Be, entTeNas, autor Bureau. hee * : oe $ 369 | z “STE IPALIAN LEMON INDUSTRY. BY GQ: HAROLD POWELL, PoMOLOGIST IN CHARGE OF FRUIT PRANSPORTATION AND STORAGE INVESTIGATIONS: . II. -THE BY-PRODUCTS OF THE LEMON IN ITALY. BY -M.-CHACE, ieataise sees OF THE Drvyision or Foops, BurREAU OF CHEMISTRY. Issurp Ocroper 6, 1909. : ~ WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1909. =~. co - Pa ve — : oa ee a Nag, bd Us eer ARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. I BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY—BULLETIN NO. 160. B. T. GALLOWAY, Chief of Bureau. ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS. L—THE ITALIAN LEMON INDUSTRY. G? HAROLD POWELL, PoMOLOGIST IN CHARGE OF FRUIT TRANSPORTATION AND STORAGE INVESTIGATIONS. II.—THE BY-PRODUCTS OF THE LEMON IN ITALY. i y, BY oir EY M“CHACE, ASSISTANT CHIEF OF THE Division or Foops, . BurgeAU OF CHEMISTRY. IssuED OcToBER 6, 1909. WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1909, BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. Chief of Bureau, BEVERLY T. GALLOWAY. Assistant Chief of Bureau, ALBERT F. Woops. Editor, J. BE, RoCK WELL. Chief Clerk, JAMES E. JONES. FIELD INVESTIGATIONS IN POMOLOGY. SCIENTIFIC STAFF. William A. Taylor, Pomologist in Charge of Fruit Marketing Investigations. G. Harold Powell, Pomologist in Charge of Fruit Transportation and Storage In- vestigations. George C. Husmann, Pomologist in Charge of Viticultural Investigations. A. D. Shamel, Physiologist in Charge of Citrus Fruit Breeding Investigations. A. V. Stubenrauch, ELapert in Fruit Transportation. H. P. Gould, Pomologist in Charge of Fruit District Investigations. L. S. Tenny, Pomologist in Fruit Marketing, Transportation, and Storage Investigations, S. J. Dennis, Expert in Refrigeration. George W. Hosford, Assistant Pomologist in Fruit Marketing, Transportation, and Stor- age Investigations. Andrew W. McKay, Expert in Fruit Storage. William F. Fletcher, Scientific Assistant in Fruit District Investigations. H. M. White, Scientific Assistant in Fruit Marketing, Transportation, and Storage Inves- tigations. Burr B. Pratt, Scientific Assistant in Fruit Transportation and Storage Investigations. J. Etna Buck, Hapert in Viticultural Investigations. EF. L. Husmann, Viticultural Superintendent. C. A. Reed, Special Agent in Pecan Investigations. 160 2 7 30d 6061 6 190 ey LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. U. S. Department or AGRICULTURE, Bureau or Pirant Inpustry, OFFICE OF THE CHIEF, Washington, D. C., June 17, 1909. Str: I have the honor to transmit herewith a manuscript entitled “ Italian Lemons and Their By-Products,” consisting of two papers, * The Italian Lemon Industry ” and “ The By-Products of the Lemon in Italy,” and to recommend that it be published as Bulletin No. 160 of the Bureau series. These papers have been prepared by Mr. G. Harold Powell, Pomologist in Charge of Fruit Transportation and Storage Investigations, Bureau of Plant Industry, and by Mr. E. M. Chace, Assistant Chief of the Division of Foods, Bureau of Chemis- try, with a view to publication. The observations summarized in the first manuscript were made by Mr. Powell, who went to Italy in the fall of 1908 to study the methods used in the development of the lemon industry. During the trip through Sicily he was accompanied by Dr. Arthur S. Cheney, Amer- ican consul at Messina, who was killed in the earthquake in December, who rendered the greatest service to the Department of Agriculture on this trip on account of his familiarity with the lemon industry and with the people. The paper on “The By-Products of the Lemon in Italy ” was prepared by Mr. Chace, who investigated these products, especially the oil of lemon, in Sicily in 1908 for the Bureau of Chemistry. The Bureau of Chemistry also received much assist- ance from Doctor Cheney in connection with its work. The lemon industry is increasing rapidly in the United States. The crop in California now amounts to from one-third to two-fifths of the total quantity used in the United States. The remainder of the supply is imported chiefly from Italy. The by-product business has not yet assumed commercial importance in California, but there is an increasing interest developing in this branch of the industry. The observations made in this bulletin should be helpful to the American lemon industry in showing the status of the industry in Italy and the methods used in growing, marketing, and distributing the crop. Respectfully, B. T. Gattoway, Chief of Bureau. Hon. James Witson, Secretary of Agriculture. 160 3 COON ENC S: the Nitalianwlemon INOQUstI ys. ossct ct. <2 Saeco aaicsce ease scl Sane ERO CGI OMe eye ees eee ane ee cae lecise es aaa te ie cpamiee nares The extent and location of the Italian lemon industry ..-....-.-....---- The commercial importance of the Italian lemon industry -....-.--.---- ‘Rhieiexporis on lemons trom: Ways 622s 2. 2 se ucioaetme ee feces yosed The imports of-lemons into the United States ..-....------..-..----+-..+- The districts from which Italian lemons are exported to the United States. The distribution of foreign lemons in the United States ...........-.---- The methods of handling foreign lemons in the United States ........--- Methoddionsecurimo thelemons@=se-—s-eeceee. aencemsaaeree sees ees Methods used in selling the. lemons... :..-2-/-.-.2-----2¢e-c+-e---% The exports.of lemon by-products from: Maly. .2...2.2..-45---2--Ss--.- acescnonie Of clbrate Of UM. oso. 52 beste se a cis oa eee os cies The imports of citrate of lime into the United States.......--..--..-- The exports of essential oils from citrus fruits .-........-.---.------ The imports of lemon oil into the United States -..........---.----- The exports of concentrated lemon and citron juice......-.-..------ The exports of raw citron and lemon juice..-....------.-...--.---- The exports of lemon, orange, and other citrus-fruit peel ......--.-- The rates of duty on lemons and their by-products entering the United SHES) sea oe eke 55 ta aa epaaneiac an tame ceince an sens onekhe nae eee cS The feasou of lemon ripenmye in italy S22 ed ool san ste eese ‘ The character of the lemons in different regions of Italy.........-.--.--- The character of the lemons exported to different markets .........----- Terms applied to lemons ripening at different periods...........-------- SRI ere Dime TA ON et op 8 Serer totale ee eee ee ott es cnn ate ptme coe MetnOMLOL PrORUGHON fee Jason aes woot eho eet iThelemon eroves or. gardens Gf Italy. 2.2 2222.22 225 G25 5255.05. enmcs ses EP Aree LMOME IO: PALOOU .- 222s. cess eon ae eee 35 Introducient 2-2 20s. Se: La aes oe eee eee 35 Geographical distribution of the by-product industry -..............---- 30 The industry in;the Hina district: 2.15.42. <5. <.o2es,ene eee eee 36 The mdustry-in the Messina district’... - 2-2-2 02- 5222 eesseeee een 38 The industry inthe. Palermo district. 2.) 25.2. ..5 5. eek ee 40 The industry im the Syracuse district/2. 2... + 0 2.5-22-2 eee 41 The industry in the nprth-coast towns ©... ¢.s./2-. 22.2.2. 2a see 42 Manufacture of Dy=productes- (2 ia4 ssengies pees See ee ee 43 Equipment of by-product Bietories 22525) 225.. 2 2.220 Ss Pee ee 44 Préparation: of theta: 993 - aeeoaene oe eae tee ae 44 Extraction of the. egsential ole. -o2 2500 -e o ee e eee ieee 2 eee 45 Treatment of the xesidnes. <= -eseu a eee ee eens Sr ee aaa 47 Machine-made esstntial oil 2-220... =. 42- eee 9 2. ‘A trellis over'a lesion erowe 2 ee eo ies oa ee vee Sue eee eee 28 3. Lemon treesigrowing undetia irellig), oe. fs) ee eee 29 4. Map of Sicily, showing the regions where lemon by-products are pre- pared 2. os Ahoy Soho Ae eee pein ee oe ees Cee 36 5. A lemon-oil still used on residues, Palermo..............-...------- 47 160 iB. BR. 1.—493. ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS. I—THE ITALIAN LEMON INDUSTRY. By G. Harorp Powett, Pomologist in Charge of Fruit Transportation and Storage Investigations. INTRODUCTION. The lemon is grown in nearly all parts of Italy, from the provinces of Lombardy and Venetia on the north to the island of Sicily on the south. The distinction acquired by Italy as the lemon-growing center of the world is due principally to the fruit and by-products from the groves in the southern Mediterranean region, especially on the Sorrentine peninsula, across the bay from Naples, in the province of Calabria, and in Sicily. There are few parts of the world where horticulture has been more highly developed, where the products enter more widely into commerce, and where, on the whole, an indus- try has thrived more and has contributed to the welfare of a greater number of people. In the provinces of the northern and the central part of the coun- try the climatic conditions preclude the development of an extensive commercial lemon culture. Though a comparatively large industry was developed there in the past, lemon culture has been on the decline during the last decade in this part of Italy. The trees suffer too often from frost, from high winds, and from driving rains, predis- posing them to disease and making lemon growing there a precarious undertaking. In southern Italy and in Sicily the climate is milder and more like that of southern California. The number of lemon trees in that part of Italy is at least fifteen times the number in California. THE EXTENT AND LOCATION OF THE ITALIAN LEMON INDUSTRY. Tt is difficult to obtain exact statistical information on the lemon industry of Italy. In 1904 there were about 17,000,000 citrus-fruit trees of all kinds in Italy, at least 8,000,000 of which are said to be lemons. Probably three-fourths or more of the lemon trees are lo- cated in Sicily. In 1898 there were over 6,000,000 lemon trees in 160 7 8 ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS. Sicily. The next most extensive regions are Reggio di Calabria and the Sorrentine peninsula, both on the mainland, the former having about a million trees and the latter 500,000 or more. On the Sorrentine peninsula the most extensive groves, or gardens as they are called in Italy, are located on the Amalfi coast, at Majori, Minori, Amalfi, and to a smaller extent at other places from Cetra to Positana. The trees are planted on walled terraces on the mountain sides that rise abruptly from