BUD VARIATION IN THE LISBON LEMON. 9 
The trees bear low yields of inferior crops, mostly during the 
late-fall and early-winter seasons. They have a spreading habit of 
erowth and attain great size unless pruned vigorously. They develop 
a large number of vigorous-growing, upright, vegetative branches, or 
suckers. 
-The leaves are large and sharply pomted. They develop abun- 
dantly, making dense-appearing trees, and their normal color is deep 
ereen. The flowers are often imperfect, the pistil being small or 
rudimentary. The pollen is frequently scant and of low vitality. 
The thorns are abundant and often very large, long, and sharply 
pointed and have been found to be responsible for injuries to the 
fruits which in many cases lead to decay and loss to the growers. 
The fruits, as shown in Plate III, are somewhat oblong, usually 
collared, and blunt or flattened at the blossom end. The rinds are 
thick, coarse, and rough in texture and are more or lessridged. The 
rag is tough and abundant, and the juice is scant and of low acidity 
and poor quality. The seeds average between one and two to a fruit. 
The reputation for extreme thorniness of the Lisbon variety in 
most cases is due to the many thorns developed by the trees of this 
strain. It also seems likely that the decay sometimes observed in 
Lisbon lemons is due to the thorn injuries to the fruits borne by the 
trees of this and the Bull strain. This condition serves to emphasize 
the desirability of eliminating these strains and planting only trees 
of the Lisbon or Open strain, which have relatively few thorns. 
BULL STRAIN. 
The name of this strain was adopted because the word Bull is in 
common use among Lisbon lemon growers for certain rank-growing 
undesirable trees. These trees show very vigorous vegetative growth 
and have large, sharply pointed, light-green leaves. They produce 
coarse fruits with thick rinds and little juice, which is of poor quality. 
This stra is one which should be eliminated in all established 
orchards. It should not be propagated for any commercial purpose. 
In many established orchards many trees of the Bull strain have been 
recently top-worked successfully with buds from carefully selected 
trees of the Lisbon or Open strains. A very noticeable improvement 
in the commercial grade of fruit has followed the elimination of the 
trees of the Bull strain in those orchards. 
The trees bear comparatively heavy crops during the winter. 
They have a spreading habit of growth and unless restrained by heavy 
pruning attain great size. They develop many large upright-growing 
suckers formerly highly prized as bud wood for propagation. The 
poited leaves are large and very abundant, so as to make dense- 
appearing trees, and their color is usually light green. The thorns 
are large and abundant and are frequently very long and sharply 
