ORANGES AND LEMONS IN SYRIA. 441 



The annual yield of fruit per acre in the best orange orchards is about 

 30,OUO oranges, the average price of which may be estimated at from 

 * 130 to $140. The yield and price of lemons are nearly the same. The 

 k'inon trees last twenty-five years, while the orange trees, like olives, 

 last for an indefinite period of time. The cost of plowing, irrigating, 

 and manuring per acre may be set down between 815 and $18 per annum. 

 The seeds of oranges and lemons are first sown in a small tract of land. 

 After a year they are. removed and replanted in a larger piece, and at 

 the end of the second year they are again transplanted into groves. 



JOHN T. EOBESON, 



Consul. 

 UNITED STATES CONSULATE, 



Beirut, May 3, 1884. 



HAIFA. 

 REPORT BY CONSULAR AGENT SCHUMACHER. 



Horticulture is carried on in my district in the same primitive man- 

 ner that has been the custom for centuries. 



Variety. Of oranges and lemons there are but a few groves of any 

 account in my district in the neighborhood of Acca, therefore I can 

 only answer the questions in a general way. There is only one kind 

 of orange planted, called, in Arabic, bortogan beeladie. 



Situation. The groves are situated 3 miles from the sea. The eleva- 

 tion above sea level is from 30 to 40 meters. The trees are exposed to 

 the sun without any protection. The soil is sandy, of reddish color. 



Climatic influences. Temperature: minimum, 2 to 4 -f Keaumur- 

 maximum 33 to 35 -f Reaumur; average 20 to 25 -f E. The nights 

 are generally warm about six months; about three to four months a 

 temperature from 12 to 14 -f Reaumur, the remaining two months 

 2 -f (only a few nights) to 20 -f- K. There are about thirty five or 

 forty days of extremely dry atmosphere during sirocco. Moist air pre- 

 vails during the rainy season, from December to April. 



Rain-falls. The rain-fall varies from 1 foot 7J inches to 3 feet 3 

 inches per year; by 1 foot 7 inches we call it a dry year; two feet is 

 about sufficient rain. 



Irrigation Irrigation lasts from May to December. The water is 

 raised by mule-power from wells from 25 to 100 feet deep, and then flows 

 into large reservoirs, from whence it is run out in small channels to the 

 trees. Irrigation lasts from May, at which time the blossom is past, 

 and is carried on until December, when the fruit is about ripe. Each 

 trn- receives from 40 to 50 gallons of water, once a week. 



Cultivation. The soil in the groves is thoroughly worked with broad 

 hoes several times a year. 