the Gulf of Salerno, as shown in Plate I, figures 1 and 2. The trees are covered with straw mats placed on trellises late in the fall, to protect them from frost during the winter months. There are many groves also on the side of the Bay of Naples in the vicinity of Sorrento, and other plantings in the vicinity of Naples, the trees in the Naples district in 1898 numbering 180,000. There are also many groves in the vicinity of Cosenza and Catanzaro and at Reggio, in the province of Calabria, the by-product industry having reached the highest development in the latter district. A map of Italy and adjacent countries is shown in figure 1. Sicily is the heart of the lemon industry of the world. The groves are located near the coast along the northern and eastern sides of the triangular island, usually in a narrow strip, but sometimes extending inland into the fertile valleys and up the slopes of the hills and mountains a thousand feet or more in elevation. The groves are locally distinguished as the upland and the valley, or lowland, groves, though the term “upland groves” is often applied to trees planted on heavier soils irrespective of altitude and the term “lowland groves ” to trees planted on lighter soils. On the north coast of Sicily the groves extend from Messina to Palermo somewhat irregularly, with a distinct break between Termini and Santo Stefano, where the mountains reach the sea, and beyond Palermo to a limited extent to Trapani. The principal lemon-growing center between Messina and Santo Stefano is Barcelona, with smaller centers around Bauso, Naso, Santa Agata di Miletello, and other smaller places. Near Palermo the most important districts on the coast are Bagheria and Ficarazzi. On the eastern coast there is an almost continuous nar- row ribbon of groves close to the Strait of Messina, with inland valleys, like the Alcantara, reaching from Messina to Catania. In the Catania region, located on the lava beds of Mount Etna, the most important districts are Acireale, Giarre, Mascali, and Fiumefreddo. In the district extending northeast beyond Giardini the gardens are almost unbroken to Messina, the most important districts lying around Letojanni, Santa Teresa, Roccalumera, Galati, Tremestier1, and Gazzi, with Messina as the center from which the fruit and by-products are shipped. There is another district on the southeast coast around Syracuse, extending from Augusta to Avola, where it 160 EXTENT AND LOCATION OF ITALIAN LEMON INDUSTRY. 9 is less mountainous than in other parts of the island and where the industry is farther inland. Syracuse is the most important center of this region. The industry is developed most extensively in the province of Palermo, in which is located the Conco d’Oro, or the Place of Gold. This beautiful valley extends inland from Palermo Cae ne’ 7 % Fl OREGCE Kes CORSICAS (70 FRANCE) x Sar N01S/ Ww y 5 NAW ey ’ (rAORMINA Nadine ae frances Ss E A PY Gi tay PY ee yee SE ARREARS sce ie SEA © Mtgutats Fic. 1.—Map of Italy and adjacent countries. to Monreale and is planted with several thousand acres of lemon groves and other fruits. Hardly second in the extent of the industry are the provinces of Messina and of Catania, with the provinces of Syracuse, Trapani, Caltanissetta, and Girgenti, mentioned in the order of their importance, containing fewer trees. 160 10 ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS. The fresh fruit export industry centers in the province of Palermo, with the city of Palermo as the port of export. Before the earth- quake in December, 1908, Messina was the center of the lemon oil, citrate of lime, and other citrus by-product industries. There was some fresh fruit exported from Messina before the earthquake, the exports going chiefly to European countries. There is also a limited shipment of fresh fruit and by-products from Catania and small shipments from Syracuse. In 1898 the distribution of lemon trees in the provinces of southern Italy, including Reggio di Calabria and Sicily, was as follows: Reggio di Calabria________ 1, 232, 765 | Sicily—Continued. Sicily: Caltanissetta 2 3. 2. 8, 210 IMSS LN aia ee ee ee 1, 634, 231 Girventi te See Be 56, 3879 (Palermo 4.22 oe ee 2, 488, 475 Abi ich oy Wop ace Se eee 216, 160 Catamige 2. 2 see neers 828, 640 (a Syracuse =) aes 460, 125 PO tae. 2 eke oe 6, 924, 985 The total number of trees in the provinces of central Italy in 1898 was 798,214, while in the northern provinces there were 564,559 trees, making a total of 8,287,758 lemon trees for the country as a whole. Detailed statistics since 1898 of the different kinds of citrus fruits in Italy are not available, but from the general data at hand it is probable that the number of trees in southern Italy has at least not decreased and has probably increased. THE COMMERCIAL IMPORTANCE OF THE ITALIAN LEMON INDUSTRY. From careful inquiries made by Dr. Arthur S. Cheney, the Ameri- can consul who lost his life in December, 1908, in the earthquake at Messina, it was estimated that the crop of 1907 in Sicily and Calabria amounted to 6,900,000,000 lemons. It is estimated in Italy that one- third or more of the crop is usually converted into by-products, such as citrate of lime, lemon oil, and lemon peel, principally for export. Expressed in terms of boxes of 330 lemons each, the Sicilian and Calabrian crop would equal more than 20,000,000 boxes, or an equiva- lent of about 64,000 California carloads of 312 boxes each. The quantity that is converted into citrate of lime alone amounts to over 20,000 carloads of fruit, the product of 1907 equaling 23,000 pipes of 672 pounds each. It requires about 100,000 lemons, or the equivalent of nearly a carload of fruit, to make a pipe of citrate of lime. It is estimated by some Italian writers that nearly 2,000,000,000 lemons are required annually for domestic consumption, while the remainder of the crop, or a little over one-third of the total, is exported to different countries in the form of fresh fruit. These figures should be con- sidered only as approximations of the extent of the lemon industry in Italy. The estimate of the domestic consumption is probably too high. 160 THE IMPORTS OF LEMONS INTO THE UNITED STATES. Hist b THE EXPORTS OF LEMONS FROM ITALY. The exports of fresh lemons from Italy have increased more than 75 per cent in the last ten years, or from 325,000,000 pounds in the calendar year 1898 to more than 559,000,000 pounds in 1907. Of the total exports of fresh lemons, the largest proportion is shipped to the United States, it having received from 29 to 41 per cent of the exports annually in the last ten years, the proportion running above 35 per cent in six years out of the ten. The United Kingdom has received from 17.7 to 25 per cent annually in the last ten years, and Austria-Hungary from 14.4 to 22.8 per cent annually. The remainder of the exports are distributed to Canada, France, Australia, Germany, Russia, and to various other countries in smaller quantities. The following table, compiled from official statistics, shows the exports of fresh lemons from Italy in quantity and in value during the calendar years 1898 to 1908, inclusive. The proportion exported to the United States has been determined from figures published by the same official source. Taste I.—EH«aports of lemons from Italy, 1898 to 1908, inclusive. Calendar year nae rts |! Calendar year Tapers ended Quantity. Value. mined ended Quantity. Value. United December 31— States December 31— States Pounds. Per cent. Pounds. Per cent. UROS ser eiamc ge ait 325,504,061 | $3,419,486 AN 3s) L904 eos 42, 3. 514, 137,472 | $3,600,745 37.3 1 2 Bs ae ere 369,473,041 | 3,234,489 BOs ||| I0D es Abeeas ec 452,903,655 | 3,171,899 32.1 LOGO Fae 22 ee 311,563,577 | 3,000,286 ZOO) 1906 ese ene. e 550,524,096 | 4,337,525 Byeal OMe Sasso a=: 368,801,294 | 3,228,610 ZO 2a ROOW a 220 Bees 559,549,378 | 4,408,653 37.8 IN sacar sae 490,053,960 | 3,432,077 30.0 |) L9082 222 .s0 2,678, 489 31.3 | ) “For 1907 and previous years: Movimento Commerciale del Regno d'Italia. For 1908: Statistica del Commercio Speciale di Importazione e di Esportazione del 1 Gennaio al 31 Dicembre, 1908. > Value for 1908 in Italian trade statistics subject to revision in 1909. 1587—Bull. 160—-09——2 16 ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS. THE IMPORTS OF CITRATE OF LIME INTO THE UNITED STATES. The total imports of citrate of lime into the United States for the fiscal years 1894 to 1908, inclusive, are given in the table following: TABLE V.—Imports of citrate of lime into the United States for consumption, 1894 to 1908, inclusive.% Fiscal year ended June 30— | Quantity. | Value. Fiscal year ended June 30— | Quantity. | Value. Pounds. | Pounds. TSO Gere SE Ls ee es AaSCOR1|* eB52 137 O02 oe Poe bce. cise ae clear | 3,066,904 | $293,293 ROS ee cans eben ees soear ee 608, 214 OP AD Sal MOOS ie eee te ea a te rasta ae | 2,657,110 240, 466 WSOGS A oe ee Sekar eee 668, 106 GO SSS | MOOG es aye see ee Lee sty eet 2,926, 529 274,130 TSO 7sesce poor ee eect cect seine 496, 291 AZ SOOO NOUS E Sane Soe ee ee econ eons 3, 444, 344 355, 728 PROS eee. ot eee eee ee 1, 026,.467 BATSON IPL S0G os: ace ee ate ees aes 3, 903, 234 534, 977 LES ge oe ee ena Ee Se ere 177s S045. Gla ig aoe AOU te cece aoe ae mes a Seals 3, 872, 924 726, 626 1900 22 ee Oe ee W944 586341422040 243 i AOR S eo eager ee ne oe 3,853, 105 580, 293 GOT ee eee eran 2,416,088 | 299, 583 |; @ United States Imports: Foreign Commerce and Navigation of the United States, Bureau of Statistics, U. S. Department of Commerce and Labor. THE EXPORTS OF ESSENTIAL OILS FROM CITRUS FRUITS. The exports of essential oils of all citrus fruits, including lemon, orange, and bergamot, are usually lumped in Italian statistics. From 1900 to 1905, during which time the statistics were separated, the lemon oil comprised from 62.5 to 84 per cent of .the total exports of citrus-fruit oils. The total exports have approximated 1,000,000 pounds a year during the last ten years. From 24.9 to 38.8 per cent of the total exports of essential oils have been sent to the United States during that period. The following table, from Italian statistical sources, shows the total exports of essential oils of lemon, orange, and other citrus fruits from Italy for the calendar years 1898 to 1908, inclusive, with the percentage of the total exported to the United States: TABLE VI.