HANDLING THE CITRUS CROP. 419 



receiving too much air, while the greater portion of it 

 is badly decayed from receiving too little. 



"Proper ventilation is the keynote of success in keep- 

 ing lemons, and after extensive and expensive experience 

 along the old linos, 1 assert that it is entirely impractical 

 to hold lemons in large quantities, for any great length of 

 time by the old method. We have all been on the wrong 

 track in believing a low temperature first in importance. 

 If the ventilation is right the temperature will take care 

 ""of itself. I have always said that the proper keeping 

 point for lemons is just that point between where they 

 will wilt and where they will sweat. 



"The Limoneria Company, of Santa Paula, was the 

 first to equip a house on the open air plan, and as that 

 company has the most extensive plant and the widest 

 experience in this method, perhaps a description of its 

 lemon house and its methods may be of interest : 



"THE METHOD OF PACKING. 



"To begin with, the lemons are very carefully gath- 

 ered, great care being taken in handling so as not to bruise 

 the fruit. Rings of 2 5-16 inches in diameter are used for 

 winter pickings and 2 1-4 inches in diameter for spring 

 and summer, never more than six weeks being allowed to 

 elapse between clippings, and the fruit is usually 

 gathered about once a month. By careful attention to this, 

 desirable sizes and good keeping stock are obtained. I 

 want to say right here that this is the weak point of over 

 90 per cent of the lemon growers of California. I have 

 just returned from a tour of the principal lemon growing 

 sections of the State, and I found, as I have always found, 

 that the carelessness with which clipping is done is al- 

 most criminal. In grove after grove which I visited at 



