1 Mar., 1902. | QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 183 
Mr. Williams, though not an orange-grower to any extent, has been 
equally succcessful on a minor scale with this class of fruit. I had the 
pleasure of tasting on a scorching hot day, such as can only occur in Victoria, 
oranges of a delicious flavour and excellent in condition, colour, and general 
appearance that had been putin the cellar four months previously. To cure 
oranges successfully I was informed that they must be better coloured before 
clipping than lemons, require the most tender handling, and must on no account 
be too ripe. The gleanings regarding this industry I now record are simply 
the results of my good fortunein meeting with so practical and well-informed a 
man as Mr. Williams, who in the most disinterested manner put at my disposal his 
own yaluable experience for the benefit of those whom it may concern. From 
my own personal knowledge of the citrus trade of the Commonwealth, I am 
sure there is a profitable market for the Queensland orchardist at his hand. To 
get this market, he needs not only to cure his lemons, but must also carry out 
experiments in the cool storage of oranges. (iiven the ability to store our 
local oranges in good condition until the summer months, less will be heard of 
both agent and low prices during the winter months. I trust that the 
information here given, which is not the result of my own practice, but merely 
of observation, will do something to stimulate our local growers to aim at the 
complete capture of the Australian markets, which, so far, have, for many 
reasons, been in the hands of outsiders. 
Another factor in the curing of citrus fruit must ever be borne in mind, 
without which the whole system will prove unsatisfactory; and that is, keeping 
the fruit free from disease. Fruit infested with fungus or scale diseases is 
harder to cure, and, if the operation is successfully completed, its general 
appearance is such as to prejudice buyers, and thus loss ensues to the packer. 
Mr. Williams, by means of his kerosene spray pump, of which he is the 
inyentor, manages, in spite of the multifarious duties involved in irrigation, &c., 
to keep his fruit in clean condition. This, no doubt, is a factor in the success 
attending his operations. My experience is that clean fruit properly packed 
in clean cases can defy all the inspectors, command good prices, and is generally 
satisfactory to producer and consumer. ; 
Having some few years since had the opportunity of observing the method 
of lemon-curing at Mildura, the great irrigation colony, I find that the system 
employed there is much on the same lines as the method herein described. In 
Mildura, with its larger areas, the curing processes are ona much greater scale, 
but comparison of methods used at both places indicates that the fruit is 
equally good in all essential features. The kind of lemon principally grown at 
Doncaster is the Lisbon, which thus far has proved most satisfactory. Mr. 
Williams also grows a few acres of the variegated species, but these are giving 
lace to the Lisbon. The old adage that “ Imitation is the sincerest form of 
Rattery” stands good in this region. 
Since Mr. Williams practically demonstrated some years since the suita- 
bility of the district for the cultivation of the lemon, the area under that fruit 
has increased considerably. Thus, through the enterprise of one person, a 
region that was considered but ill-adapted for this purpose, has now become, 
next to Mildura, the largest lemon-producing district of the State. The fruit 
sent to Melbourne ranks with the best, and brings the highest ruling prices 
either for factory purposes, for making peel, or the more popular use as the 
basis of the most refreshing of drinks in the trying heat of a Victorian 
summer. 
MEETING OF FRUITGROWERS. 
On the 8th of January last, a meeting of representatives from the chief 
citrus fruitgrowing districts of the State of Queensland was held at the 
Department of Agriculture, at which the following gentlemen were present :— 
A. H. Benson, Instructor in Fruit Culture, Department of Agriculture 
(in the chair). 
W. H. Parker, Enoggera (Queensland Fruit and Economic Plantgrowers’ 
Association). 