—Ezxports of essential oils of lemon, orange, and other citrus fruits from Italy, 1898 to 1908, inclusive.? Calendar year : Exports || Calendar year | Exports ended Decem- | Quantity.: Value. | to United|| ended Decem- | Quantity.| Value. | to United ber 31— States. ber 31— States. | | | Pounds. Per cent. Pounds. Per cent. PSOSease att ecsee 1,010, 491 | $1,150,003 DAO SL G04 Ee a oem eee 1,419,695 | $2,485, 697 38.3 TSOG Name LL 1,298,130} 1,590,997 DeNbr plO0SUatee onlne 1,292,136 | 2,262,358 31.1 19002 2 2 5.2tss2ss~ 1,100,812 | 1,541,900 27.8) GOGO =: se asam 2 971, 334 935, 373 36.7 TOOT Se cos Bee tee 1,101,504 | 1,398,226 QS AH AGO NO Sos oc a 1,034,816 | 1,358,870 41.5 DOQQ ees areas 1,425,438 | 1,871,814 SSS) 1908S bee. Moe 1,051,256 | ¢1, 380, 458 33./2 OOS Css Peete 1,233,210 | 1,619,391 34.8 «For 1907 and previous years: Movimento Commerciale del Regno d'Italia. For 1908: Statistica del Commercio Speciale di Importazione e di Esportazione del 1 Gennaio al 31 Dicembre, 1908. ’ > Since 1905 all the exports stated are lemon oil. ¢ Value for 1908 in Italian trade statistics subject to revision in 1909. 160 EXPORTS OF LEMON BY-PRODUCTS FROM ITALY. i The quantity of lemon oil included in the exports shown above, from 1900 to 1908, inclusive, is given in the table following: TABLE VII.—EHxports of lemon oil from Italy, 1900 to 1908, inclusive.¢ Calendar year ended December 31— Quantity. | Calendar year ended December 31— Quantity. Pounds. Pounds. LD ls arnt tec revtint Seve oceania ee tee HAS ODA OOH we She ota ee reise veers esc aos 840, 417 1G) Ag ae Bes ere See he Nene ee Le 5 ee S20, A460 b ae es sects et rst ce ees one oro 971, 334 OOD Remi Neey hee Secs iauer See Clee cee TQ 7e21 3h Nd WO ences eee seat ee ean ee eens tne 1,034, 816 MODS See eee meen a ere Ee Teper 25 DOR DOS) NEOUS Des we aon aie ee eee OES 5 1,051, 256 ANS OL oa bls re Aes eek ee aes ee See ae 886, 990 |) «For 1907 and previous years: Movimento Commerciale del Regno d'Italia. For 1908: Statistica del Commercio Speciale di Importazione e di Esportazione del 1 Gennaio al 31 Dicembre, 1908. ® Value for 1908 in Italian trade statistics subject to revision in 1909. THE IMPORTS OF LEMON OIL INTO THE UNITED STATES. The following table shows the total imports of lemon oil into the United States for the fiscal years 1898 to 1908, inclusive: TABLE VIII.—Total imports of lemon oil into the United States for consump- tion, 1898 to 1908, inclusive. . {| =e Br eended Quantity. Value. Fise Bl yees opded Quantity. Value. Pounds. Pounds. ICS Fo bs eee ae pee Ps apa ee TES 2645) TSLLZ O21 00) LOOP aye ce are eres c)\cteere ea 5 294, 568 $174, 649. 00 SOO eres ease a are 237, 302 1So 7202 005 LOU Os tees ot oe 32% ache 310, 056 175, 852. 00 GOO eee Sets\ceiste 2 rele ate 261, 978 AUT SOO00) fC EE se ee soon oae.ce 370, 270 218, 749. 00 UU OU Sta a eee ees es 268, 341 QS OAD Sree OO das creme jects cccaaee 487,717 423, 133. 00 LOO 2a crise seta acMis tesa 391, 485 2625 O92 00" LOOSE Mae ac ecm cecenece 440, 326 592, 533. 00 OOS Ra eA ess eee ce eee 361, 210 233, 487. 00, «United States Imports: Foreign Commerce and Navigation of the United States, Bureau of Statistics, U. S. Department of Commerce and Labor. THE EXPORTS OF CONCENTRATED LEMON AND CITRON JUICE. The exports of concentrated lemon and citron juice, which are lumped together in Italian statistics, have decreased from about 5,000,000 pounds in 1899 to about 1,400,000 pounds in 1907. The United Kingdom and France are the largest receivers. The propor- tion of the total exported to the United States has varied from 1.1 to 10.6 per cent in ten years. In the last five years the proportion has varied from 5.6 to 10 per cent. 18 ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS. The following table shows the total exports of concentrated lemon and citron juice from Italy for the calendar years 1898 to 1908, inclusive : TABLE IX.—H«xports of concentrated lemon and citron juice from Italy, 1898 to 1908, inclusive. Calendar year Exports Calendar year | Exports ended Quantity. | Value. |to United ended Quantity. | Value. | to United December 31— States. December 31— States. Pounds. Per cent. Pounds. Per cent. SOR Ma ecesnescere 5, 205, 333 | $273, 415 SO MOOS es eeceece ees 4,728, 694 | $269, 078 10.0 Veh eee Saar 5,496,784 | 288,724 Re) eal | ae ee Sees 2,462,019 | 150,339 6.0 NOD) Oe ese ota 4,407,921 | 231,531 9::3+\| 29062 5 jacas=cscee 2 2,074,109 | 118,023 6.9 LOGS etosee ee ce 4,117,132 | 233, 465 29 AON: o soase ce eecce 1, 443, 146 94, 753 7.5 VOOR Fee Sar re exten ae 4,989, 941 270, 838 ue has 2, 0 eS ee 1, 844, 387 | 5 121,098 10.6 HOOBE As So erate ceeme 3,180,829 | 175, 430 5.6 «For 1907 and previous years: Movimento Commerciale del Regno d'Italia. For 1908: Statistica del Commercio Speciale di Importazione e di Esportazione del 1 Gennaio al 31 Dicembre, 1908. > Value for 1908 in Italian trade statistics subject to revision in 1909. THE EXPORTS OF RAW CITRON AND LEMON JUICE. The exports from Italy of raw citron and lemon juice combined have varied from 1,357,827 to 4,474,044 pounds in the last ten years. The proportion exported to the United States has varied from 4.1 per cent of the total, the lowest, in 1900, to 16.1 per cent, the highest, in both 1899 and 1902. The table following, from Italian statistical sources, shows the total exports of raw citron and lemon juice from Italy during the calendar years 1898 to 1908, inclusive, and the percentage of the total shipped to the United States: TaBLe X.—Ewxports of raw citron and lemon juice from Italy, 1898 to 1908, inclusive.” Calendar year | Exports Calendar year Exports ended December | Quantity. | Value. |to United) ended December | Quantity. | Value. |to United 31— States. 31— States. Pounds. Per cent. Pounds. Per cent. ISO8F ei Ses- Sete 1, 725, 337 $18, 125 1053) Wi MS04- 2. csc coeee 2,322,790 | $23,385 5.7 1899). ccc cae ceases 1, 842,844 19, 359 US SN PR eee eee 1, 883, 409 18, 961 9.9 1900! 2 22 seat ose 2,307; 137 24,237 ge: i (2 ea 4, 474, 044 34, 974 8.4 ODI cee ete § 1,357,827 | 14,264 GSN M907 eee eee ee 1,872,606 | 21,311 10.9 2 eee ee 2,250, 919 23, 646 HG.) M908 S52 3222 soe 2 2,039, 275 |) 023,208) \|es 2 scecaee LOOSE ee te cee 2, 035, 307 20, 490 13.8 «For 1907 and previous years: Movimento Commerciale del Regno d’Italia. For 1908: Statistica del Commercio Speciale di Importazione e di Esportazione del 1 Gennaio al 31 Dicembre, 1908. > Value for 1908 in Italian trade statistics subject to revision in 1909. THE EXPORTS OF LEMON, ORANGE, AND OTHER CITRUS-FRUIT PEEL. The exports of lemon, orange, and other citrus-fruit peel, green or dried, which are combined in Italian statistics, have increased from 1,598,351 pounds in 1898 to 7,342,273 pounds in 1908. The propor- 160 RATES OF DUTY ON LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS. 19 tion of the total exports shipped to the United States in the last ten years has varied from 0.2 per cent, the lowest, in 1900, to 6.2 per cent, the highest, in 1904. The heaviest importer is the United Kingdom. The following table shows the total exports from Italy of lemon, orange, and other citrus-fruit peel, green or dry, during the calendar years 1898 to 1908, inclusive, and the proportion of the total exported to the United States: TABLE XI.—Exzports of lemon, orange, and other citrus-fruit peel, green or dry, from Italy, 1898 to 1908, inclusive.@ Calendar year Exports Calendar year Exports ended December | Quantity. | Value. | to United|| ended December | Quantity. | Value. | to United 31— States. 31— States. Pounds. Per cent. Pounds. Per cent. Uo ae Oo ae ee 1,598,351 | $34,981 ORG ROO are eaten 4,615,376 | $101,011 6.2 SOON een cece cece 6,184,406 | 135,351 QEGH PP 190b see latinas. 3,737,496 | 81,798 1.9 ROOW caso onto si< ea'als 3,802,312 83,217 O52) | 190Gue 2 355542202 5,859,885 | 128,248 1.8 OQ UNS ye feet oe 4,498, 531 98, 454 Peat | WOORes ooo ee | 5,475,179 | 119,829 1.6 TG 0 Sores ie ae 3,172,451 69, 432 PIG || MOOG as ahs bee 7,342,273 | > 160,692 |........-. OOS sc #252 2's5-42-5 2,798, 106 61,239 1.8 «For 1907 and previous years: Movimento Commerciale del Regno d'Italia. For 1908: Soon ee Speciale di Importazione e di Esportazione del 1 Gennaio al aa ° Value for 1908 in Italian trade statistics subject to revision in 1909. A glance at the figures shown in the foregoing tables brings out clearly that the two most important items of the Italian lemon industry, namely, the export of fresh fruits and citrate of lime, have increased steadily in the last ten years. The essential-oil business has re- mained nearly stationary, the exports of concentrated lemon and citron juice have decreased, the exports of raw juice have not varied widely. while the exports of citrus-fruit peel have shown wide variation and on the whole have increased. The relation of the United States to the Italian lemon industry is brought out in the figures. Over one-third of the fresh fruit has recently been shipped to the United States, about one-third of the citrate of lime, and one-third, more or less, of the essential oils. THE RATES OF DUTY ON LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS ENTERING THE UNITED STATES. Under the tariff act of 1897 the rate of duty on lemons entering the United States is 1 cent per pound. Under the reciprocity treaty with Cuba, December, 1903, the tariff was made 1 cent per pound, less 20 per cent on fruit from that country. The tariff on citric acid is 7 cents per pound, the imports of which in 1908 were 171,795.6 pounds, valued at $62,804. Citrate of lime and lemon oil are entered free of duty. There is no duty on lemon and orange peel not pre- pared, but there is a duty of 2 cents per pound on similar material preserved, candied, or dried, the imports of which in 1908 were 613,834.5 pounds, valued at $40,342. 