[36 Appendix. 



No. 45. 



Gardeners' Chronicle, 3ist July, 1886, p. 154 Article, 

 Citron. 



" In recent consular reports, appear interesting accounts of 

 this well-known ingredient of plum-puddings and wedding- 

 cakes. Leghorn Citron is what it is usually termed, but little 

 or none of the article is grown there, Sicily and Corsica 

 furnishing the supply of the new fruit. The Citron-tree is of 

 the Citrus family, and is as nearly like the lemon as it can 

 well be. It is propagated principally from cuttings, and 

 flourishes near the sea in sheltered positions, and in warm 

 and sandy soil. The tree resembles somewhat an overgrown 

 bush, and as citrons often weigh from 6 to 8 Ibs. each, the 

 branches of the tree must be supported by props. The trees 

 are subject to peculiar constitutional diseases, which kill 

 without mercy. As the profit of the grower depends largely 

 upon his favourable situation, &c., it is hard to make even a 

 rough estimate of the business. Supposing the trees to be 

 planted 3 yards apart, and allowing fourteen citrons to each 

 shrub, the average weight of the fruit per acre would be 

 9,346 Ibs. The price of this fruit in Leghorn is about six 

 cents per pound, but from this must be deducted costs of 

 casks in which the fruit is shipped, about three dollars, and 

 cost of cutting and packing the fruit, two dollars per cask ; 

 then general expenses of the citron farm are estimated at 

 sixty-eight dollars per acre. The Corsican and Sicilian 

 grower packs the fruit cut in halves in casks with brine and 

 ships it to Leghorn, where there are nine factories for candy- 

 ing citron, employing 300 men. On arrival there in these 

 casks, the fruit looks like huge lemons with tremendously 

 thick rinds, and little substance inside. They remain in 

 pickle some thirty days, and are tough and bitter. They are 

 then boiled in fresh water till soft, cut into quarters, and all 

 the seeds carefully removed. They are then placed in jars 

 with hot syrup, and for about three weeks the proportion of 





