LEMON CULTURE. 



117 



more hardy. Never waste time waiting for a seedling lemon to 

 bear, unless you wish to taste of the "Dead Sea Apple." 



The mistaken idea as to the popular lemon called for Ly the 

 public is well set forth (in all good faith, however), by the follow- 

 ing extract from a work quite recently published about Florida : 

 " The tree grows more rapidly, produces fruit sooner, and 

 has larger and better flavored lemons than are found anywhere 

 else. I have seen and picked lemons of one-and-a-half to two 

 pounds in weight, and at the State Fair saw lemons weighing 

 two-and-a-half pounds." 



Now, here is the very rock on which many a lemon-laden 

 barque has gone down. Who wants lemons that weigh from one- 

 and-a-half to two-and-a-half pounds ? 



Not the saloon-keepers ; they will not, when sliced, go into 

 their tumblers ; not the confectioners, their rind is too coarse 

 and bitter, and the juice too scarce ; not the private family, they 

 are too much for one, and not enough for two ; in fact, no one 

 wants these monsters, and erewhile our growers were striving to 

 see who could produce the largest lemons that would sell the 

 least. Very large lemons are not only rough-skinned, but their 

 centres are hollow, and the pulp contains comparatively little j nice. 



This is why the common Florida lemon is good only for 

 home use ; it will not sell in the markets, but is valuable to the 

 growers for family purposes, because it fruits early from the 

 seed, is Yer^ prolific, bears constantly, blossoms, ripe and half- 

 grown fruit, and buttons just set, all hanging on the tree together. 



Growers are findinc^ out their mistake, now, as to the rio-ht 

 ■ kind of lemons to put on the markets to compete with the for- 

 eign fi'uit. The latter meets the popular want ; therefore, in 

 size, aroma, color, texture of the skin, freedom from seeds, and 

 the absence of bitterness in the rind after being a long time in 

 water ; in all these points we have our model ready at hand, and 

 it must be followed if we, of America, would drive out the for- 

 eigner. 



This same special committee to which we have referred has 

 also pointed out the way to do this ; it collected for investigation 

 lemons from all quarters of the globe — Palermo, Messina, ^Malaga, 