160 20 ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS. THE SEASON OF LEMON RIPENING IN ITALY. There is a wide variation in the season of ripening of the lemons of Italy and an equally wide variation in the character of the fruit from different sections, as well as in the fruit that is harvested at different periods of the year in the same section. The lemon season is considered to begin on October 1 in Italy and ends on September 31 following. The earliest fruit ripens in the Syracuse district, where the first picking is made from October 1 to 15. The harvesting in the Catania and in the Messina districts begins about ten days later than in Syracuse. The Palermo harvest commences from December 1 to January 1, and occasionally by November 1. The soil is heavier in this district and the fruit can be held on the trees longer than in other districts. The fruit on the Sor- rentine peninsula, including the Amalfi coast, is the latest to ripen, the harvest beginning about February 1. There is also a summer crop of lemons in the Messina and Catania districts, called the “ Ver- delli” lemon. The methods of producing this crop will be described later. The harvesting season in each district covers a period of seven to ten months, more or less, depending on its character. The heaviest yields of each locality usually occur during the second, third, and fourth months in the season, though in some regions, like Palermo, where the altitude and soils are variable, the fruit may be harvested practically throughout the year. The fruit gathered in the first harvest in each section is somewhat inferior in keeping quality, usually on account of its immaturity and irregularity in condition. The fruit harvested in December and January is supposed to have the best keeping quality, and considerable fruit was stored before the earthquake in the Messina district in cellars for shipment in March or April to European markets, especially to Russia, Austria, Norway, and Sweden. Practically no stored fruit is shipped to the United States, though small quantities are sometimes sent to Canada. The fruit harvested in October and during the period from May to September, inclusive, is practically all used for export. That har- vested from November to April, inclusive, is used principally in the manufacture of by-products, with some of it entering the export trade as fresh fruit. In the Palermo district the heaviest exports to all countries occur from March to July, in the Messina and Catania dis- tricts from November to February, and on the Sorrentine peninsula from June to September. 160 CHARACTER OF LEMONS EXPORTED. 21 THE CHARACTER OF THE LEMONS IN DIFFERENT REGIONS OF PEAY. There is a wide variation in the character of the fruit grown on different soils and in different regions. The lemons produced on the lighter soils are rougher in texture and poorer in quality than the _ lemons from the heavier lands. They ripen earlier and are said to have poorer keeping qualities. The soil along the eastern coast is generally gravelly and light in texture, except in the upper valleys between Messina and Giarri. Only a small proportion of the fruit harvested near this coast, that cut in October, and the Verdellis are exported; the rest of it is converted into by-products. On the other hand, from 80 to 90 per cent of the firm, finer textured fruit in the upland valleys on the same coast is generally used for export. There is often a difference of 50 to 75 cents a thousand in the price paid for the upland or heavier land lemons in comparison with the fruit grown on the lighter soils near the coast. The fruit grown on the north coast of Sicily enters largely into the export trade. Probably as much as 90 per cent of the lemons of the Palermo district is ex- ported, two-thirds of the exported fruit going to America. Of the total exports from the Messina district less than one-half is usually sent to America, the rest of the fruit going to European markets, especially Germany, Russia, Austria, Norway, and Sweden, with lesser quantities to Australia and Canada. The fruit in the Palermo district is smaller and better in texture than the lemons from Mes- sina. While the crop at Messina averages two-thirds of the 300 lemon per box size, not over one-third is usually of that size in the Palermo district, the 360 size predominating in the latter section. THE CHARACTER OF THE LEMONS EXPORTED TO DIFFERENT MARKETS. Of the lemons exported to the United States, a large proportion are of the highest grades, that is, the finest in texture and free from blemishes. Of the fine-textured lemons the sizes packing 300 and 360 to the box are shipped largely to the United States, the 300 size predominating in the shipments to the northern markets and the 360 size in the exports to the southern districts. The largest lemons, the 200 size, predominate in the shipments to England. The English markets receive large quantities of the coarser grades of fruit. The German markets take a large lemon, but smaller than England. France takes a lemon medium to small in size, similar to the United States, and uses a good deal of coarse fruit, while a 330 size is fre- quently sent to Russian markets, this size including a mixture of 160 22 ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS. 300 and 360 lemons. The size of fruit shipped to a country depends somewhat on the form of the duty existing in that country. Where the duty is based on weight, the medium to small sizes are generally exported; where it is based on the number of lemons the large sizes are exported. TERMS APPLIED TO LEMONS RIPENING AT DIFFERENT PERIODS. There are several terms applied to the lemons that ripen at dif- ferent periods in Italy, though the terms are not always applied con- sistently to the same kind of fruit. The lemon trees bloom normally in April and May in southern Italy. There may be more or less blossoming through the year, and the terms are usually applied to the fruit that results from the blossoms that appear in different seasons. The term “ Limoni” is applied to the main crop of fruit maturing from the normal flowers of the preceding season. The term “ Maggiolini,” or locally “ Bianchetti,” is applied to the fruit that ripens in April and May and which is produced from irregular bloom following immediately after the normal blooming season. The Maggiolini lemons are somewhat light in color. They are high-grade fruits and are largely exported. The term “ Bastardi” is applied to large irregular lemons, usually flattened at the ends. The texture of the skin is medium in quality, and it adheres firmly to the flesh. The fruit is acid, generally seed- less, and is produced from blossoms that appear irregularly late in the season. The Bastardi lemons usually ripen in August. The term “ Basterdoni” is often applied to the largest Bastardi lemons. They ripen in September. The term “ Verdelli” is applied to a crop of lemons that ripens in the summer. The crop is produced artificially by withholding the water from the trees during June and July. About the first of August the trees are stimulated by a quick-acting fertilizer and an abundance of water. Two weeks later the trees begin to bloom and the fruit is harvested during the following summer. THE VERDELLI LEMONS. The Verdelli lemons are of enough importance to warrant a special description. In producing the crop of these lemons the object is to have the fruit mature in June or July, during the season of highest prices. They are usually grown not oftener than every other year in the same grove, as an annual production is said to be detrimental to the vitality of the tree, but on some of the lighter soils the Verdellis are produced annually. The Verdelli crop is produced principally in the region between Messina and Giardini, on the east coast of Sicily, though the system is practiced to a limited extent in the districts on 160 . LEMON GROVES OR GARDENS OF ITALY 23 the northern coast. The crop of Sicily matures with the later part of the normal crop of the Sorrentine peninsula. METHOD OF PRODUCTION. On the heavier soils the earth is removed from the base of the tree about June 1 until the larger roots are exposed to a depth of a foot in a diameter of 6 to 10 feet. On the sandy soils the earth may not be removed from the roots. No water is applied to the trees for sixty days. At the end of the drying-down period the foliage is wilted, but is not supposed to have begun to shed. The aim then is to stimu- late the tree to the greatest possible extent. This is accomplished by adding a quick-acting fertilizer, like composted manure, or a chemical fertilizer, usually of sulphate of ammonia, at the rate of 2 to 24 pounds per tree. Occasionally nitrate of soda is used. The manure or fertilizer is mixed with the soil that was removed from the basin, or it is dug into the sandy soils where the basins are not made. The basins are then filled with the soil and the fertilizer, and water is applied around each tree once a week, or oftener if the soil absorbs it, for a period of two or three weeks. If the tree responds, the blossoms begin to appear with the new growth in two weeks, and the old folage gradually drops off. It is easier to produce the Verdellis on the lighter soils and on young trees. Sometimes the trees, especially in the older groves, do not respond to the treatment. If the weather is cool and there is an abundance of dew following the blooming season, the young lemons may be killed by the wet, wilted blossoms which adhere to them for some time. Under these conditions the old blossoms are often re- moved by beating the branches with poles. It is quite common to pro- duce a Verdelli crop on a grove which failed to set a satisfactory crop in the spring. THE LEMON GROVES OR GARDENS OF ITALY. The lemon gardens of Italy are variable in size. The majority contain not more than a few trees or a few acres each at most. There are some groves of several hundred acres each in the territory between Messina and Catania and in the Palermo district, a few of the largest plantings amounting to 1,500 to 2,000 acres. The larger groves are usually under the direct management of the owners, while the smaller ones may be worked by the owners or by tenants who lease them from the owners or from one who already holds a lease. The trees in the gardens on the Sorrentine peninsula, and to a lesser extent in other sections, are frequently planted irregularly, without reference to their position in rows or to the distance apart. This is especially true of many of the gardens in the rough lava beds on the slopes of Etna, in the Catania district, where the lemon trees 160 94 ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS. are