THE SICILIAN LEMON INDUSTRY GATHERING, ETC. 217 



years since, with the United States, is due to the inherent 

 quality of the fruit, owing to the peculiarly favorable climate, 

 the care paid to the cultivation of the tree, and the skill and 

 care of the Sicilian in handling the fruit. I have often been 

 asked how the lemons are cured in Sicily in order to keep so 

 long and well. People can hardly realize the truth that, in 

 the sense understood by the questioners, they are hardly cured 

 at all. . 



A Succession of Crops. All Sicilian lemons will not keep. 

 Lemon trees bear a series of crops, there being, however, a 

 main crop of the finest and best quality fruit. It is the best of 

 this crop only that will keep well and long. 



I have described how the lemon is grown on varied series of 

 soils and at different altitudes, from sea-level to 3,000 feet up 

 the mountainous interior of the island. As the main crop 

 ripens on the sea coast from October to December, and the 

 same crop continues to mature later and later as we ascend the 

 mountains, I may state that the main crop is ripening in 

 different districts from October to February. Then it must be 

 remembered that the good fruit will hang on the trees without 

 serious k>ss of quality for three months, so that it may be 

 stated that the chief lemon harvest may be .extended from 

 October to May. It is, however, not considered good, for either 

 the fruit or the trees, to allow the lemons to hang too long, 

 because the fruit will keep better if properly packed and stored. 

 In this connection it must be remembered that the weather 

 during all these months is cool, and that is, next to care in 

 picking and handling, the most essential condition for success 

 in keeping lemons or indeed any fruit. 



Keeping Qualities Depend on Soil, etc. I must not 



omit to mention that the keeping qualities of lemons depend a 

 good deal on the soil and situation in which they are grown. 

 Lemons grown on light, sandy soil deteriorate quickly. They 

 get dry and spongy, and will not stand shipment well. On 

 the other hand, lemons grown in loamy clay, or loam with 

 well-drained clay subsoils, such as predominate in the moun- 

 tainous lemon districts, keep much better. So great is this 

 influence that lemons grown in these soils sell at one third 

 higher price than those grown on the sandy land. " Moun- 

 tain," i. e. y fruit grown on the loamy soils with clay subsoil, is 



