386 CALIFORNIA FRUITS : HOW TO GROW THEM 



lemons, while imported oranges are only worth one-twenty-fifth as 

 much. The California contention that the lemon should be encouraged 

 with increased protection to enable producers to push the issue of an 

 American lemon for Americans to a successful termination, was re- 

 jected by the tariff of 1913. In 1914 the future of the California lemon 

 is not clear. The product of 1913 was reduced by frost to the figures of 

 a decade ago, though in 1911 it was four times as great. The exact 

 figures are given at the opening of Chapter XXXII. Whether the 

 lemon can weather the storms of all kinds which have arisen remains 

 to be demonstrated. 



The best pack of California lemons has a uniformity of size, a finish 

 of skin, a juiciness and keen acidity which is unrivaled in the world. 

 Numerous careful tests have been made of the California lemon in 

 Atlantic cities in comparison with the best south European product, 

 and the superiority of the American fruit has thus been demonstrated. 



SITUATIONS AND SOILS FOR THE LEMON 



The lemon does best in a practically f restless situation. Such places 

 are found in largest area in the southern half of the coast regions of 

 California, but also exist at favoring elevations in the interior. The 

 moderating influence of proximity to salt water, and the effect of local 

 topography and environment, which give frost-free nooks or belts, are 

 elements favoring the lemon grower. In such situations the lemon 

 blooms and fruits continuously throughout the year. 



While the lemon requires a less extreme of low temperature than 

 the orange, it also thrives with a less extreme of high temperature and 

 less duration of it. It apparently does not require as much heat to 

 develop acid, which is the charm of the lemon, as it does sugar, which 

 is essential to an acceptable orange; therefore, a coast situation which 

 may not yield a sweet orange may produce a good lemon, although it 

 is a fact that in the southern coast region, where the largest commer- 

 cial production of lemons is now achieved, the orange also does well. 

 Another advantage of the lower summer temperature is that the con- 

 tinuous ripening is not interfered with, as it is by high summer heat, 

 which hastens maturity and brings the mass of the fruit to marketable 

 condition in the winter a season when the demand for the lemon is 

 very small. This objection is, however, being measurably overcome 

 by the proper storage and treatment of the fruit for sale, at a consider- 

 able interval after picking, as will be mentioned presently. But both 

 the curing and storage of lemons are more easily secured in the more 

 equable temperature and moister air of the coast region. 



The lemon delights in a sandy loam, and probably our best orchards 

 are on such soil, but the trees thrive in other soils. There is a differ- 

 ence of opinion among growers as to what soil is to be especially sought 

 for. There are profitable lemon orchards in southern California located 

 upon deep clay loams, and even upon strong red clay soils. As with 

 some other fruits, the choice of soil is, to a certain extent, governed 

 by the stock on which the lemon is worked. 



