478 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 457. 



As soon as it was seen that the lemon would become an 

 important commercial factor, middlemen prepared to handle 

 the product by erecting houses especially prepared for curing 

 and storing it. This lightens the labor of producers and is a 

 great benefit, especially to owners of small orchards. A dozen 

 or a thousand boxes may be taken to one of these establish- 

 ments and disposed of. They are either bought outright or 

 are packed and sold on commission for the grower. The 

 absolutely essential thing in gathering the crop is very careful 

 handling, as the slightest bruise on the skin of the lemon will 

 cause it to rot. Lemons are picked according to size and not 

 according to color — another point which had to be learned by 

 experience — and they should be gathered in baskets as they 

 are then less likely to be bruised than when picked into the 

 more convenient sack. Great care is taken in assorting lemons 

 to have them of a uniform size, and the strictly fancy lemon is 

 considered to be one weighing from three to five ounces two 

 to three months after picking, and measuring from two and 

 a half to three inches from blossom to stem end, with a 

 nearly uniform diameter crosswise from two to two and a 

 half inches. A common method is to test them either during 

 or after picking with a ring two and a fourth or two and a halt 

 inches in diameter, all which will not pass through the ring 

 being rejected. The former size packs about 360 to the box, 

 and the latter 300, these being the sizes which have always 

 been most popular in the Sicilian lemon. 



The curing and packing houses are built of cement or stone 

 or with double walls, the space between being filled with saw- 

 dust or some similar substance, so that a uniform tempera- 

 ture may be maintained. Free ventilation is provided for. 

 The lemons, after being assorted, are packed away on trays 

 so that the different layers do not come in contact with 'each 

 other. The lower the temperature and the less circulation of 

 air the slower is the process of curing. This may, therefore, 

 be regulated in such a way that the lemons are cured in a few 

 weeks or are kept for several months to meet the varying con- 

 ditions of supply and demand. After they are once cured they 

 will stand a great deal of rough usage and bear transportation 

 well. They are frequently examined while curing, and any 

 that show the slightest indications of deterioration are dis- 

 carded. A temperature of sixty degrees, with a free circula- 

 tion of air, cures the fruit in about four weeks. The greatest 

 care is taken in packing the fancy lemons for shipment. 



A fair price to the producer, and one which has recently 

 been paid, is two cents a pound, which means $1.40 a box. 

 But this will necessarily vary. It has been as low as one and 

 one-eighth cents. Lemon-trees are planted from twenly to 

 twenty-five feet apart, which means as an average about one 

 hundred trees to the acre. A conservative estimate of the yield 

 is from 125 to 140 boxes to the acre, at six years of age, and four 

 hundred boxes at ten years of age from the planting. A yield of 

 five or six boxes to the tree, when in full bearing, is not unusual. 

 Lemons would be profitable at one dollar a box to the grower. 

 To this must be added fifty cents for picking and packing, 

 ninety cents for freight, twenty cents for brokerage, and per- 

 haps sixty cents for waste and other expenses. It they bring 

 less than 53.00 a box in New York, under present conditions, 

 somebody is doing business at a loss, and that is usually the 

 grower. 



The improved varieties of California lemons are usually 

 conceded to be as good as those grown anywhere in the world. 

 They are said to have more citric acid and less "rag" than 

 many of the imported varieties. Their keeping qualities, as 

 compared with the foreign lemon, are still disputed, and it may 

 be that Californians stdl have something to learn as regard's 

 curing. But the question of a market depends principally 

 uponlhe points of production and foreign competition. In 

 1895 more than five million dollars' worth of lemons were im- 

 ported into the United States, or more than two and a half 

 million boxes. Up to the present time not more than 50,000 

 boxes a year have been sent east from California, this limited 

 quantity being, of course, in addition to the larger quantity 

 consumed on the Pacific coast and in adjoining territory. 



A careful estimate places the number of Lemon-trees now 

 growing in California at a million and a quarter, nearly all of 

 them being in the seven southern counties of the state. About 

 a quarter of a million are stated to be in bearing, although 

 only a small proportion of these are in full bearing, a fact 

 which shows the very rapid growth of the industry during the 

 past three years. The crop will constantly increase until, five 

 years from now, the Lemon-trees of California should bear a 

 crop equal to the full volume of importations from foreign 

 countries. In all probability there will not be a satisfactory 

 market at first for the California crop and for importations 

 also. But the enterprise of the California fruit growers, which 



made a market for California oranges under equal difficulties, 

 will doubtless finally solve this problem, and in the mean time 

 the consumer will reap thebenefils of keen competition. 

