440 FRUIT CULTURE IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES, 



the best when 5 inches in circumference. The best varieties are the 

 budded. The orchards are small. 



Maturity The trees begin bearing three years after budding ; 

 twenty years of age, best crop. 



Insect pests. Small scale pest ; not treated at all. 



LEMONS. 



Varieties. Lemons are of three varieties: (1) Seedlings; (2) grafted; 

 (3) from shoots of a grafted tree put into the ground ; the best is the 

 grafted. Whitish, clayey soil is suitable for lemons ; it is not the best. 

 There is a variety of lemon called u sweet lemon w which has the color 

 of lemon and the shape of a medium-sized orange, but has a sweet, rather 

 insipid taste. Its cultivation is similar to that of the lemon, except that 

 it grows best in soil free from sand. Lemons are picked during all the 

 months of the year. Packed in paper and put in wooden boxes. JS"o 

 information or statistics published by the Government. 



ERHARD BISSINGER, 



Consul. 



UNITED STATES CONSULATE, 



Beirut, February 12, 1890. 



BEIRUT. 



REPORT BY CONSUL ROBESON. 

 (Republished from Consular Reports No. 41$. ) 



There are three kinds of oranges grown in this country : (1) sour 

 oranges; (2) sweet oranges; and (3) Mandarins. The last are the most 

 valuable. These trees are mature in the seventh year, and remain fruit- 

 ful forty or fifty years. The sour oranges are raised from seedling, 

 while all the other kinds of oranges grow better by grafting. Two 

 kinds of lemons are cultivated near Beirut the sweet and sour lemons. 

 The best results are obtained from sour lemons when they are grafted, 

 on sweet-lemon trees, as the size of the fruit increases with the age of 

 the tree. Lately a sort of fungus has appeared on these trees, and in 

 some places small snails attacked them, but as yet no effectuaHremedy 

 has been found to prevent or cure the same. The orange and lemon 

 trees are planted about 20 feet apart. It is said that they grow best 

 on the sea-coast. Low sheltered places are, however, to be preferred, as 

 much exposure to the winds proves injurious. Dark or sandy soil suits 

 such trees much better than light. Goats' manure is preferable to any 

 other. 



Orange and lemon trees require to be watered during the dry season. 

 The first irrigation is effected in June when the leaves of the trees begin 

 to curl up from the dry heat. The ground of the orange and lemon orch- 

 ards is cultivated three times a year when the soil is thoroughly dry. 



