166 STATE BOARD OF HORTICULTURE. 



The lemon has received less attention in California than the 

 orange, owing partly to the extra care required in its prepara- 

 tion for market, and partly to the impression that it was not 

 so profitable a fruit to grow. Of late years, however, much 

 more attention has been given to lemon culture, and the area 

 adapted to lemon growth has been widened. It was thought 

 that this fruit would flourish only in a few favored nooks in 

 the citrus section, but experience has proved that there are 

 numerous places in the higher lands — the foothills and mesas — 

 of the southern and central counties where the lemon will 

 flourish. The result of this has been a great impetus in lemon 

 planting in San Diego, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, 

 Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, and Tulare counties. 

 This has been aided, too, by the fear that the very extensive 

 planting of oranges would result in the reducing of profits in 

 orange-growing. Improved methods of handling and curing 

 the lemon — the outcome of years of experiments — have resulted 

 in securing a fruit which commands a good price and competes 

 with the imported article, making lemon-growing profitable. 

 These facts have turned the attention of planters toward the 

 lemon, and it is probable that this fruit will steadily advance 

 in popularity until it reaches a place in our fruit exportations 

 beside that of the orange. 



VARIETIES. 



The varieties of the lemon are not as numerous as those of 

 the orange. While many varieties have been introduced, some 

 of our choicest have originated here. The common seedling, of 

 poor shipping and keeping qualities, that used to be met with 

 in almost every orchard in the State, has been discarded, and 

 in its place stand varieties which possess exceedingly high 

 merit. The fruit of the varieties now grown is not over-large, 

 but of a uniform medium size, good keepers, with a sweet rind 

 and a delicious, strong acid. 



Lisbon.— Fruit of medium size, fine grain, sweet rind, acid 

 strong, few seeds, an excellent keeper. Grows very uniformly 

 on the tree, and ripens evenly. The tree is a strong grower, 

 very prolific, thorny, but thorns decrease as the trees grow 

 older. Imported from Portugal. 



