41 



member of the citrus family. Care should, therefore, be used in the 

 selection of suitable sites for planting a grove and extremes of 

 temperature should be avoided. Freedom from frost is, of. course, 

 assured in all the citrus growing districts round our coasts, and it may- 

 well be that eventually these will be devoted to a far gr_eater extent 

 than at present to the production of this fruit. 



The Different Varieties. 



The number of varieties grown in South Africa to-day is fairly 

 large, and comprises those which have been imported from Europe and 

 America, as well as one or two which have been originated here. The 

 following are listed by different nurserymen: — Messina, Spanish. 

 Villa Franca, Lisbon, Sicily, Belair, Eureka, Imperial, Sweet, Rough 

 or Old Cape, Genoa. From this list a good selection may be made, 

 suitable for planting in any part of the country. It is hard to say 

 which is the best to plant, as much depends on the locality in which 

 they are to be situated. It may be said, however, that the Sweet, 

 Rough, Spanish, and Sicily are not, strictly speaking, commercial 

 varieties. The demand for the two former is practically non-existent 

 when better fruit is to be had. The "Spanish" is out of court on 

 account of its large size, and as to the " Sicily," the word is somewhat 

 vague, it may mean any of the many lemons grown on that island. 

 Of the remainder. Villa Franca, Lisbon, Belair (origir.n+ed in Natal), 

 Imperial, and Eureka are all good. Villa Franca and Li-hon, perhaps, 

 do best in the warmer parts of the Transvaal, both being vigorous 

 growers, and the former more hardy than any other kind, whilst 

 Eureka is more suitable for culture on the coast on account of its 

 tendency to put on a foliage less dense than most other sorts, and thus 

 exposing the fruit to sunburn in the hotter parts up-country. Lisbon 

 also does well in the coastal districts. 



Laying out the Orchard. 



The preparation of the land, laying out of the orchard, etc., have 

 already been described under, the section dealing with the orange, and 

 the same methods are applicable in the case of the lemon, Distance.s 

 of planting, however, are not quite the same, and it will be found that 

 the more liberal one is in the matter of space, the more the trees 

 appreciate and repay. Twenty-five feet should be the minimum 

 distance between the trees, and occasionally, in rich soil, thirty feet is 

 not too much to allow. The more space one gives the more moisture 

 the trees obtain and their liability to suffer in times of drought is thus 

 considerably reduced. 



Irrigation for the Lemon. 



Irrigation is as necessary for the lemon as for other citrus fruits. 

 Possibly in coastal districts lemons can be grown successfully on a 

 total water supply of 35-acre inches per annum, rainfall and artificial 

 irrigation included. In some instances the attempt has been made in 

 these districts to grow this fruit without the aid of irrigation ; on the 

 whole it is an unwise proceeding if regular and large crops of fruit are 

 desired. Whilst it is admitted that the lemon can be grown on the 

 coast with no other water than that which falls in the shape of rain, 

 it is equally certain that with irrigation at the right time, and by that 



