414 FRUIT ClTLTtlRK IN FORKIGN OOUNTKTFS. 



8iQa river which runs close to the gardens. They irrigate two or three 

 times a week until the wet season comes, at which time the fruit is 

 formed to about twice the size of a walnut. In the dry season they 

 open a space of about 3 feet diameter all around the trunk of every tree 

 and 1 foot deep, so as to allow the water to remain in. At the begin- 

 ning of the wet season they fill up these holes and cover the trunk with 

 earth up to about a foot from the ground with a slope of 3 to 1. 



Pruning. — Very little pruning is required or done here. They gen- 

 erally clean the trunk of all its branches from the surface of the ground 

 up to the height of about 3 feet where the thick branches start. 



Pielcing. — The picking of the fruit begins end of November. About 

 15th of December, the fruit is nearly all ripe, but they pick it until the 

 end of February, according to the requirements of the market. 



Curing. — To get the fruit to last the longest time possible it must be 

 cut with a little stalk attached about 1 inch long. 



Shipping. — The bitter oranges are shipped from Mersina to Liver- 

 pool, each one wrapped in thin paper, and they are packed in boxes 

 containing 100 each, in two rows, which are separated one from the 

 other by a thin board. 



Planting and -propagating. — The trees are planted from 32 to 14 feet 

 apart. They graft the young wild trees that come by seed about 3 

 feet off the ground when they get 1 inch diameter. 



The orchards. — The largest orchards here occupy about 20 acres of 

 ground ; the smallest 5 acres. 



Maturity. — The grafts give fruit the second year, and the older tliey 

 grow the more fruit they give. There are trees fifty years old, 14 to 

 20 inches diameter at the trunk. 



Insectpests. — A small insect like a black ant, with wings, attacks the 

 young tips of the new branches. They do not know of any remedy 

 against it. The ants destroy the above insect. 



Paoldng. — Lemons are picked in December; packed each in thin 

 paper and shipped in small boxes of 200 each. 



Exports. — About 3,000 tons of bitter oranges might be exported from 

 Adaua, Tarsus, and Mersina in one season. 



No flgs are grown in this vilayet for export. There are some olive 

 forests in the vilayet, but in a wild state. 



Wm. Dawson, 

 Consular Agent, 



United States Consular Agency, 



Mersina, T)ecember 7, 1889.- 



