526 FRUIT CULTURE IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 



paper prior to boxing. Care is taken that no nail protrudes in the box 

 to injure the frait prior to placing it therein. The boxes are not made 

 air tight, but interstices are left between the boards for ventilation. 



Lemons gathered in the month of November and thus boxed are sup- 

 posed to keep without spoiling for six months. Oranges will not keep 

 so long. The boxes should be occasionally opened, and any infected 

 ones removed therefrom; especially should this be done just prior to 

 shipment. 



During the year 1882 there were exported to the United States from 

 Catania of oranges and lemons 241,107 boxes, of which the invoiced 

 value was $441,227.72. 



During the year 1883 there were exported to the United States from 

 Catania 228,857 boxes, invoiced at $324,284.84. 



For much of the information relative to the culture of these fruits I 

 acknowledge myself indebted to our worthy vice-consul, Mr. Augustus 

 Peratoner, who owns several fine estates upon which are splendid groves 

 of orange and lemon. 



Albert Woodcook, 



Consul. 



United States Consulate, 



Catania, May 21, 1884. 



venetia. 



report bt consul soyms, of tenioe. 



(Reprinted from Consular Report No. 41^.) 



LEMON OULTUEE IN VENETIA. 



Although the principal center of exotic culture is not found within 

 the consular district of Venice, some account of the circumstances and 

 methods connected with its practice in the province of Verona may be 

 of interest to fruit-growers in answer to the inquiries of the Depart- 

 ment. 



The Lake of Garda, the largest of the Italian lakes, while penetrat- 

 ing with its northern extremity far into the mass of the Great Alps, 

 opens out into the plain to the south with barely the difference of level 

 necessary to contain its waters, and the more completely it allows the 

 warm air of the plain to penetrate into its deeply embedded mountain 

 recesses the more completely is the tepid element sheltered and isolated 

 from the colder currents of the north. Bathed in this genial atmos- 

 phere, the precipitous shores form a range of natural espaliers, exposed 

 to the southern sun in all its course and enjoying a climate of their own, 

 on which the cultivation of oranges and lemons has been a profitable 



