June  r,  1897.]  THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
823 
knowledge  of  whether  it  had  come  from  America  of 
from  the  Continent  of  Europe,  until  examination  or 
its  parasites  showed  that,  with  the  exception  of  one 
kind  common  to  both  continents,  the  others  ■svere  not 
American,  but  Russian. 
The  parasite  flies  of  wheat  midge  show  the  shape 
of  two  other  kinds  of  these  minute  flies.  The 
Macroi/lcnes,  of  the  family  of  the  Chalcididm,  is  sup- 
posed, from  its  habits,  to  destroy  the  midge-grubs; 
and  the  Plo,ti/ijaster,  of  the  family  of  the  Proctotrupidcc, 
has  been  watched  in  its  operations  of  laying  one  egg 
in  each  midge-grub  it  attacks. 
There  are  other  kinds  of  parasites  of  nearly-allied 
kinds,  which  we  have  not  space  to  enter  on  here; 
but  the  general  principle  of  preserving  a useful  amount 
of  them  is  so  important  that,  though  it  is  a very 
difficult  matter  to  protect  them,  it  is  as  well  to  be 
careful  about  setting  on  foot  regular  measures  calcu- 
lated to  lessen  their  numbers.  It  may  be  doubted 
whether,  in  regard  to  help  from  parasitic  insects,  we 
do  not  suffer,  rather  than  benefit,  as  much  as  is 
supposed,  by  great  encouragement  of  birds.  We  can- 
not tell  accurately  what  amount  of  the  small  para- 
site flies  are  taken  as  bird  food,  for  their  small 
bodies  are  probably  soon  digested ; but  it  appears 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  as  we  know  some  birds  take 
them,  others  also  do  sj,  and  in  this  way  do  the  re- 
serve of  helping.  I would  not  for  an  instant  auggest 
clearing  away  birds;  but  it  would  be  well  to  bear 
in  mind  that  the  works  of  creation  are  founded  on 
a principle  of  order,  and  of  relationship  of  one  part 
to  another ; and  if  we  use  such  power  as  we  may 
have  to  alter  any  detail,  we  are  likely  to  suffer. 
We  have  altered  the  amount  of  food  for  insects  by 
the  enormous  necessary  increase  in  food  crops ; but 
it  appears  to  me  that  to  try  to  keep  these  insects 
in  check  by  calling  in  birth-help  in  legions — which 
grub  up  the  plants  to  be  protected,  and  eat  up  the 
eaters  of  the  insect  foes,  and  likewise  (when  insect 
food  fails  the  many  mouths)  betake  themselves  to  the 
wheat-ears — is  very  much  like  bringing  in  the  rats 
to  drive  out  the  mice. 
The  families  of  wasps,  bees,  and  ants  are  included 
in  another  great  section  of  this  order,  called  the 
aculeata,  because  they,  or  most  of  them,  are  fur- 
nished with  a sting,  much  resembling  in  appear- 
ance and  pain  of  application  a needle,  known  in 
Latin  as  Jcus.  These  have  been  written  on  for  so 
many  years  that  we  need  not  enter  on  them  at 
length  ; but  it  is  well  to  observe  that  the  hive  bees, 
the  social  wasps,  and  social  ants,  are  remarkable 
for  mXrch  of  the  work  of  the  community  being 
carried  on  neither  by  the  males,  nor  as  a regu- 
lar thing  by  the  large  females,  which  are  com- 
monly known  as  queeirs,  but  by  a large  body  of 
abortive  females,  or  neuters,  commonly  known  as 
“ workers.” 
In  the  case  of  the  Queen  bee,  we  have  a clear 
instance  of  the  way  in  which  different  food  and 
accommodation  acts  in  altering,  or  rather,  in  fully 
developing  the  powers  ; and  gain  matter  for  thought, 
at  least,  from  the  fact  that  a precisely  contrary  treat- 
ment, such  as  compressing,  starving,  chilling,  &c., 
brought  about  by  common  farming  measures,  will  not 
(or  probably  may  not)  be  without  effect  in  stunting 
the  growth  and  otherwise  lessening  attack. 
rRODUOTS  OF  THE  CITRUS  TRIBE 
IN  SICILY. 
Reporting  on  the  trade  of  Sicily,  Mr,  E.  M.  de 
Garston  gives  some  interesting  facts  connected  with 
the  staple  products,  such  as  essence  of  Lemon  and 
other  produce  of  the  Citrus  family,  the  different 
trades  dealing  in  these  being  of  a very  interesting 
character.  The  Lemon  essence  industry  is  a very 
important  one  in  Sicily,  where  the  abundance  of  raw 
material  naturally  renders  the  manufacture  of  the 
so-called  oils  of  Lemon  and  Orange  a very  profitable 
undertaking  ; 37,941  kilos,  of  these  essential  oils  were 
shipped  during  the  year  1895,  over  32,000  kilos,  of 
which  was  taken  by  Great  Britain. 