often planted in small walled-up pockets containing a dozen or more trees. In other sections where the areas of adaptable land are larger the trees are planted with regularity. There is a wide varia- tion in the distance apart of planting the trees. In Sicily and in Calabria they vary from 12 to 18 feet apart each way; on the Sorren- tine peninsula and in the vicinity of Naples, from 8 to 12 feet, and in the districts farther north the trees are planted even closer together. The yield of fruit also varies widely. In the well-cared-for irrigated groves of Sicily the trees bear from 800 to 1,200 lemons each, and sometimes an unusually well-handled grove produces from 1,200 to 2,000 lemons per tree. On the Sorrentine peninsula, where there is a short water supply and where the trees are planted closer together and are smaller, the average is not over 400 lemons per tree, while the yields are still smaller in the gardens farther north. HANDLING THE LEMON GARDEN. | PROPAGATION. There are no extensive nurseries in Italy where lemon trees are grown as they are in the United States. The stocks of bitter orange (Citrus bigaradia) are usually grown by the owners in small seed beds under the bearing lemon trees. The bitter orange grows wild in Sicily and in the mountains of Calabria, and is now used univer- sally as a stock on account of its resistance to the gum disease, which devastated the groves of Sicily about thirty years ago, when the trees were propagated on lemon stocks. The orange seeds are sown in the spring in a well-prepared bed, and the seedlings.are usually transplanted when a year old at a distance apart of 10 inches or a foot in small clumps under the bear- ing trees or in distinct areas. When the trees reach a diameter of 1 to 2 inches and a height of 5 to 6 feet they are transplanted to the garden or grove. They may or may not have been budded or grafted with the desired type of lemon before transplanting. The lemon bud is usually inserted from 2 to 3 feet from the ground and the top of the lemon tree is started from 4 to 6 feet from the ground. As the trees grow older the lower shaded branches die and, lke the apple trees of the eastern United States, the main branches lose the lower bearing wood and the tree becomes increasingly high headed and spreading. In many of the old groves in Sicily the lowest fruit- bearing branches are from 6 to 10 feet from the ground. A high- headed grove is shown in Plate IT, figure 1, while a low-headed lemon grove in California is shown in Plate II, figure 2, for comparison. Many of the closely planted lemon trees are irregular in form in both trunk and top, the trunks of many of the trees assuming a crooked, almost tortuous, outline. 160 HANDLING THE LEMON GARDEN. 25 While the lemon trees are young it is a common practice to grow cereals or vegetables between the rows. This crop may be grown by the owner or by the tenant, or the land may be sublet to a second or third party for this purpose. PRUNING. The lemon trees of Italy are not pruned systematically as they are in California. Pruning in Sicily means the cutting out of dead wood and the shortening of the vigorous suckers every year or two, and the opening of the top when the tree becomes dense. The object of pruning is similar to the general practice of pruning orange trees in California, though much more roughly done; an ax is often used in cutting out the wood. No system of pruning has been developed the purpose of which is to hold the tree low headed, to modify the density of the tree, to stimulate the produc- tion of new bearing wood, or to modify the growth of the bearing wood in different parts of the tree. The growers generally believe that, the low, dense-headed tree produces a tender, poor-keeping lemon and that the scale insects and diseases are much less serious in the trees with the high, open, spreading form which admits the air and sunlight to the greatest extent. TILLAGE. The tillage of the Italian lemon groves is practically all done by hand labor; occasionally it may be done in the larger groves with oxen and a primitive one-handled plow, though plowing in the lemon groves in Italy is a rare operation. The land is generally turned over from 5 to 10 inches deep with a short, heavy hoe twice a year, in February or March and again in September, and twice lightly, 3 inches or more deep, in May or June and in November, to turn under the weeds. The relation of tillage to the conservation of moisture and to the liberation of plant food is not understood. FERTILIZING. The principal fertilizer used in the lemon groves is composted sheep, goat, or cow manure. Chemical fertilizers have come into use to a limited extent in recent years. Sulphate of ammonia is the principal source of nitrogen, with nitrate of soda used to a less extent; sulphate of potash and ashes are used chiefly for potash; and bone meal, slag, and ground rock are among the sources of phosphoric acid. The commercial fertilizers have been experimented with in recent years in connection with cover crops and with manure. Several factories have been organized in Sicily for the manufacture of commercial fertilizers. There is no definite system of fertilizing used by the Italian lemon growers. There seems to be the same lack of exact knowledge 160 26 ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS. among the growers as to the fertilizer requirements of the trees as there is among the lemon growers of the United States. There is no agreement as to the kind of fertilizers or the quantity to use, or the time or method of application. The fertilizer that is advocated most plausibly is likely to be used most generally, and different growers using different kinds of fertilizers are likely to get equally good results if the land is kept in good physical condition. All are agreed that the trees need to be fed lberally, though they are not fertilized as regularly or to the extent practiced by the growers of California. There is a general agreement among the growers that the physical qualities of the soil must be maintained by the frequent use of manure or by turning under a cover crop of weeds. As in California, some of the growers have an impression that stable manure makes the fruit coarse in texture and of poorer keeping quality. The manure is applied generally in the spring, but sometimes in the fall. It is dug into the irrigating basin around the tree or in the bottom of the irrigating furrows. In some groves the manure is applied in the basin around the tree every other year, and, in the years between, farther away from the tree in the bottom of deep furrows, in order to reach the fine, distant feeding roots. It is not practicable to discuss the fertilizing question further, as there is an endless variation in the methods of application and in the quantities of manure and commer- cial fertilizer in use. The variation in the quantity of manure per tree will run from 40 to 150 pounds, and in chemical fertilizer from 2 to 10 pounds, depending on the nature of the fertilizer, the con- dition of the trees, and the general practice of the grower. IRRIGATION. Irrigation is practiced more or less in most of the lemon-producing sections of Italy. There is said to be an abundance of water in many parts of Sicily, but no comprehensive system of water develop- ment or of commercial water management, such as the California citrus-fruit growers have developed, has been attempted in Italy. Water is therefore likely to be scarce in dry seasons. In the fall of 1908, following a prolonged drought, the groves on the Sorrentine peninsula and in many parts of Sicily were suffering from lack of water. The landowner may lead the water from the mountains in terra-cotta pipes to reservoirs or wells on his place, or the water may be distributed directly from the mountain supplies to the groves. The excess water not needed by the large landowner is sometimes dis- tributed in canals to tenants or independent landowners who pur- chase the land and a right to the water from him. In other sections the water may be pumped by the grower from dug wells located on the place. The water is sometimes raised in bucket pumps driven 160 HANDLING THE LEMON GARDEN. | by steam power, but more often by oxen operating a windlass. It may be distributed directly from the pump to the land or pumped first to a reservoir and distributed later by gravity flow. The water is distributed in the groves in a variety of ways. Usu- ally there are brick or terra-cotta tile ditches in which the water is carried to the heads of the rows. A few cement ditches, similar to those used in the groves in southern California, have been constructed in recent years. If the land is sloping, a main furrow is run between the rows at right angles to the ditches mentioned. The water is run from the ditch into this furrow and is led out to a square basin con- structed around each tree or around two trees, or to short side furrows in place of the basins under the trees. The basins are shown plainly in Plate I, figure 1. The method of distributing the water in the grove depends on the nature of the land, its contour, and on the supply of water. The basin system of irrigation is used when the water supply is comparatively abundant. The furrow method is more economical of water. The distributing furrows are made by hand or oceasionally with a plow after the spring cultivation, and the basins are formed by banking up the earth, as shown in the illustration (Pl. II, fig. 1). In some sections where the winter rainfall is excess- ive the basins and ditches are reshaped in the fall to carry off the excess of water not absorbed by the ground. The irrigating season begins in Italy in April or May and ends in September or October, depending on the ending and the beginning of the rainy seasons. The rainfall in Sicily is more abundant than in southern California, the annual rainfall in the Messina district for ten years past, according to data gathered by the late Doctor Cheney, amounting to 30 to 40 inches. Cultivation, however, is not practiced in Italy to conserve moisture. The land is not hoed after each irrigation, and the loss of water from evaporation is large. The bearing trees are flooded every week or two on the sandy soils, and every two or three weeks on the heavier land. On the heavier soils around Palermo some of the growers irrigate the trees only when the foliage begins to wilt. Under such conditions the trees may not be irrigated oftener than three times during the season. . PROTECTION AGAINST FROST. Occasionally the Italian lemon crop is badly injured by frost, especially when the trees are in bloom in April or May. The tem- perature on the mainland on the Sorrentine peninsula generally drops below freezing every winter, and it often freezes in Sicily. In the former section an elaborate system of trellises is built over many of the groves, and mats of straw or of fine chestnut twigs are used to cover the trellises from November to April or May, when the mats 160 28 ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS. are removed. Occasionally they are rolled up and are left on the trel- lises during the summer. On the Amalfi coast, where the lemons are grown on terraces one above the other, the trees on each terrace are covered with a trellis from 8 to 10 feet in height, as shown in figure 2. The new wood is not allowed to grow above the trellis, but the fine wood and smaller suckers are tied to it once a year. The strong- growing suckers and the excess of wood are pruned off. The tree assumes a flat, umbrella shape, as shown in figure 3, and the lemons hang down and are largely picked from beneath the trellis. This form of tree training produces a partial shade, and the lemons grow- Fic. 2.