THE LEMON. 



S53 



places, however, are still to be found large and 

 flourishing trees. Those at Smorgomy in Gla- 

 . morganshire are the largest in Britain. They are 

 planted in the floor of an immense conservatory, 

 and bear abundantly. It is said that the plants 

 were procured from a wreck on tlie coast in that 

 quarter, in the time of Henry VII. 



At Woodhall, near Hamilton, trees of all the 

 species of citrus are trained against the back 

 wall of forcing houses, in the manner of peaches, 

 and produce large crops of fruit. At Castle 

 Semple, near Paisley, there is a citron tree which, 

 in 1830, covered a wall twenty-five feet in length, 

 and sixteen feet higli, besides returning about 

 six feet on each end of the house. In that year 

 it produced between seven and eight dozen of 

 fruit, one of which measured eighteen inclics 

 and a half by nineteen and a half.* 



Tub Lkmon (citrus limonum). This is a 

 knotty wooded tree, about eight feet in height. 



123. 



The Lemon. 



with rough bark, and pale green leaves. Tlie 

 fruit is oblong and smootli, and rather thin 

 skinned. The juice of tlie pulp is much more 

 acid than that of the orange, and consists of the 

 citric acid. The flavour of the essential oil of 

 the rind is also peculiar and extremely grateful. 

 Dr Sickler enumerates twenty-eiglit varieties as 

 grown in Italy; tlie French cultivate eleven; 

 and in the London nurseries are about twelve 

 varieties. 



The lemon grows naturally in that part of 

 India which is situated beyond the Ganges ; but 

 its transmigration to Europe is due to the Caliphs 

 during their invasion of the West. The lemon 

 thus transplanted was found by the crusaders, in 

 Syria and Palestine, towards the end of the 

 eleventh century. By them it was introduced 



* Loudon. 



129. 



into Sicily and Italy, though it is probable tliat 

 at the same period it was already multiplied in 

 Africa and Spain. Arabian writers of the twelfth 

 century speak of the lemon tree as then culti- 

 vated in Kgypt and many other places. Matthew 

 Silvaticus, a writer of that time, saj's, that tlie 

 lemon was then spread over aU Italy. 



lu the southern parts of Europe, where the 

 lemon is abundant, the varieties are very nume- 

 rous. Lemons are imported into this country 

 both for their agreeable acid juice and essential 

 oil, and also for the manufacture of citric acid 

 in a concrete state. Tliey will keep good for a 

 considerable time, especially if steeped for a 

 short period in salt water. 



The Citron (citrus medica). This is by 

 some supposed to be the same species as the le- 

 mon. In its wild state the tree 

 grows to the height of about 

 eight feet, erect and prickly, 

 with long reclining branches. 

 The leaves are ovate, oblong, 

 alternate, sub-serrate, pale 

 green. The fruit is six inches 

 in length, ovate, with a protu- 

 berance at the tip. There are 

 two rinds, the outer thin, with 

 innumerable miliaiy glands. 

 The Citrun. fyH of j, j^ogt, fragrant oil; the 

 inner thick, white, and fungous. The citron was 

 introduced into Europe from Media, under the 

 name of mains medica, and was first cultivated 

 in Italy by Palladius, in the second centur^^ 

 The date of its introduction into England is not 

 exactly known, it would probably be coeval with 

 that of the lemon, which was cultivated in the 

 botanic garden of Oxford in 1648. The fairest 

 fruit, Millar states, was in the duke of Argyle's 

 garden at Whitton, where the trees were trained 

 against a south wall, through which there were 

 flues for warming the air in winter, and glass 

 covers put over them when the weather began to 

 be cold ; and thus fruit as large and as perfectly 

 ripened was produced as any in Italy or Spain. In 

 Italy, citrons and lemons are generally trained 

 on walls or espaliers, because being considerablv 

 more tender than the orange, they require, at 

 least in the north of Italy, some protection in 

 winter. The fruit does not ripen regularly at 

 one time, like that of the orange, but comes suc- 

 cessively to maturity almost every month in the 

 year. There are about six varieties cultivated in 

 Britain : the common, the flat-fruited, the rough- 

 fruited, the forbidden-fruited, the round-fruited, 

 and the thick-leaved. 



The Lime (citrus acidaj. The sour lemon, 

 or lime, grows to the height of about eiglit feet, 

 with a crooked trunk, and many diffused 

 branches armed with prickles. The leaves are 

 ovate, lanceolate, almost quite entire. The fniit 

 is an inch and a half in diameter, almost globii- 



