64 TILLEES OF THE GEOUND CHAP. 



all the things that the doctor disapproves of. 

 Among these indigestible things an important 

 item is candied peel, and especially citron peel, the 

 thick succulent peel that some of us have helped 

 to cut up at Christmas time. Now this peel had, 

 until lately, to be taken to America right across 

 the ocean, most of it from Corsica and Italy. But 

 California is in some respects like Italy, and it oc- 

 curred to some one there that, if he could grow citrons 

 on his farm, it would be easy to get sugar to candy 

 the peel, and he might supply his own country with 

 peel, and so make it easier for every child in the 

 States to get his poundcake at Christmas. It was, 

 at least, worth while to try, for the children of 

 America perhaps helped a little by their elders 

 eat more than two million pounds weight of citron 

 peel in the year. So this progressive farmer wrote 

 to the Secretary of Agriculture and said he would 

 like a few citron grafts for his orchard. 



Now the Secretary of Agriculture had no citron 

 grafts in stock, but he was not a man to let that 

 influence him in any way. He simply told one of 

 the travelling experts that he had better go over 

 to Corsica and bring back some nice citron buds 

 which could be grafted on other trees of the orange 

 family in California. The expert was accustomed 

 to have such instructions given to him, so he 

 packed his box and departed for Corsica. That 



