2 BULLETIN 399, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
cells of the outer part of the peel are ruptured aud the mixture of oil 
and other liquids is forced out in a fine spray. After the sponge has 
become saturated, the contents are squeezed into a bowl, and the oil 
is eventually drained off the accumulated liquid. From time to time 
various machine methods have been tried, but apparently none of 
them has proved satisfactory. Furthermore, when the peel is pressed 
in quantity by machinery an emulsion is formed from which it is 
very difficult to separate the oil. Accordingly, almost the entire 
output of sweet-orange oil is extracted by the hand-pressing method. 
IMPORTANCE OF THE INDUSTRY. 
Complete figures on the total world production of sweet-orange oil 
are not available, but the annual exports from Italy and Sicily, which 
represent a large portion of the world's production, have been com- 
piled from various sources and are given in Table I. 
Table I. — -Export of sweet-orange oil from Italy and Sicily for the years 1906 to 1913, 
inclusive. 
Year. 
Quantity. 
Value. 
Year. 
Quantity. 
Value. 
1906 
Pounds. 
301.4.55 
357,749 
381,980 
498, 705 
1666,984 
782,972 
735.683 
770, 725 
1910 
Pounds. 
285, 357 
90.078 
US. 366 
105, 826 
8415,065 
131,021 
193 691 
1907 
1911 
1908 . -•-. 
1912 
1909 
1913 
202 033 
It will be seen from Table I that hi 1911 there was a marked decrease 
in the exports and that hi the two following years the quantity ex- 
ported was much lower than in the sLx preceding years. This decline 
is due in part to a small crop of oranges in Italy hi 1911, in part to a 
heavy import tax levied hi this country, and in part to the activity of 
producers in the West Indies, which region is now producing a quan- 
tity nearly sufficient to meet the American as well as the British demand. 
The imports of sweet-orange oil entered for consumption in the 
United States are shown in Table II. 
Table II.— Imports of sweet-orange oil into the United States from all sources for the 
years 1900 to 1914, inclusive. 
[Compiled from Commerce and Navigation of the United States.] 
Year. 
Quan- 
tity. 
Value. 
Year. 
Quan- 
tity. 
Value. 'iear. 
Quan- 
tity. 
Value. 
1900 
Pounds. 
57,069 
72, 218 
79,160 
77. 138 
74, 816 
S95, 405 
109,832 
104, 159 
107', 80s 
109, 47S 
1905 
Pounds. 
92.077 
74,535 
112, 834 
71, 224 
87, 591 
?143,555 
122,634 1 
199,027 
165, 9S2 1 
151,861 
1910 
Pounds. 
46,814 865,488 
73,786 100,115 
1901. 
1906 
1911 
1902 . . . 
1907 
1912 
97,065 16S,831 
1903 
1908... 
1913 
77.797 155,299 
1904 . . . 
1909 
1914 
104. 597 222. 1 
The price of sweet-orange oil is subject to considerable variation, the 
extent of which is influenced both by the relative abundance of the 
