ORANGES AND LEMONS IN MESSINA. 503 



peel a day tiud is paid 5 ccuts a tub, weighing 77 pounds. His left baud 

 and right iudox are prote<5ted with bands of osuaburgs or leather. De- 

 cayed fruit is not peeled, as its oil cells, being atrofled, yield no essence. 



Fresh peel is soaked in water flfteeu minutes before the essence is ex- 

 tracted. Peel that has stood a day or two should remain in soak from 

 thirty to forty minutes, that it may swell aud ofller a greater resistance 

 against the sponge. The operative holds a small sponge in his left 

 hand against which he presses eacii piece of peel two or three times, 

 simple pressure followed by rotary pressure. The women employed in 

 this work run a piece of cane through their sponges to enable them to 

 hold them more firmly. The outside of the peel is pressed against the 

 sponge, as the oil gl.ands are in the epicarp. The crushing of the oil- 

 cells liberates the essence therein contained. The sponge, when satu- 

 rated with the essence, is squeezed into an earthenware vessel the oper- 

 ative holds in his lap. He is expected to press the peel so thoroughly 

 as not to overlook a single cell. This is ascertained by holding the 

 pressed peel to the flame of a candle ; should it neither crackle nor 

 diminish the brilliancy of the flame the cells are empty. This process 

 yields besides the essence a small quantity of juice and feccia (dregs). 

 The separation of the essence, juice, and feccia soon takes place if the 

 vessels are not disturbed ; the oil floats on the juice and the dregs fall 

 to the bottom. These three products derived from the peel have no 

 aflBnity with each other. As the essence rises to the surface it is 

 skimmed off, bottled, and left to settle for a few days. It is then drawn 

 off with a glass syphon into copper cans which are hermetically sealed. 

 After the essence has been expressed a small quantity of juice is pressed 

 from the peels, which are then either fed to oxen or goats or thrown 

 on the manure pile and well rotted, or they would make too heating a 

 fertilizer. 



The yield of essence is very variable. This industry is carried on 

 five months in the year. Immature fruit contains the most oil. From 

 November to April, in the province of Messina, one thousand lemons 

 yield about 14 ounces of essence and 17 gallons of juice. An operative 

 expresses three baskets of lemon peel (weighing 190 pounds) a day, and 

 is paid 20 cents a basket. The essence is so valuable that the opera- 

 tives are closely watched ; they are most ingenious in secreting it about 

 their persons. Six men work up 8,000 lemons a day ; two cut off the 

 peel while four extract the essence, and obtain 136, gallons of lemon- 

 juice and 7 pounds of essence. In the extraction of essence defective 

 fruit— thorn-pricked fruit blown down by the wind or attacked by rust- 

 is used. This fruit is sold by the " thousand," equivalent to 119 kilos 

 or 260 pounds, and thus classified : First, mixed lemons, as they come 

 from the groves during December and January, of good quality but not 

 always marketable, often from top branches; second, lemons from March 

 blooms; third, lemons refused at the packing-houses; fourth, dropped 

 fruit ; fifth, shriveled or defornKMl fruit. 

 156a 8 



