502 FRUIT CULTURE IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 



however, during the Indian summer, rainy days are succeeded by dry, 

 clear weather, lemon trees of different varieties immediately put on 

 blooms, and if, owing to the mildness of the season, the fruit sets at the 

 beginning of winter, it will come to maturity in midsummer. 



Lemons are divided into two classes, the true lemon and the bastard 

 lemon. The true lemon is produced by the April and May blooms ; the 

 bastard by the irregular blooms of February, March, June, and July, 

 which depend upon the rain-fall or regular irrigation and the intensity 

 of the heat during the summer and winter seasons. The true lemon 

 requires nine months to reach maturity, from the bloom in May to the 

 mature fruit in January. There are but three harvests of the true 

 lemon. The first is the November cut, when the lemon is green m 

 appearance and not fully ripe. Lemons of this cut are the most highly 

 prized ; they possess remarkable keeping qualities, and are admir- 

 ably preserved in boxes in warehouses from November until March, 

 and sometimes as late as May, and then shipped. The second cut occurs 

 in December and January. Lemons of the January cut must be shipped 

 three weeks after gathering. At this date the lemon has acquired a 

 yellowish appearance. The third cut occurs in March and April. This 

 fruit is shipped as soon as gathered, spring prices being always high. 

 The uniformity in size of lemons, as we meet them in the trade, is due 

 to the monthly harvestings from October to March. No sizer is used or 

 even known here. 



Bastard lemons present well-characterized peculiarities in shape and 

 appearance; their inner skin is fine and adheres tenaciously to the 

 meat ; they are hard, rich in acid, and seedless. The bastard lemon, 

 produced from the bloom of June 1, is still green the following April, 

 and ripens only towards the end of July. It remains on the tree over 

 a year, and sells well in summer. Besides the March and June bas- 

 tards, there are yet others that remain on the trees from twelve to 

 eighteen months. The true lemon can be left on the tree until the end 

 of May or the first week in June, but it interferes with the new crop, 

 drops off from overmaturity, and is liable to be attacked by insects. 

 The bastards, on the contrary, withstand bad weather and parasites, 

 and they mature from June to October. It is estimated that four times 

 more oranges than lemons are lost in the groves and warehouses. Good 

 drainage is, of course, most essential in orange and lemon culture. 



Table A shows the mean annual price per box of oranges and lemons 

 at Messina for the years 1870 to 1886, inclusive, the figures being 

 official. 



ESSENCES. 



With three strokes of his sharp knife the cutter peels the lemon 

 lengthwise and lets the peel fall into a tub under the chopping-block. He 

 then cuts the lemon in two and throws it from his knife into a bucket. 

 He works with wonderful rapidity and fills from ten to twelve tubs with 



