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A successful Californian lemon grower thus describes his curing 
room, which is based on the principle mentioned above, and offers 
the advantage of being simplicity itself: 
The lemons are always picked carefully in the autumn; but 
only those that are green are stored. The coloured ones are mar- 
keted at once. The lemons to be cured are placed in boxes 16 by 
10 by 24 inches, filled so that when stacked the case on top does 
not rest on the lemons below. 
If the weather is dry, and the lemons have sweated, these cases 
are the next to be placed in a cellar which is dug in the ground, 
the size being according to the space required. One top ventilator 
is all that is necessary, and there should be no others to cause a 
draught with the exception of the door which should be open at 
night, when the temperature should not be over 60° F. The cellar 
should be kept perfectly dry. The boxes are stacked close together 
to avoid the circulation of what air there is. The lemons are rarely 
sorted over if kept according to above directions. The rind is not 
thicker than one-eighth of an inch all through, smooth as a glove, 
and the lemons are as firm as the day they were picked off the 
tree. 
The essential conditions of such a house are exclusion of light, 
regulation of temperature, ventilation under control, convenience 
of handling. Provided these requirements are borne in mind, much 
less pretentious storing houses, readily constructed out of material 
on the ground, may be made to answer the same purpose. Any 
roomy shed, built with pug or pisé walls, about one foot thick, 
with ventilators at the top of the walls, will prove cheap and con- 
venient. The ceiling can be made of split logs with a layer of pug 
on top, whilst an iron roof, with projections to save the walls, would 
efficaciously keep out the weather. In order to keep such a house 
cool, the doors could either be left open at night and closed dur- 
ing the day, or a tunnel might be dug a couple of feet or so under 
the ground, leading into the storehouse. Such a tunnel, with a cowl 
or windsail on the outside end, would create a cool draught which 
could be regulated at will inside the structure. 
The sweat boxes are kept off the floors so as to insure the 
circulation of air around them. They are also better placed in tiers 
over the shelves with ample room above for the occasional examin- 
ation of the fruit. 
For home use when sound, green lemons of the right size mav 
be kept on a dry floor imbedded in dry sand, which is sifted over 
them. 
Wuart a Fruit CasE SHOULD BE. 
As packing-cases are at times scarce and difficult to procure in 
the height of the fruit season, thoughtful growers should lay in a 
stock some time beforehand. 
