THE SICILIAN LEMON INDUSTRY — CULTURE. 213 



The trees are usually trained with a main trunk stem, from 

 which the branches put out at irregular intervals. The pruning 

 simply gives an airy, open-branched tree, which is necessary, 

 because the trees are planted so closely together — from twelve 

 to sixteen feet — that the branches meet and interlace, so that 

 if the tops were not kept open light and air would he excluded. 

 Again, allowing the trees to grow into one another it becomes 

 necessary to cut away all the lower limbs and train the trees 

 with high trunks, in order that the workmen and pickers may 

 pass beneath. In giving these reasons I am in a measure 

 theorizing, because the Sicilian does not know why he does 

 this or many other things, except that his father and grand- 

 father did the same. I did find a few groves where the trees 

 were planted at from eighteen to twenty-four feet apart, and then 

 they were allowed to assume much the same shape as those to 

 be seen in the Payneham and Harden orangeries. This was 

 particularly noticeable in a large orangerj' of about one hun- 

 dred acres that I visited about six miles from Palermo, in 

 connection with the Villa EUeanora del Principe di Scalea. 

 The tendency is to give more room to the orange trees than to 

 the lemon trees. 



The lemon groves are generally surrounded with stone walls 

 about five feet high, but often eight or nine feet high. The 

 latter I gather were originally built as a protection to the 

 people in the lawless condition of the country. This idea is 

 also seen in the character of the buildings. At present they 

 serve as protection from winds. I found them a nuisance, for 

 they often necessitated my stopping my driver and going inside, 

 when had the walls been low, I could have satisfied myself by 

 looking over. 



Cultivation and Fertilization. — The care taken of Sicilian 

 lemon groves varies as greatly as does the attention given to 

 fruit trees in all countries I have visited. As a rule, however, 

 they are generally well cared for, and an immense amount of 

 labor is expended on them. I was informed that notwith- 

 standing the low wages of from Is. to 2s. a day for men, the 

 average cost of working a lemon grove is not less than 650 lire 

 per hectare. This is equal to about £10 an acre, and I was 

 informed that near Catania the expense was sometimes three 

 times that. 



