232 



are nevertheless valuable articles of export on account of the various 

 uses to which their juices may be applied, is a very important object in 

 those cases where the shipment and conveyance to distant parts would 

 be impossible either on account of the distance to be traversed or on ac- 

 count of the unsoundness of the fruit, or from both causes combined. It 

 is hence customary to slice and steep the fruit in large casks filled with 

 salt and brine. 



The bitter oranges, lemons, or citrons are then first of all examined, 

 and although not subjected to the same crucial tests which would be re- 

 quired were the fruit to be shipped entire, or their essence properties 

 considered, still they must not be internally diseased, and must be of 

 average juiciness, to be exportable and marketable. They are then 

 soaked in salt water for a few days, the time varying between 3 and 8 

 days, according to the more or less maturity of the fruit. 



On the arrival of the fruit it is repeatedly washed in fresh water until 

 the salt contained has been completely dissolved and carried off. It is, 

 however, unquestionable that whatever the preserving properties of the 

 salt, the process involves an almost total loss of the essential oil of the 

 peel, and a deterioration of the juice, and should only be resorted to in 

 extreme cases, when the fruit would not be otherwise profitably used at 

 home or shipped abroad. 



In conclusion it may be stated and maintained unhesitatingly that an 

 interchange of practical knowledge between the growers of oranges and 

 lemons on the one hand, and the more scientific producers of all those 

 manufactured substances which are yielded by the juices and volatile 

 oils of the fruit would be most beneficial to both parties. The Sicilians 

 would benefit largely by learning to utilise the rich and abundant raw 

 materials which nature has lavished on this favoured island, the proprie- 

 tors of the most flourishing and extensive orange and lemon plantations 

 in Europe, the sole owners of inexhaustible sulphur mines would cease 

 perhaps to neglect the full realiseable value of those products, while in 

 return the outlander would learn to pack and ship his fruit produce 

 safely and securely to those distant ports which they now reach very 

 often in a damaged condition through the inexperience of the growers 

 who are lacking in the practical skill and deftness of the Sicilian in the 

 proper sorting and packing. 



AN ANTI-MALARIAL TREE. 



Baron Sir F. von Mueller,* the veteran Government Botanist of Vic- 

 toria, who has done so much for the economic botany of the world, sent 

 to the Director in April, 1895, seeds of a Melaleuca (M. leucadendron), 

 to which he thus refers: — "This tree should become of the utmost im- 

 portance also to the Western Hemisphere. As a tropical tree, fit to grow 

 in malarian swamps, and containing in its foliage much antiseptic and 

 auti-miasmatic oil, it deserves your special attention. It will grow where 

 no Eucalyptus could be reared." The young seedlings raised have now 

 been planted out in Hope Gardens. They have grown somewhat slowly, 

 but as they appear likely to succeed, more seed will be obtained from 

 Australia and plants distributed to applicants. 



* It is with great regret that we hear of his death on 9th October. — [Ed. 



Bulletin.] 



