LEMON 



litter, which holds moisture for the unestablished roots 

 and gradually rots, atfordiiis liamus. The stocks used 

 are sour oranso and rough Lemon principally, but other 

 stock may ba used, and the Lemon may also be raised 

 from cuttings in the same manner tliat citrons are grown 

 The remarks as to the use of Citni.i irifoUalii as a stock 

 for hmes Will apply also in this case (see Lime), 



The cultivation is the same as for orange trees: shal- 

 low plowing early in spring, followed by thorough har- 

 rowing once or twice each month until the summer rainy 

 season has well setin. After this time the grass which 

 naturally springs up is allowed to grow at will until au- 

 tumn, when it is mowed for convenience in picking 

 fruit and getting about the orchard. Many growers per- 

 ceive advantage in raising soil-enriching plants in the 

 orchard and so, instead of allowing native grasses to 

 grow, sow seeds of various forage jilants, as beggar-weed 

 (see Desmiiilium), cow-peas, velvet beans, etc., part of 

 which growth is harvested for hay, the rest left to adil 

 fertility to the soil, and is later plowed under. In 

 late autumn most growers apply 

 fertilizer, usually composed of 

 sulfate of potash, sulfate of am- 

 inouia and bone-black, which is 

 ijroadcasted at the rate of 800 to 

 1,500 pounds per acre. This fer- 

 tilizer is not wasted by the ac- 

 tion of the sun, and is either 

 left on the surface to be washed 

 in by rain or is mixed in the 

 soil by harrow or turning-plow. 

 Fertilizing is also done in the 

 early summer, and occasionally 

 a third application is made be- 

 fore ripening of the fruit, but 

 the rule is, two applications per 

 year of about the same amount 

 each. Y,. N. Reasoneu. 



LEMON 



899 



1259. Duckweeds, 

 Lemna minor. 



1250. Floral details 



of Lemna minor. 



aa, stamens; h, pistil. 



Lesion in California. — Though Lemons have been 

 grown in California for half a century, it is only during 

 the last decade that the culture has risen to considerable 

 commercial importance. This fact is shown by the 

 latest statistical data, which indicates about a quarter of 

 a million bearing trees and about a million non-bearing 

 trees as comprising tlie aggregate of Lemon planting in 

 this state. The early product consisted of seedlings 

 which were of excessive size, with juice of low acid 

 content and rind of marked bitterness. The closest at- 

 tention of Lemon-growers was given about twenty years 

 ago, and for some time afterwards, to the testing of the 

 best seedlings and the varieties brought from the Medi- 

 terraneau region, to secure acceptable size, thinness of 

 rind and freedom from bitterness, ^vith high percen- 

 tage of citric acid in the ."juice. The result was that a 

 few such varieties were found and they were demon- 

 strated to be equal in these characteristics to the imported 

 fruit from Sicily. Then, for the first time, California 

 growers were able to compete with the imported fruit, 

 and the planting of Lemons began upon a large scale. 

 The local markets were first supplied, overland ship- 

 ments were undertaken, and the fruit was found to be 



acceptable east of the Rocky mountains and tlir, under- 

 taking to displace the Mediterranean fruit at all points 

 in the United States began. This effort was greatly ad- 

 vanced by the protective tariff, which counterbalanced 

 the advantages which foreign producers had previously 

 en.ioyed in cheaper lub ,r and in less cost of transporta- 

 tion. Shipments of about 1,200 cardoads of Lemons a 

 year to the eastern markets show the success which 

 California growers have attained in competition with 

 the imported fruit. 



Local adaptations of climatic and soil conditions to 

 the growth of the Lemon have required long and close 

 study and experimentation. The Lemon is loss hardy 

 than the orange, and will suffer seriously with degrees 

 of frost which the orange will endure. Almost frostless 

 situations are, therefore, most promising. The Lemon 

 will reach perfection in a region where the summer 

 heat may be slightly less than required to develop sat- 

 isfactory sweetness in the orange. These desiderata of 

 very light frost and somewhat lower summer tempera- 

 ture are found to coincide in places most open to ocean 

 inrtuences in southern California. Roughly speaking 

 then, the Lemon region is on or near the coast and the 

 orange region in interior vallevs. Differentiation in 

 planting these two fruits has jn-oceeded along these 

 lines quite largely, though it is still true that in certain 

 places most excellent Lemons are grown at interior 

 points and most excellent oranges near the coast. The 

 orange has proved to be, however, r.ather more easily 

 grown and prepared for market than the Lemon, and on 

 the whole, more profitable, perhaps; so that these facts 

 are to be properly included when an effort is made to 

 account for the disposition of those owning Lemon or- 

 chards in the interior to work them over to the orange. 

 A light warm loam is best suited to the growth of the 

 Lemon, while the orange root seems to be ad.apted to a 

 range of heavier soils. This was of more moment when 

 the practice was to grow the Lemon on its own roots, 

 cither from cuttings or by budding on seedling Lemon 

 stock. But the production of a Lemon tree of less 

 riotous growth and fruit of less average size and, withal, 

 a healthier and more satisfactory tree, was found to bo 

 attained by using the orange seedling as a stock for the 

 Lemon tree, and this is the universal practice at the 

 |iresent time. Propagation is by the onlinary process 

 of buddiug on a seedling root two or three years old. 

 Distances of planting in the orchard differ somewhat 

 according to the judgment of growers, but about 100 

 trees to the acre is the a^■erage. 



Pruning the Lemon has been a vexed problem with 

 the growers for years. The tree is naturally of rangy 

 growth, running out long leaders which afterwards as- 

 sume a pendent form and are tossed about in the wind, 

 to the detriment of both tree and fruit, which is apt to 

 come at the ends of the long, pliant shoots. Thus an 

 nnpruned Lemon orchard becomes almost impenetrable 

 for necessary orchard work. This is in marked contrast 

 to the growth of the or.ange. which is more compact and 

 symmetrical, and needs but slight regulation after a 

 good form is secured in the young tree. Regular 

 shortening-in of the branches of the Lemon is therefore 

 necessary, followed by thiuning of the new shoots, so 

 that the tree shall not make too many bearing twigs and 

 becoiue too dense in the center. In that way tlie fruit 

 can be kept within easy reach, and the branches stiff 

 and strong to carry it. 



Ample irrigation and frequent cultivation to prevent 

 evaporation afterwards are essential to thrift and bear- 

 ing of the Lemon in California. Neglected trc-es lose 

 their leaves and prematurely ripen fruit lacking in 

 juice. 



Scores of varieties have enjoyed fleeting popularit}' in 

 California and now not more than six are largely grown ; 

 viz.. Villa Franca, Lisbon, Eureka, Genoa, Messina and 

 Bonnie Brae. Of these, the first three constitute prob- 

 ably four-fifths of the crop. 



The preparation of the Lemon for marketing has been 

 a matter of discussion and experiment for years. The 

 bulk of the crop ripens in the winter: the time to sell 

 Lemons is in the summer. The Lemon ripened on the 

 tree has very poor keeping quality. Both for meeting 

 the market demand and to secure a fruit which will en- 

 dure shipping, Lemons need storage for a considerable 



