496 FRUIT CtTLTURE IN FORRIGN COUNTUIKS, 



The average temperature is 96° in summer and 42° in winter ; mean 

 annual temperature 70°. Nights cold or warm, sultry, moist, ordinary 

 atmosphere. 



Spring and autumn the nights are frequently cold, and still always 

 above freezing-point, however, and do no damage. 



Warm nights increase the evaporation but do not injure the trees. 

 In March and April the cold at early dawn sometimes blights the blooms, 

 which would otherwise produce the " bastard " or late fruit. 



Daring the summer the atmosphere is seldom if ever dry. In winter 

 the air is dry when the wind is north, which rarely happens. West 

 and northwest winds are damp. The prevailing wind is the sirocco 

 (southeast) ; it is generally warm and moist. 



The average moisture of the atmosphere is 0.025 millimeters ; quite 

 inadequate to the successful culture of the orange and lemon. Only 

 groves of the stifit'est clay or calcareous soil with a wet subsoil can dis- 

 pense with irrigation. Oranges stand drought better than lemons. 



There are but few sultry days except in the early spring, when the 

 atmosphere is saturated with moisture ; at this period rain is not wanted, 

 and often proves destructive to the crops. 



The average annual rain-fall is 22 inches. From April to September 

 it seldom rains, but pours in torrents in September and October, causing 

 great damage. The heavy rain during the night of October 1, 1889, 

 destroyed a number of groves. Light, steady, and constant rains occur 

 in March and April. 



Eain in May and June damages the blooms. Eain in September 

 helps to develop the bastard fruit. Too much rain causes the trees to 

 become chlorotic, and predisposes them to the " gum;" it also makes 

 the fruit watery and destroys its keeping qualities. 



Irrigation. — Generally speaking, throughout Sicily, orange and lemon 

 culture is impracticable without irrigation. There are a few exceptions 

 to this rule, however, in certain favored localities. 



The trees are watered for the first time in June, when the fruit from 

 the early blooms is the size of a pea and the trees are still in bloom. 



The amount of water required to the acre depends upon the age of 

 the trees, the nature of the soil, altitude, exposure, etc. On an average, 

 each lemon tree, on moderately moist soil, requires 200 liters of water 

 at each watering ; 2,000 liters of water a year. 



Cultivation. — Vegetables are planted between the rows until the trees 

 are large enough to shade the ground. Young trees are in consequence 

 worked six times a year. When the trees have attained their full 

 growth they are worked but seldom. 



The first working of a full-grown grove takes place in October or No- 

 vember, after the autumnal rains have made irrigation unnecessary. A 

 grubbing-hoe is used to stir the soil, cover the weeds, and draw away 

 the earth from the foot of trees. The second working is in March, 

 when the earth is thrown back to the foot of the trees. The third work- 