 Redlands, Calit. William M. Tisdale. 



Exhibitions. 



The Fall Exhibition of the Horticultural Society 

 of Chicago. 



PHE annual fall exhibition of the Horticultural Society of 

 -*- Chicago was held November 10th to 14th in large rooms 

 which allowed effective grouping of the plants, with ample 

 space for their examination. The cut flowers and table ex- 

 hibits occupied a room by themselves, with standard and 

 specimen Chrysanthemums and decorative plants for orna- 

 ment. The three leading exhibits of Chrysanthemums were 

 from Nathan Smith & Sons, Adrian, Michigan ; E. G. Hill & Co., 

 Richmond. Indiana, and Vaughan, Chicago, and many vases 

 of cut flowers were exhibited by each of these growers which 

 showed the range and quality of cultivation. Some of the 

 familiar names of Chrysanthemums were missed, and others 

 were represented only by an occasional specimen, but in the 

 main the older and newer forms were quite equally dis- 

 tributed. Those ottered in groups of six or more, and coming 

 most frequently into competition for awards, were largely of 

 newer varieties. This was especially true of the white sorts ; 

 the leading kinds shown, and which took most of the pre- 

 miums, were Mrs. H. Robinson, Mayflower and Niveum. 

 Many of the yellow varieties were also comparatively new, as 

 Major Bonnaffon, Golden Wedding and Jennie Falconer. 

 With pink flowers it was the opposite, for the long-tested 

 Viviand Morel led. This was partly true of the crimsons, 

 with George W. Childs, but The Bard came into close compe- 

 tition. The latter, from its bright color, good habit and abun- 

 dance of flowers, is finely adapted to bush or tree form, and 

 some of the specimens were effectively trained into various 

 forms. Mr. W. N. Rudd, of Chicago, showed several groups 

 of plants in six-inch pots, each flower grown to a single stem, 

 which was left so low as to stand without the supporting cane. 

 Several ranged from ten to fifteen inches high. One group of 

 twenty-five, the plants about twenty inches high, even in 

 height and size ot head, was arranged quincuncially on the 

 floor with neat effect, a little orchard of Chrysanthemums. 

 Though losing somewhat in size of flower and in foliage, these 

 low-grown plants are useful for decoration on stands and 

 tables in place of more evanescent cut flowers. 



Two good white seedlings were offered by Nathan Smith & 

 Sons. The one named Western King was certificated, and is 

 a flower of good substance, similar to Mrs. H. Robinson, the 

 head inclined to be deeper. The other, Mrs. M. A. Ryerson, 

 was not entered for a certificate, being reserved, I suppose, for 

 some other occasion, as it was the better of the two. The 

 flowers were large, some terminal heads measuring thirteen 

 inches from side to side over the top. The stems were stiff 

 and adequate to sustain such heads. It has more regularity 

 than the Mavflower. A card attached stated the parentage to 

 be Snowball and Mrs. H. McK. Twombley. Both of these 

 flowers were pure white, open sufficiently for the individual 

 petals to show distinctly. 



The competition among the growers of Carnations was 

 keen. From three to four times the table space of last year 

 was taken, and all but three of the twenty-two named varieties 

 specified by the Society for premiums were represented. 

 Forty-two named varieties were counted, and there were 

 besides several more that were numbered, some of them dis- 

 tinct in color and markings, especially a lot sent for display 

 by John H. Sievers, San Francisco, California. The forty-two 

 varieties were distributed m color as follows : White, nine ; 

 pink, fourteen ; red, eight ; striped (with a white ground), four ; 

 yellow (all marked with red or crimson), seven. Most of 

 the standard varieties were included, and were generally so 

 well grown that the judges found it difficult in several cases 

 to decide between the competitors, so that two and sometimes 

 three awards were made in the same class. Of the introduc- 

 tions of 1896, two which obtained a first premium are worthy 

 of mention. Jubilee has a red flower, larger and a little darker 

 than Portia, but with the margins of the petals but slightly 

 fimbricated, or frequently entire. Triumph is a darker pink 

 than William Scott, and with larger blooms. Some from H. 

 Weber & Sons, Oakland, Maryland, measured almost three 

 inches in diameter, a dimension which is made a kind ot goal 

 by the Carnation growers. Of tested seedlings, Argyle, shown 

 by Stollery Brothers, Argyle Park, Chicago, obtained a certifi- 

 cate. It is a pink, the shade deep, but very delicate, with a 