—A trellis over a lemon grove. Walnut trees are growing through the trellis. Straw mats are fastened to the trellis for protection from frost from November until April or May. ing in it are comparatively fine and smooth in texture. As the trees bloom late in the spring, the fruit matures largely in the summer months. The fruits known in the market as the “ Sorrento ” or the “ Majori” lemons are grown under this system. No systematic at- tempt is made to protect the groves against frost by the use of fires or smudges. HANDLING THE LEMON CROP. SELLING THE FRUIT. There are several methods of selling the lemon crop in Italy. Prac- tically none of the fruit is exported by the grower except occasionally 160 HANDLING THE LEMON CROP. 29 in the case of large, experienced producers. There are no cooperative handling or marketing agencies similar to the marketing organiza- tions that have been formed by the California lemon producers. The grower sells his fruit usually through a broker to the exporter or to the manufacturer of by-products. The broker acts as an agent for both parties in the final settlement of the transaction, often shipping the fruit for the grower, receiving the money, and depositing it or using it in purchases for the grower, as there are few business trans- actions between the producer and the Italian business man, on account of the bargaining that must be done before a sale of fruit is made. r. d 4 % oC ee oe Fic. 3.—Lemon trees growing under a trellis, Showing the flat, umbrella form of the trees caused by tying down their branches. The lemon crop may be sold by the grove as a whole for the season, the purchaser taking all the fruit, or each picking may be sold sep- arately by the thousand lemons, a thousand, as understood in the Ital- ian industry, meaning 1,040 lemons, weighing 120 kilos, or about 260 pounds. In the by-product districts of Syracuse, Messina, and Ca- tania the crop is generally sold as a whole for the season or, to a lesser extent, at an agreed price per thousand lemons for the crop of the season. In the upper valley or highland regions of the same dis- tricts, where the lemons are finer in grade and better for export, the fruit is usually sold by the thousand lemons at each picking. In the Palermo district the fruit is generally sold by the thousand at each 160 80 ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS. picking or, to a less extent, by the thousand for the season, or as a whole crop on the trees. The buyer usually picks the fruit when. it is sold by the season. The grower usually picks it when sold at each picking. In the Messina district considerable fruit is brought to the city by the growers to be sold there either through a broker or directly to an exporter or manufacturer. The price paid the grower for the fruit has varied from $1.50 to $3.50 per thousand in the last few years. The handling of the lemon crop of Italy previous to the season of 1908 was based on a system of money advances extending from the exporter of the by-product or the fresh-fruit handler down through the various parties through whose hands the fruit or by- product passed until it reached the producer. The advances were made before the fruit was harvested, usually at the time of closing a contract between the parties having to do with the product in ques- tion, to defray the operating expenses of the different parties. The system had grown to such an extent that each party in a series of transactions became a banker for the next lower party depending on him financially. An attempt was made to abandon the system before the season of 1908 by the exporters of by-products, with the result that the lemon trade was in an uncertain and demoralized condition when these observations were made in September. Contracts for by-products and for fresh fruit had not been made with the pro- ducers at that time on account of the uncertain market conditions in foreign countries, and at least a year’s supply of citrate of lime that had been bought at high prices was on hand in the Messina district. Many of the producers who previously had made contracts earlier in the season and had received an advance on the contract were in need of financial assistance at that time. The citrate of lime in the Mes- sina district is said to have been destroyed by the earthquake. METHODS USED IN THE GARDENS. On account of the broad-spreading, high-headed trees it is neces- sary to use ladders in picking the lemons. The fruit is placed in padded baskets. From the picking baskets the fruit may be placed in larger padded baskets, in which it may be carried out of the grove to the packing house. On the Amalfi coast it is common to see women carrying the baskets of lemons from the groves to the packing houses, often a distance of several miles. If to be used for by-products, the lemons are pulled from the trees. Tf the fruit is to be used for export or for export and by-products, the picker, generally a man, breaks off the stem with the thumb and finger, leaving a stem attached to the fruit an inch or more in length. For export a man can pick about 5,000 lemons a day; for by-products, from 8,000 to 12,000. The fruit is picked by size, as in California. 160 HANDLING THE LEMON CROP. ol If the fruit is to be used in a by-product factory, it is drawn there in bags or in baskets loaded into donkey or ox carts. The fruit that is used both for export and for by-products may be taken to a packing house on the place, where the stems are cut close with shears by either men or women. It is then roughly graded by women into export and by-product fruit, the rough lemons and low grades going for the latter purpose. Sometimes, as shown in the picking scene in Plate III, figure 1, the stem clipping and grading is done in the grove. In this case the lemons are piled on straw, the stems are cut short, and the fruit is roughly graded, after which the export fruit is delivered to the packing house on the place or, if near by, to the packing house of the exporter. On the Amalfi coast the lemons are often drawn in hand carts from the groves to the packing houses. The women carry the lemons out of the high groves in covered baskets to the carts and then draw them to the packing houses. When the fruit is packed on the place it is allowed to wilt for two or three days or longer, after which the lemons are wrapped, generally by the women who grade them. The packing is done by men. The boxes are then delivered to the packing house of the exporter, where the fruit is always regraded before shipping. METHODS USED IN THE PACKING HOUSES. The handling of the fruit after it reaches the packing house is simpler in some ways than the American method of lemon handling. The sweating or coloring of the lemons is not practiced, and none of the fruit is washed. The lemons are comparatively clean as they come from the tree. The fruit hangs too far from the ground to be affected with brown-rot, if the disease exists in Italy, and the lemons are not covered with the dust arising from cultivation and from a loose soil, as the California fruit is likely to be. If the lemons are dirty, they are sent to the by-product factory. The fact that the ex- ported lemons are not washed probably adds to the keeping quality of the fruit after it reaches the market. Comparatively few of the Italian lemons are stored. The bulk of the fruit is shipped soon after picking, only the best grades entering the export trade to the United States. There may be from three to five grades selected for export to different countries. The tree-ripe lemons are shipped to other countries or are used in making by- products. The quick shipment of the fruit that corresponds only to the silver-green or the light-yellow lemons of California probably adds to the keeping quality of the Italian lemons. The dark-green, as well as the tree-ripe fruit, is not considered of good enough keep- ing quality to be shipped to the United States. The methods of grading and packing Italian lemons are more com- plicated than the American methods. If the fruit has not already 1587—Bull. 160—09——3 oo ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS. been wilted in the garden, the lemons are generally allowed to stand a few days on arrival in the house, either in the packages or in piles on the floor. There are many differences in the details in handling the fruit in the packing houses. The packing-house operations are not systematized to the extent practiced in American houses. In a house in Palermo the lemons were in a pile on the floor 3 feet deep cr more, probably containing a thousand boxes. The fruit had been roughly graded by the grower, but it was regraded by the exporter. The grading was done by women. Other women wrapped the fruit, twisting the wrapper at both ends of the lemon except the fruit