THE SICILIAN LEMON INDUSTRY CROPS. 215 



December in any given locality. The October fruit is known 

 as "primo-fiore," or choice fruit; and that ripening in Novem- 

 ber and December is nearly as good. The fruit of these three 

 months constitutes the most abundant crops as well as the 

 best fruit. The June blossoms produce fruit which ripens in 

 January and February, and is of second quality. The July 

 blossoms usually fall off; and little notice is taken of them. 

 Blossoms in August give fruit in March, which is of poor 

 quality; while September blooms give fair quality lemons, 

 which are gathered in April and May, and are very valuable 

 on account of the season. Trees which blossom in October, 

 November, and December produce what are known as 

 bastards, or poor quality lemons, which are gathered in June, 

 July, and August. 



The Lemon Harvest.— The grower bases his calculations 

 on the October to December crop, and the first gathering of 

 the lemon harvest is made in October. Many of the lemons at 

 this time are not ripe, and care is taken to pick only those 

 which are fully three inches in diameter. All under that size 

 are left for the November gathering. Practiced gatherers 

 gauge the fruit with the thumb and second finger. This first 

 crop is the most valuable, and is very carefully selected and 

 packed for immediate shipment. 



The second gathering takes place in November, and is as 

 good as that of October. If properly gathered, selected, and 

 packed, it will keep for months. The fruit is lighter in color 

 and harder to the touch than the October gathering. The 

 pickers gather all fruit which is ripe, whatever its size, and all 

 fruit which has reached the standard size, whether ripe or not. 

 The first quality fruit not immediately salable is often put 

 away in cases until March, when it is repacked and will keep 

 for some time. All small or damaged fruit is used for making 

 oil of lemon, citric acid, or candied lemon peel, which indus- 

 tries will be described farther on. The November fruit is 

 especially valuable for essences, citric acid, and lemon juice. 

 In a well-cared-for lemon grove I was informed that from 

 three fourths to seven eighths of the fruit was suitable for 

 shipment, the rest being used for essences, etc. 



The fruit gathered in December on the plains and lower 

 lands near Palermo, is inferior to that of November, only 



