898 FRUIT CULTURE IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 



ess of candying is SO per cent. that is, 80 pounds of sugar to 100 

 pounds of citron and the kind used is generally Egyptian crystallized 

 sugar, which costs at the factories 11.85 cents per pound. The Govern- 

 ment allows a drawback at the above rate that is, 80 pounds of sugar 

 to 100 pounds of fruit on such as is subsequently exported. As the 

 duty is 5.7 cents per pound, it being returned makes the cost of the 

 sugar used in candying the fruit afterwards exported 6.15 per pound. 



There are nine factories for candying citrons in Leghorn, employing 

 about 300 men and producing annually 4,400,000 pounds. In 1884 the 

 United States took of these 1,921,341 pounds, valued at $214,652.23, 

 and up to the present date in 1885 they have taken 1,819,764 pounds, 

 valued at $261.566.61, a decrease in the quantity and an increase in the 

 valuation. The remainder is sent principally to Holland for distribu- 

 tion through northern Europe and England. 



As there are no citrons grown in this consular district, it is difficult 

 to give correct figures as to the cost of producing this fruit. The price 

 paid by tbe merchants here varies according to the supply, 5J to 6J 

 cents per pound being about the average cost of the fruit in brine at 

 the factories. 



The article is handled almost entirely by speculators, and the prices 

 of the candied fruit show great variations. While during the early 

 autumn the prices ranged from 16J to 18 J cents, it can now readily be 

 purchased for 13 cents per pound. 



VICTOR A. SARTORI, 



Consul. 



UNITED STATES CONSULATE, 



Leghorn, December 21, 1885. 



MESSINA, 



REPORT OF CONSUL JONES. 

 THE CITRON TREE. 



Formerly in the Province of Messina the, citron (Citrus medico) was 

 extensively grown in hedges, as dividing lines between neighbors, but 

 within the last twenty years this tree has been nearly exterminated in 

 this vicinity by the diseases known as (jomma (bleeding) and cagna (foot- 

 rot). 



The citron was the first of the citrus family introduced into Europe. 

 In its bearing and general appearance it is the most strongly character- 

 ized of the genus. The tree is low, with a full head ; it is strong-shooting ; 

 its shoots are tender and straggling; its leaf is large, thick, oblong, 

 wingless, and toothed. Changes occur at short intervals in the vitality 

 of the tree. It frequently happens that healthy shoots live but one or 

 two years; hence the necessity of cutting off the vertical shoots to 

 prevent sudden disturbances in the head of the tree that would exhaust 



