902 FRUIT CULTURE IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 



at intervals until the sirup is thick. The fruit is then dried in an oven 

 or before the fire, and can be exported in wooden boxes. 



According to another authority, the fresh citron is divided, the pulp 

 taken out, and the rinds are then steeped in brine for several weeks. 

 They are then boiled in sirup until the rinds are quite cooked ; they are 

 next dried and boxed, as above described. 



Others again, after taking the rind out of the brine, boil it in water 

 for two days, changing the water two or three times per day and begin- 

 ning each time with cold water ; then 1 kilogram of sugar to one-half 

 kilogram of water is taken ; put into the quantity of sirup thus made 1 

 kilogram of the rind a*s above prepared. Each day for six or seven days 

 bring the fruit now in the sirup to a heat in which you can just bear your 

 hand, adding 50 grams of sugar each time. Let the fruit in this sirup 

 become cold, and, as above, add 50 grams. Make another sirup of 1 

 kilogram of sugar to one-half kilogram of water ; boil for one-half hour ; 

 then take the fruit out of the first sirup and put in the last prepared, 

 which should be exceedingly hot, and boil the fruit ten minutes, stirring 

 it at the same time. Thus the last sirup is absorbed by the fruit, and 

 it becomes dry. 



The citrons, both fresh and in brine, are exported in immense quan- 

 tities from Messina, Palermo, and other places to foreign countries, but 

 chiefly to the English markets. 



EDWARD OAMPHAUSEN, 



Consul. 



UNITED STATES CONSULATE, 



Naples, December 19, 1885. 



SICILY. 



REPORT OF CONSUL WOODCOCK OF CATANIA. 



' In this district, comprising the southeast third of Sicily, the land rises 

 gradually from the sea- shore to the summit of ^Etna. The mountain is 

 a little over two miles high, and Sicily is in a semi-tropical climate. 

 The slopes of ^Etna, therefore, have every variety of climate fro^m the 

 semi tropical to the frigid, according to altitude. Citrus groves make 

 beautiful these slopes with their vivid green , from the sea-shore to an 

 altitude of about 1,000 feet. At this higher altitude the cultivation of 

 the orange and lemon is not so profitable, owing to the uncertainty of 

 a crop. Heavy frosts at such an altitude are liable to injure the buds. 

 The fruit, however (called montegna), is of the best quality. 



The orchards that skirt the ^ea-shore bear abundantly, and seldom 

 fail in producing a good crop. The fruit (called marina), is inferior 

 to the mountain fruit, and both trees and fruit are more subject to dis- 

 ease and pests. 