Oil  or  essence  of  Lemon  is  obtained  by  pressing  or 
bursting  the  oil-glands  in  the  rind  of  the  fruit,  and 
this  is  done  either  by  hand  or  by  machinery;  that 
obtained  by  the  first  process  being  by  far  the  best  in 
quality.  In  Palermo  the  essence  is  all  pressed  at 
night.  The  workmen  are  supplied  with  a certain 
quantity  of  rinds,  divided  into  equal  portions  to 
each  between  so  many  gangs,  each  under  the  super- 
vision of  a foreman.  Each  man  holds  two  sponges 
between  the  fingers  of  the  left  hand,  and  works  the 
rind  about  in  the  best  way  to  fracture  the  oil-vessels. 
This  is  caught  in  the  sponges,  which,  when  suffi- 
ciently charged  with  oil,  are  squeezed  into  an 
earthenware  receiver ; a considerable  proportion 
of  the  product  thus  obtained  consists  of  ordinary 
Lsmon-juice  leit  adhering  to_  the  rind,  together  with 
more  or  less  of  the  Lemoii-pulp.  This,  however 
being  heavier  than  the  essence,  sinks  to  the  bottom 
of  the  receptacle,  and  the  essence  remains  on  the 
top.  As  the  first  of  these  receivers  becomes  full, 
the  workman  blows  the  fljatiagoil  into  the  second 
jar  through  a species  of  channel  formed  in  the  side 
of  the  first,  and  when  no  more  of  the  essential  oil 
is  transferable  by  blowing,  the  remaining  essence 
which  may  yet  be  floating  in  the  original  receiver  is 
carefully  absorbed  with  a sponge,  and  thence  squeezed 
into  the  second  receptacle,  which  only  contains  pure 
essence. 
The  remainder,  namely,  the  essential  oil  which 
may  still  have  been  left  in  the  rinds,  is  by  some 
manufacturers  extracted  by  distillation,  and  forms 
a second  quality  of  essence.  By  others,  again,  it  is 
expressed  by  subjecting  the  partially  exhausted  rinds 
to  mechanical  pressure  in  bags.  To  ascertain,  how- 
ever, if  the  obtainable  essence  has  been  thoroughly 
squeezed  out  by  the  original  hand  process,  the  rinds 
are  tested  by  a foreman,  who  presses  the  supposed 
exhausted  peel  into  the  flame  of  a caudle,  when,  if 
any  combustion  is  visible,  it  shows  that  the  pressers 
have  not  done  their  work  properly.  The  essence 
obtained  by  the  foregoing  process  unlergoes  no 
further  mauipulation  beyond  being  collected,  and 
after  careful  filtration  through  filter-paper  it  is  ready 
for  shipment  in  the  usual  coppers  of  100,  50,  25,  12 
5,  and  2 lb.  each.  When  freshly  expressed  it  has  a 
delicious  smell  of  the  fruit,  which  is  greatly  injured 
by  distillation. 
Erom  the  leaves,  flowers,  and  fruits  of  the  several 
species  and  varieties  of  the  Citrus  genus  a large 
variety  of  products  is  obtained.  The  blossoms  in 
their  natural  state  serve  to  flavour  drinks  and  sweet- 
meats. When  distilled  they  yield  two  very  much 
e.deemed  products,  namely,  orange  flower-water  and 
an  essential  oil  known  as  Neroli.  Moreover,  when 
candied,  they  form  a delicious  sweet,  much  in  vogue 
in  some  regions  of  Sicily.  The  orange  flower-water 
is  made  of  equal  portions  in  weight  of  blossom 
and  water,  which  yield  on  an  average  about  one-fifth 
of  the  combined  weight  of  water  and  flowers.  Kot- 
withstauding  the  abundance  and  excellent  quality  of 
the  raw  material,  so  to  speak,  still  the  best  manu- 
factories of  Orange  flower-water  are  to  be  found 
outside  Italy.  As  to  candied  sweetmeat  concocted 
out  of  the  blossoms,  it  is  doubtless  more  wholesome 
as  well  as  more  palatable  than  many  other  produc- 
tions of  the  confectioner’s  art.  The  flowers  in  the 
first  place  are  selected  with  care,  weighed,  i-nmersed 
in  cold  water  for  twenty-four  hours,  after  which 
they  are  dipped  simply  in  cold  water,  rewashed  in 
cold,  and  finally  spread  out  on  a linen  cloth  or 
sheet  to  dry.  When  completely  dry,  they  are  laid 
out  in  low,  wide  dishes,  each  flower  separate  from 
its  fellow,  and  are  then  sprinkled  with  double  their 
weight  in  sugar,  administered  at  intervals  durimr 
a period  of  eigho  days  or  thereabouts.  Moreover 
during  the  same  period  the  flowers  should  be  frel 
queutly  moved  and  kept  in  the  shade;  at  the  expira- 
tion of  this  time  they  are  once  more  placed  in^  the 
sun,  whose  rays  dry  them  completely 
The  raw  juices  of  all  the  different  varieties  of  the 
species  of  Citrus,  except  that  of  the  Bergamot,  are 
available  for  commerce ; but  the  juice  of  the  Lemon 
IS  the  more  highly  prized,  on  account  of  the  greater 
amount  of  acidity  it  contains.  But  the  raw  juic# 