for the top tiers of the box, which is wrapped after the American method. The wrapped lemons were then placed in baskets. The fruit was of the 300 and 360 sizes. The lemons of one size were then placed in the boxes by boys as rapidly as the men who do the packing could place them in position in the box. In the United States the packer sizes, wraps, and packs the fruit. In Italy the packer’s work is con- cerned only with arranging the fruit in the box. A good workman will pack 70 boxes a day. The interior of a packing house in Catania is shown in Plate ITT, figure 2. The padded bins are used in grading, sizing, wrapping, and packing the fruit. The method of packing differs from that followed in America principally in the double twist on the wrapper and in the use of bright-colored pictures on the wrappers and often on the paper that is used in lining the boxes; also in the use of shredded paper, gold and silver colored tinsel, etc., for embellishing the package. There have been several sizes of boxes in use in the export trade, but an effort is being made to use for the United States boxes similar in size to the California box. In the Messina district considerable of the fruit of the November and December crop is stored in cellars for export to European mar- kets in the spring. The fruit is wrapped und packed in boxes before storage. When ready for export the decayed fruit is removed and the fruit is regraded and rewrapped. The losses that occur from blue mold are recognized by the shipper to be due principally to the rough handling of the fruit before it is stored; an unwrapped lemon stored under these conditions would shrivel slightly and lose the fine texture of the skin. The very green fruit picked in October is not considered of good storing quality, as it may shrivel while in storage, while the fruit maturing in January and later loses in keep- ing quality as the harvesting season progresses. THE COST OF PRODUCING LEMONS IN ITALY. Tt is difficult to obtain accurate figures on the cost of producing a crop of lemons in Italy on account of the variable conditions under which the fruit is grown and the lack of information on the part of 160 COST OF PRODUCING LEMONS IN ITALY. 38 the growers themselves. No attempt will be made in this publica- tion to give an itemized statement of cost. An observer may easily gain widely different impressions by questioning producers who work under different conditions and in different parts of the country. In the fall of 1908 the wages of labor used in the groves in different parts of Sicily and on the mainland varied from 40 to 70 cents a day of ten hours. The usual price was about 50 cents a day; a higher figure was found only rarely. In the packing houses the men were paid from 50 to 60 cents a day. A man with a team of oxen was paid $2 a day. The women were paid from 30 to 40 cents a day and occa- sionally as high as 70 cents, and the boys from 20 to 30 cents. In some sections the daily wage includes a-bottle of wine. Where this occurs the wine represents the equivalent of about 6 cents in the wage and is deducted from it. Previous to 1908 the wages were lower, but there is said to be a growing scarcity of labor in Italy on account of the heavy emigration and it was expected by all classes of business men that there would be a further advance in wages in the future. A fair estimate of the cost of producing a crop on a bearing grove, including cultivation, irrigation, fertilization, pruning, and other operations up to the time of picking, is from $25 to $60 per acre, though the latter figure is unusually high. This does not include taxes or interest on the investment. This estimate is based on the cost of producing the fruit in the larger, well-managed groves. The cost is less in the groves that are not so well managed. In one of the large groves in the Alcantara Valley, near Giardini, the cost of cultivation and pruning in 1908 was 10 cents a tree, fertiliz- ing 10 cents, and irrigation 2 cents, making a total of $25 per acre for 100 trees. This grove was representative of the better groves on the eastern coast of Sicily. The cost of production will prob- ably not equal more than one-half as much as the cost in the United States. The cost of handling the fruit from the tree to the point of ship- ment is equally difficult to estimate. It is fair to assume that the cost of the labor used in the different operations will not equal one- half the cost of similar labor in the United States. The investment in the equipment of a packing house is smaller than in California. These general statements are based on the comparative wages paid in the two countries. and not on the efficiency of the labor. The Italian lemon box costs about the same as the American box. The freight rate on lemons, per box, from Sicily to New York or Boston was ls. 3d., or 31 cents, in the fall of 1908. The box is estimated to weigh 82 pounds. 169 11—THE BY-PRODUCTS OF THE LEMON IN ITALY: By E. M. Cuacr, Assistant Chief of the Division of Foods, Bureau of Chemistry. INTRODUCTION. The relative importance of the industry which has to do with the utilization of the by-products of lemon culture is controlled, as a whole or in any single district of Italy, by several well-defined factors. Of these, the quality of the fruit is of the greatest importance, for in regions where it is uniformly good the problem of the disposal of the few culls is solved by local consumption. In other regions, however, the nature of the fruit itself practically prohibits its exportation, and it is here that the so-called * by-products ” become the source of the chief industry of the district. Where there is any question of the purpose to which the fruit is to be put, the anticipated profits will be the controlling factor and the relative price of citrate of lime and lemon oil will be compared with that of the fresh fruit. The price of labor and conditions of transportation are also im- portant minor factors, as it is manifestly less costly to sort and pack the fruit than to transform it into oil and citrate, but, on the other hand, it is less difficult to transport these final products than the orig- inal fruit, which requires such careful handling and is subject to decay. The financial condition of the operator is also a factor, for the by-products offer a more tempting field for speculation, citrate of lime keeping indefinitely, while large quantities of the oil remain over from crop to crop. Lastly, local custom plays a much more im- portant part than would be possible in this country. Changes in methods of operation are much more conservatively received, and the working classes as a whole do not adapt themselves so readily to new tasks. GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE BY-PRODUCT INDUSTRY. In northern Italy one or more of the factors mentioned render the production of by-products unprofitable and it is not until the south- ern part of the southernmost provinces of the mainland is reached that this branch of the industry begins to flourish. Across the straits of Messina in Sicily it reaches its zenith, and along the south- eastern coast of that island it is the principal resource of the people. 160 35 36 ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS. In the province of Calabria another essential-oil industry shares the attention of growers and materially lessens both the lemon cul- ture and the production of lemon oil; the manufacture of citrate of lime, however, is relatively increased, as it is also a by-product of bergamot culture. The world’s supply of bergamot oil for the manu- facture of perfumes comes exclusively from this comparatively re- stricted region, so that much higher prices are obtained for it than for lemon oil, which has to compete with the output of Sicily. It has been estimated by competent Messinese brokers that only a small per- centage (certainly less than 5 per cent) of the total lemon oil produc- tion comes from this region. cs = > SCALETTA ALi 5 FAANCAVILLA @ yy ee) BRONTE)* © GEAGENT/ Fic. 4.—Map of Sicily, showing the regions where lemon by-products are prepared. The adjacent island of Sicily, separated from the mainland by only a few hundred yards at the nearest point, is the largest lemon-grow- ing region of the world. Here the lemon-producing belt lies along two sides of the triangular coast line, interrupted with few exceptions only in the spots where the hills advance into the sea. This belt is naturally divided into four parts, and one of these is best divided again in districting the island. A map of Sicily showing the by- product regions is shown in figure 4. THE INDUSTRY IN THE ETNA DISTRICT. The Etna district begins on the south at Catania, a city of con- siderable importance, second in size in Sicily, around it being clus- tered several important gardens from which arises considerable trade in both fresh fruit and by-products. The former is exported prin- 160 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF BY-PRODUCT INDUSTRY. 