114 



LEMON CULTURE. 



Then the owner of the tree resolved to cut it down, root and 

 branch, but the gentle housewife pleaded for its existence ; it 

 was near the dwelling, and sickly as it was, it gave some needed 

 shelter. 



" Very well, then, let it stay ; but I'll do nothing more with 

 it. I'll let it alone entirely." 



So it w^as " let alone," and that was the greatest boon that 

 could have been granted that unhappy tree 



Slowly and cautiously, as though fearful of attracting atten- 

 tion, and hearing more sharp, cutting remarks on its behavior, it 

 put forth new branches low down on its trunk. They grew on 

 until their drooping leaves shaded it once more ; then the top 

 took a start, and all through the season it grew, becoming more 

 and more vigorous. In the spring it set a hundred or more fine 

 lemons, and the next year bore a heavy crop — just because it 

 was " let alone." 



Again, while orange groves may be planted with profit on 

 hammock lands, a lemon grove cannot. The trees will not flour- 

 ish at all in the hammocks ; we do not know why. No explana- 

 tion of the cause has ever been given ; but the fact remains, even 

 with regard to high hammocks. 



The lemon requires a dryer soil than the orange ; hence 

 some locations that suit the latter will not answer at all for the 

 former. The quality of the soil, however, is not of so much im- 

 portance for the lemon tree as it is for the orange, the latter 

 being a grosser feeder. The lemon will grow well and thriftily, 

 where its more epicurean sister would languish for want of food. 



As a rule, the lemon tree is less hardy than the orange—a 

 degree of cold that does no harm to the latter, wilts the young 

 growth of the lemon, and causes its leaves to drop. There is an 

 exception to this rule, however, as we shall see presently, when 

 we come to note the different varieties. 



The culture of the lemon in those of the United States 

 adapted for its growth — Florida, Louisiana, and Southern Cali- 

 fornia — has not yet received the attention due to its national im- 

 portance ; on the contrary, it has been greatly neglected. 



This state of affairs is largely due to a prevailing opinion 



