the process of shipping. On their 

 removal from the curing rooms the lemons are 

 sorted, graded, wrapped in tissue paper and 

 packed in boxes. 



Lemon extract, or oil, which is widely used 

 for flavoring and as a basis for perfumes, is 

 obtained by pressing the oil from the peel. 

 The juice of the pulp, whose tart, agreeable 

 flavor is due chiefly to the citric acid contained 

 in it, has several uses. Cold lemonade is one 

 of the most refreshing of summer beverages, 



