a 
1 Mar., 1902.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 181 
The Orchard. 
NOTES ON LEMON-CURING. 
By DANIEL JONES, Department of Agriculture. % 
As the result of a recent holiday trip to Victoria, I am in a position to 
redeem a promise made to some fruitgrowers at the recent Bundaberg 
Agricultural Conference, with regard to the process of lemon curing as_ carried 
out by my friend, Mr. W. S. Williams, of Doncaster, Victoria. Mr. Williams 
is the most successful grower of lemons in that State, and those interested in 
the culture of citrus fruits generally, or who wish for useful lessons in the 
practice of water conservation and irrigation, would do well to pay his orchard 
a visit, and judge for themselves to what perfection citrus culture can attain 
when in the hands of a practical man. As this article is to be a brief one, and 
will deal only with what I have seen, I shall forbear touching on the ver 
excellent system adopted for the storage of water, and the distribution of the 
same as necessity demands. Sufficient to say that here is demonstration of the 
value of the application of water in its best financial aspect. It may also be 
noted in connection with the curing of lemons, and the keeping of all irrigated 
fruits, that a very general impression obtains among traders that irrigated fruit 
is defective in keeping qualities. Be this as it may, there is evidently no 
difficulty in the methods here employed in curing citrus fruits, even if 
adversely affected by irrigation. As Mr. Williams handles about 6,000 cases of 
lemons annually, and has now for some years been profitably engaged in this 
pursuit, it will be conceded that a method that has thus far proved so great a 
success needs nothing else to demonstrate its efficiency. If the few hints I now 
place on record as ascertained from personal observation and from Mr. Williams’ 
remarks will in anyway meet the inquiries of my friends, my holiday will, I 
trust, be of such service to others as it was a pleasure to myself. The 
importance of fostering this industry is exemplified by reason of the volume 
of trade the Commonwealth and New Zealand carry on in the importation of 
Italian and Syrian citrus fruits, which if captured by our own producers would 
favourably enhance the position of our orchardists. 
To carry out the process of lemon-curing as here outlined does not require 
the expenditure of much capital; an intelligent orchardist by use of a little 
native ingenuity can very easily devise for himself a cheap if rude construction 
as well adapted for the storage of citrus fruit equally as well as may be possible 
in the more pretentious and costly constructions. ‘The chief thing to keep in 
view is that thorough ventilation, by means of as constant a current of cool air 
as it is possible to obtain, is the prime desideratum. Probably more depends on 
this item in the process than on any other, while itis very necessary that in 
cutting your fruit from the trees all possible precautions must be observed to 
handle without bruising: be the care ever so great in the field, in the event of 
imperfect ventilation taking place in the sterage cellar the presence of the 
carbonic acid gas which generates, as is usual when fresh fruit is stored, will 
inevitably destroy the product, by reason of defective arrangement for the 
ventilation of the cellar. An extract from the Melbourne Leader will convey 
more tersely than I can describe them, the points I wish to emphasise and 
which I fully endorse. 
A good deal of attentionis being paid this year to experience in lemon- 
preserving. All sorts of theories about dipping in all sorts of solutions are 
being promulgated, and some of them may contain the germ of successful 
=atene It ought to be borne in mind, however, that the most successful 
lemons, as regards quality and distant trade, are those of Sicily, and these are 
not dipped or “‘ preserved” at all. The method consists of cutting the fruit 
