LIME 



LIME 



1881 



berries and currants are often helped by liming on 

 soils where liming is detrimental, or of little or no aid, 

 to the strawberry. 



The state of Rhode Island owes its fame as the home 

 of the Rhode Island bent to the fact that this grass can 

 persist on very acid soils whereas many other grasses 

 fail. On such soils there is but little likelihood that the 

 common poppy will ever become a pernicious weed 

 as it has in many of the wheat-fields of Europe. Such 

 soils are, however, the natural home of the common 

 sorrel. Among the cereals, Indian corn and rye are 

 best adapted to acid soils, and these are followed hi 

 turn by oats, wheat, and barley. 



The following table compiled from the results 

 obtained at the Rhode Island Agricultural Experi- 

 ment Station shows, numerically, some of the striking 

 contrasts between different kinds of plants as concerns 

 their response to liming. 



out America. There is no doubt but that it will event- 

 ually occupy a much larger place in our markets. 



The cultivation of the lime is confined to regions 

 where frosts are practically unknown. In the dormant 

 or winter season, the trees respond very readily to 

 rising temperatures, new and very tender growth 

 starts and if a drop in temperature sufficient to cause 

 frost follows, as it so often does in many regions where 

 its culture has been tried, the trees suffer severely. 

 Attempts are being made to secure a hardy fruit by 

 crossing with the kumquat (see Limequat). 



Of the varieties in cultivation, Tahiti and Persian 

 are much the same. The fruits are as large as ordinary 

 lemons. These are somewhat hardier than the smaller- 

 fruited seedling Mexican limes. Palmetto and Ever- 

 glade are two varieties of Mexican limes, originated, 

 named and described by H. J. Webber, (Yearbook 

 United States Department of Agriculture, pages 279- 



It is of interest to note the poorer result with Silene 

 orientalis where the soil was made more nearly neutral 

 or alkaline, and the almost fatal effect of liming on the 

 cranberry vines. This result should be compared with 

 that with the sweet peas and beans. H. J. WHEELER. 



LIME (Fruit). The acid lime (Citrus aurantifolia; 

 see volume II, page 782), Fig. 2175, is found in most 

 parts of the tropics, and is commonly cultivated or 

 found growing in a semi-wild state in India, Ceylon, 

 the Malay Archipelago, West Indies, tropical Mexico, 

 and to a lesser extent on the Keys and in the warmer 

 parts of Florida. The West Indian Islands, Mont- 

 serrat and Dominica, are noted for their commercial 

 production of lime fruit, lime juice and citrate of lime. 

 In California, the lime is grown as a home fruit in some 

 parts, but as it does not possess the hardiness of the 

 orange or lemon, it is of no commercial importance. The 

 sweet lime (C. limetta) is perhaps a hybrid, worthless 

 as a commercial fruit in America, though grown and 

 used in other countries. 



In the eastern United States, the limes so largely 

 used at the soda fountains are secured mostly from the 

 West Indies, packed in barrels and imported via New 

 York, although part of the supply comes from the 

 Florida Keys. The supply of the western states comes 

 from Mexico, for the most part. These limes, the prod- 

 uct of seedling trees, are variously referred to as Mexi- 

 can, West Indian or Key limes. In tropical countries, 

 where limes may be secured at all seasons of the year, 

 they are used almost entirely in place of lemons, and 

 each year it is becoming a more important fruit through- 



281, plate XX, 1905). These have neither been intro- 

 duced nor planted commercially. Their merits in a 

 large way are therefore unknown. There is no question 

 but that the careful selection, and propagation by 

 budding, of Mexican limes would be well repaid. 

 Thornless is a recently introduced variety from Dom- 

 inica of the Mexican type. The absence of thorns is a 

 desirable feature. Bearss and Imperial, of the same 

 general type as Tahiti, are grown in California. In 

 the colder citrous sections the true limes may be 

 replaced by the calamondin (Citrus mitis), a very 



Erolific citrus which produces a small acid fruit of excel- 

 snt flavor, resembling a small tangerine in color, 

 shape and rind. Rangpur is an acid fruit, the size of a 

 small lemon, round or oblate, orange-red in color, with 

 deep orange-colored flesh, high quality and excellent 

 flavor. It is often referred to as a lime from which it 

 is distinct. Bonavia refers it to the Suntara orange 

 group of India. It is hardier than the true limes, in 

 fact it ranks with the sweet oranges in this respect and 

 is worth planting where the true limes cannot be grown. 

 The Mexican lime, grown as seedlings, is not particu- 

 lar in its soil-requirements. It grows and seems to 

 flourish on poor sandy soils, or on rocky soils. It will 

 grow and bear fruit in considerable quantities even 

 when neglected and left unfertilized and uncultivated. 

 These limes are produced in Florida on the lower East 

 Coast and on the Keys, where an association has been 

 formed for handling the crop. In other parts of South 

 Florida, Tahiti and Persian have been planted in groves, 

 in considerable numbers, and the fruit thus far has 

 sold at good prices for local consumption. 



