84 



THE LEMON, LIME AND CITEON. 



searching investigation, we offer the fol- 

 lowing suggestions as to causes; 



" We are inclined to the belief that the 

 stock has a great deal to do with the bit- 

 terness of the fruit. It is well known that 

 the fruit of the Seedling Sicily lemon is, as 

 a rule, bitter, as grown in Southern Cali- 

 fornia, while the fruit grown from buds 

 upon the sweet orange stock is generally 

 more free from bitterness. Of the eleven 

 varieties marked as bitter in the foregoing 

 list, it will be seen that six are Seedlings, 

 four are budded on the lemon stock, and 

 only one was on orange stock. 



" The condition of the fruit during 

 growth will, to some extent, cause bitter- 

 ness of tlie rind. If checked in its growth 

 by lack or excess of moisture, or by cold, 

 bitterness will result. 



** Sample No. 12 is an evidence of this, 

 as it is from a tree that last season pro- 

 duced fruit entirely free from bitternees, 

 while this season the fruit was not fully 

 grown and was imperfect when picked. 

 [This sample tested above the general av- 

 erage in percentage of citric acid.] 



"Again, we think that bitterness, like 

 any other quality, can be transmitted 

 through budding, and hence, when bitter 

 fruit is found in successive j^ears upon the 

 orange stock, it is due to want of care in 

 selecting stock to bud from. 



" It is found also that fruit from young 

 trees shows traces of bitterness that will 

 gradually be lost as the tiee increases with 

 age. Occasionally this bitter principle ap- 

 pears in tlie imported lemon, and it is pos- 

 sible that it is found in foreign countries 

 to the same extent as here, but that the 

 period of picking and the curing pro- 

 cess tlie fruit undergoes in the voyage 

 here, removes it. 



'* Third— Percentage of Acidity. — 

 When freedom from bitterness is attained, 

 the relative value of the lemon for com- 

 mercial purposes will depend upon the 

 pwcentage of acid it contains. In this re 

 spect the tests, as far as we were able to 

 make them, showed the superiority of the 

 Californian over the imported fruit. The 

 highest percentage of the imported Messina 

 was 9.65 of acid, while that of the Califor- 

 nia Lisbon reached 10.53, and another of 

 ^he same species was 10.23, and two of the 



California Eurekas were respectively 10.33^ 

 and 10.43 per cent. 



"The average peicentage of acid in 

 three tests made of the imported lemons^ 

 gave 8.71 per cent., while that of nineteen 

 tests of California budded lemons gave^ 

 9.04 per cent. 



" It is a fact worthy of notice that the 

 fruits giving the highest percentage of 

 acid were specimens from the lomon bud 

 upon orange stocks, showing the value of 

 this stock for the lemon. 



" E'rom a careful analysis of the forego- 

 ing it will seem that the California bud- 

 ded lemon, properly grown and handled, 

 is the equal in every respect of the im- 

 ported lemon. Your committee is there-- 

 fore forced to the conclusion that its want 

 of appreciation in the San Francisco mar- 

 ket is due from two causes: 



"First — Unjust prejudice against Cali- 

 fornia lemons generally. 



"Second — Want of care in the producer,, 

 in packing and handling the fruit. 



"That the tirst is true to some extent, 

 is shown by repeated shipments of budded 

 lemons from Riveiside to the Denver 

 market during the past winter, whei©^ 

 they brought ten dollars per box; two dol- 

 lars per box more than the best imported 

 lemons, while the same varietieties would 

 be sold at San Francisco for two and four 

 dollars per box less than the imported 

 lemon. It is fair to presume that the taste 

 of consumers in Denver is as highly cul- 

 tivated in this respect as that of the same- 

 class ill San Francisco. 



"Second — That there is deplorable care- 

 lessness in picking and handling this^ 

 lemon is undoubtedly true, and to this 

 cause may be attributed much of the loss 

 that falls to individual producers, and to 

 the trade generally. A. prominent fruit 

 grower of Riverside was in the city of San 

 Francisco a few weeks since, and saw in 

 the warehouses of one of the largest com- 

 mission merchants there, a large number 

 of boxes of California lemons. Upon ex- 

 amination he found them of all sizes, col- 

 ors and shapes, tumbled into the boxes,, 

 without wrapping or care of any kind.. 

 The result was that they would either 

 have to be sold at a price that would 

 hardly pay freight and commission, or be^ 

 stored for some weeks and then sorted 



