THE SICILIAN LEMON INDUSTRY. 205 



SICILIAN LEMON INDUSTRY. 



By W. CATTON GRASBY, F.L.S. (Being a summary of notes collected by him 

 as Honorary Commissioner for the South Australian Government.*) 



Sicily, the Home of the Lemon. Sicily is a triangular 

 island, with a narrow coastal plain bordering a central moun- 

 tainous plateau, rugged and largely forest-clad, terminating on 

 the east in the black, fissure-furrowed, lava-covered slopes of 

 volcanic Etna. On the north coast is Palermo, the largest 

 town, and chief center of the lemon industry. Messina on the 

 east coast to the north of Etna, and Catania to the south of 

 the same mountain, divide the major portion of the remaining 

 trade. The Australian lemon trade is chiefly in the hands of 

 Messina merchants, and the fruit is sent via Naples, Brindisi, 

 or Marseilles. Sulphur, citric acid, oil of lemon, and sumac 

 chiefly pass through the trade channels of Genoa or London, 

 or both. 



Sicily is preeminently the home of the lemon. It does well 

 in many other places, but it reaches perfection in Sicily. 

 Why? The question is a most important one, and I have 

 thought over it a great deal. The St. Michael orange, the 

 Jaffa orange, or the Sicilian lemon, even when grown from 

 trees raised in other places and taken to other parts of the 

 world, generally, for the time at least, possess the outward 

 form and general characteristics, but lack the fine quality 

 of the luscious fruit which has secured a world-wide reputa- 

 tion. There is a close relationship, not at all understood, 

 between local conditions and the product of the plants. A 

 close study of the problems of fruit culture has led me to think 

 that while we should introduce all new and desirable varieties 

 of fruits from all parts of the world, because we never know 

 which will prove particularly valuable under our conditions, 

 we should pay a great deal more attention to the improvement 

 of our own varieties. I must not, however, discuss the whole 

 question now. It is only necessary to emphasize the fact that 

 the conditions of soil and climate in Sicily are particularly 

 suited to the lemon, and that by generations of experience the 



* Published in "Garden and Field" of Adelaide, South Australia; five 

 chapters, commencing in the December, 1898, number. 



