— 49 — 



be realised which are already entertained by experienced gardeners 

 as to the result of the forthcoming crop. 



The bergamot is an exceedingly sensitive, capricious tree, and the 

 earthquake has had for its sequel a series of exceptionally severe, bleak 

 storms and hurricanes, with snow, hail, and cold, all of which have 

 affected the bergamot trees adversely. The trees have lost all their 

 leaves and, apart from the remnant of fruit which they still carry, 

 are standing bare and stripped, without foliage and without protection 

 for the developing buds. Leaves must form before the trees can 

 flower in the spring; if the flowers should appear on leafless trees, 

 the setting and development of the fruit will be in extreme jeopardy. 

 Experience shows that in such conditions poor harvests, or even crop 

 failures, are the rule. 



Lemon Oil. It is certain that an abundant crop of lemons is 

 waiting to be gathered; consequently, unless the market should be 

 exposed to artificial manipulations, the prices this year should not be 

 subjected to unduly great fluctuations. This, of course, does not ex- 

 clude the possibility that the prices now current may temporarily ad- 

 vance somewhat. 



Mandarin Oil. Although very little has been produced this 

 season, prices have remained comparatively low, and even to-day they 

 do not exceed 40 marks per kilo. 



Orange Oil, bitter, which was worth 1 2 marks last December, 

 has since that time advanced considerably; the crop will be smaller 

 than that of the preceding year. 



Orange Oil, sweet. As mentioned above, no heavy supplies 

 of this article appear to exist. The manufacturing season must be 

 regarded as closed, and nothing is more likely than that, with some 

 demand, prices may advance by several marks. 



In a report by the Messina Chamber of Commerce on the agrumen 

 oils (comprising bergamot, lemon, orange, and mandarin oils) examined 

 between October I st 1906 and January 30 th 1908, E. Berte and 

 G. Romeo 1 ) give detailed particulars of the tests applied. We need 

 not here enter fully into a description of the various methods used, 

 as we have already dealt with their main features in previous Reports. 

 We will therefore limit ourselves on this occasion to quoting, from the 

 observations of the authors, the limits of value of the various constants. 



1 ) Annali del Laboratorio chimico della Camera di commercio ed arti della pro- 

 vincia di Messina. Messina 1908. From a copy kindly sent to us. 



