200 STATE BOARD OF HORTICULTURE. 



circulate among the fruit, and to keep everything dry as far as 

 advisable. We find that fruit picked early and while quite 

 green, say in November, always cures the best and with the 

 least possible shrinkage or loss by decay. 



" When packing the fruit for shipment, the wraps that were 

 used for curing can be used, except where the paper has been 

 moistened by decay in the vicinity or is torn or wet from other 

 causes. It is better to remove all old wraps, regrade the fruit, 

 and then pack the same as oranges, using if possible the Sicily 

 style of box, which is obtainable now on this Coast." 



In 1890, N. W. Blanchard, of Santa Paula, an extensive 

 lemon-grower, and President and General Manager of the 

 Lemonia Company, of Santa Paula, read an essay on "The 

 lemon and its treatment," before the State Fruit-Growers' Con- 

 vention, in which he described his method of curing lemons, 

 essentially the same as now practiced by him. In 1894, in an 

 essay before the Farmers' Institute at Santa Barbara, he said: 



"The essentials for keeping lemons several months are to 

 exclude the air, or any circulation of air around the fruit, and 

 at the same time to give ample circulation of air about the 

 trays or boxes that contain the lemons. My experience is, that 

 if there are a good many boxes of lemons closely massed, even 

 with cool weather some of the fruit will decay. When one 

 lemon begins to rot heat is generated, and this acts like yeast, 

 causing fermentation and rottenness to spread rapidly. I do 

 not think expensive buildings are necessary. I have seen 

 no better cured and preserved lemons than some that were 

 wrapped in pieces of newspaper, placed in layers in common 

 boxes with more paper between layers, the boxes covered with 

 light covering so as to shut off all circulation of air, and all piled 

 in the end of an airy barn. These lemons were shown to me 

 in July, and I was informed that they were cut in November 

 previous. The lemons were firm, finely colored, and in excel- 

 lent condition for shipment. 



"I know no reason for changing my method of curing 

 lemons. I continue to use trays two by three feet and three 

 inches deep, each holding only one layer of lemons. They are 

 convenient to work with and to examine the lemons. They 

 should be carefully made, so that when the trays are stacked 

 one on the other there is no chance for the air to reach the 

 fruit. 



