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middle of March had been forced upwards to a basis of 7.50 c4i per kilo. 

 But as the yield of the Palermo district, where manufacturing does not 

 begin until late in the spring, turned out to be very plentiful, because 

 the export trade in boxed lemons was exceedingly flat, and large quan- 

 tities of fruit were therefore cut up, the oil-prices slowly receded in the 

 course of April to 6.50 c4t, which has been more or less the nadir. 



But about the beginning of May certain speculative spirits among the 

 manufacturers and their friends banded themselves together for the purpose 

 of putting a stop to this decline in prices, and induced a well-disposed 

 firm to purchase, during that month, large quantities of oil for June 

 delivery at far more than the market rate. It is true that the market, 

 generally speaking, did not follow suit up to the maximum price paid by 

 the manufacturers, and that the venture of the latter must therefore be 

 regarded as having ended in a qualified failure, but at the same time the 

 prices received a fresh upward impetus, and rose to 7.10 to 7.35 &41 at 

 the end of May, since when they have kept fairly constant at that range 

 of values, at which they remain to the present time. 



The still available supplies of last season's lemon oil are estimated 

 at about 90 000 kilos, that is to say, from 20 000 to 30 000 kilos less than 

 at the corresponding period of 1909. A considerable portion of this stock 

 is in the hands of well-to-do holders who are prepared to take every ad- 

 vantage of the position of the market, and a lowering of the prices before 

 the new crop is therefore hardly probable. 



At first, that is to say, at the beginning of the summer, the prospects 

 of the new crop were very favourable. Unfortunately, the summer has 

 been injurious to the fruit, for although there has been no excessive heat, 

 the last five months have been a time of absolute drought; not a drop of 

 rain has fallen since April, and the soil is literally parched. The much- 

 dreaded mists then occurred on several occasions, and the trees were 

 unable to retain all the set fruit, with the result that an unusually large 

 proportion of the small fruit has dropped. 



It is thought to-day that the crop is likely to be about equal to last 

 year's, that is to say of medium size. Hence the proprietors of the 

 lemon-orchards are this season exceptionally reserved, and are disinclined 

 to listen to the offers of the manufacturers of lemon oil and of citrate of 

 lime. So far, therefore, comparatively few transactions have been put 

 through in oil of the coming season. 



When it is borne in mind that the existing stocks are smaller than 

 last year; that in any case a good part of them will be absorbed by 

 foreign markets before the commencement of the new crop ; that the 

 stocks are in the hands of speculators, and, finally, that the prospects of 

 the crop are by no means brilliant, it is impossible to disguise the belief 

 that there is practically no prospect of a fall in the prices for lemon oil 

 of the next crop. 