37 cipally to Austrian ports, while the by-products go to Messina for exportation. The city contains but one lemon-oil factory of con- siderable size, but many smaller ones are situated in the suburbs. These latter places are crowded into the narrow streets and alleys under the most sordid conditions, the fruit being prepared in the street and the oil extracted in the living rooms and stored in the sleeping quarters of the house. The only place given over exclusively to the manufacturing process is the room devoted to the citrate of lime, and even this often serves as a stable. These operators buy a few culls from day to day, every member of the family taking part in the work of converting them into the final products. In this district the next center farther north is Acireale, a small thriving city, the most important of the by-product industry in the Etna district. There are a dozen or more factories here, and it is also headquarters for the Essential Oil Producers’ Association, an or- ganization of comparatively recent formation, the membership of which seems to be confined to producers in the Etna district. North of Acireale, 6 miles distant, is Giarre, with one factory of fair size and several of minor importance. About 2 miles nearer the foothills of Mount Etna, at the railroad station for Mascali, is a small village called Carrubba, whose inhabitants, men, women, and children, are employed in a group of large factories situated there. One of these factories is the largest and best equipped in Sicily, em- ploying at the height of the season over 300 hands, producing several hundred pounds of oil a day. Even here the advances which have been made do not seem to have changed the character of the methods employed, the improvements often seeming more apparent than real, and being certainly greatly emphasized by the crude conditions sur- rounding them. Mechanical carriers are used for conveying the fruit from one part of the factory to the other and for carrying off the waste products, but no devices for halving the lemons or removing the pulp from them have been attempted. A battery of machines for extracting the oil from the peel had, however, been installed, but later abandoned. It is not strange that the device was a failure, for the peel required the same preparation as in the present methods of handling, and each machine needed an attendant, who handled separately every half lemon rind. As the rate of production was not greatly in- creased, the apparent saving was the difference in cost between the hire of a boy or girl attendant and that of a man sponger minus the cost of power necessary to operate machines. After all, however, the place is exceedingly well equipped when compared with other Sicilian factories, having cement floors and tanks, an electric lighting plant, steam ovens for drying citrate of lime, and many other improvements not usually seen on the island. 160 88 ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS. The two neighboring factories are of the usual type, but well ar- ranged and roomy, employing about 50 hands each. They produce in the neighborhood of 100 pounds of oil daily. Several miles northwest of this point, on the first of the foothills of Mount Etna, is the town of Mascali, containing several small fac- tories of minor importance, drawing their fruit from the upland valleys of the vicinity. The other two centers in the district are Fiumefreddo and Giardini. The former contains several factories of a daily capacity of 50 to 100 pounds of oil; the latter, one large factory and several very small ones; there being in addition several small places between the two towns. Giardini is the northern limit of the district and draws its supplies from the south, being cut off from the Messina district on the north by a steep range of hills, over which hauling is difficult even on the fine military road which skirts the coast. Fiumefreddo is 6 or 7 miles farther south and is sur- rounded for miles on all sides by lemon gardens. The whole region from Catania to Giardini lies at the foot of Mount Etna, many of the fruit orchards being on its decomposed lava beds. Oranges are also grown in this district, but are as a rule farther inland in the foothills. Aderno, Paterno, and Bronte, situated well up on the slopes of Etna, have considerable of this trade, as has Francavilla, farther north, nearer Giardini, the large factory at the latter place producing considerable quantities of both sweet and bitter orange oil from the fruit grown here. The season begins in the Etna district in December and is prac- tically over by April 1, although a few small operators continue into May. As the growing of Verdelli lemons is less practiced in this region than in the Messina district or in parts of the north coast, the inducements for summer work are not the same. The output of the district is marketed at Messina, being shipped to that point by rail, the exportation of oil and citrate of lime from Catania being less than the production of that city alone. THE INDUSTRY IN THE MESSINA DISTRICT. The Messina district, the second largest in Sicily, is practically a continuation of the Etna district on the south. The lemon-producing land lies along the coast, extending into the few valleys which run back between the hills as in that district. The soil, however, is prob- ably quite different, as it is much farther from Mount Etna, no lava streams having entered the section for many hundred years. The largest center at the southern end of the district is Santa Teresa, from which the oil of the neighboring town Roccalumera is also shipped. There are eight or more factories in the two places, one of which is considerably above the average size, employing a hundred hands or over, the others varying from those employing 160 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF BY-PRODUCT INDUSTRY. 39 less than a dozen to those which have upward of fifty. Northward toward Messina, the next center of importance is Scaletta Zanglea, where are located three or four factories of very small size. At the northern end of the district, from Galati to Messina, the coast belt is much narrower than toward the south; the towns here stretch continuously along the military road, there being scarcely a visible boundary between them. When riding along this road the whole region seems an extension of the city of Messina. The chief centers are Galati, Tremestieri, Mili, and Contesse, all small towns having direct railroad connections with the city. The factories are, taken as a whole, better equipped than elsewhere in the island. All are of moderate size, some employing less than twenty hands, while one, with over two hundred, is second or third in size in Sicily. This factory is one of the very few to produce concentrated oil by fractional distillation of the usual product. Owing to the size of the factories and the narrowness of the coast strip here, a large quantity of the fruit consumed is drawn from farther south, and during the bergamot season from Calabria, on the mainland. Messina itself is hemmed in on all sides by high hills upon which no lemons are grown; fruit in large quantities must therefore come from some little distance. For this reason there is but one factory of any considerable size in the city; it employs, however, over two hundred hands, being situated on the north side of the city in an isolated group of gardens. Messina, like Catania, contains many very small places where oil is made in the dwellings of the lower classes, the output in any single instance being small, but the total of some importance. There was also at one time a quantity of by-products produced here from the culls of stored fruit; this practice has, however, almost ceased at present, as storage fruit has given way before the Verdelli lemon. On the north coast, not far from Messina, are two centers of minor importance, Bauso and Rometta. There seems little reason for classing them with the remainder of the Messina district except for the fact that they employ methods of production similar to those used on the south coast, while the center nearest them on the north coast employs a somewhat different process in obtaining oil. Un- doubtedly, however, as far as the oil is concerned its composition here is more nearly like that of the north coast, no matter what process is used in its production. The factories in these towns are quite small, especially at Rometta, Bauso containing one of the average size, employing nearly fifty hands. As in the Etna district, the produce of the entire Messina region is disposed of through Messina brokers. The season also is the same as in that district. 160 40 ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS. THE INDUSTRY IN THE PALERMO DISTRICT. Palermo, the third district of importance, is the most westerly of the five. As in the other north-coast regions, lemon cultiva- tion occurs in large isolated groups of orchards, with the exception of the Conco d’Oro, where the whole valley is given up to it. This valley is of exceptional fertility, and it is said that at one time considerable sugar cane was raised here. The fruit being above the average quality, the greater part of it is shipped fresh. The culls for by-products go both to Palermo and to the small city of Monreale, beautifully situated above Palermo in the hills. Here are some half dozen poorly equipped factories of small size, employing from a dozen to thirty hands each. Palermo itself is the largest city of Sicily and contains several important factories, situated largely in the suburbs; the output of oil is not, however, larger than that of some of the small towns of the south coast. Information about the factories here is much harder to obtain than in other parts of Sicily; there are at least six of average size, the city being free from factories of the smaller type such as are found in Catania and Messina. Toward the east, the principal center is Ficarazzi, where there are several factories, one of which may be said to be large. There are also other towns to the west of Palermo which contain manu- facturing plants, but they are small and relatively unimportant. At Partinico, on the Trapani railroad line, are two or three, at Carini one, and at Cinisi another; taking it all in all, they are the crudest of the island. While this district produces a large quantity of oil and citrate of lime, the industry is not so well developed as in the two districts already described, these commodities here being in every sense of the word by-products. The production of summer lemons is universal in this region and affects to a considerable extent the composition of the essential oil. This is probably due to admixture of oil produced from the Verdelli lemons left upon the trees until the following season. Ordinarily the amount thus produced is small; when, however, the price of summer fruit is low it is very often left unpicked until the following natural crop is gathered, when it is sorted out with the other culls. In some factories this fruit is discarded, no attempt being made to produce oil from it. In the majority of cases, however, it is worked up as usual. It would seem that the former is far the better policy, as the yield both of oil and of citrate of lime are extremely low, added to which is the further disadvantage of the inferiority of the result- ing oil. Where this fruit forms a considerable proportion of that 160 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF BY-PRODUCT INDUSTRY. 41 from which it is being produced the resulting product is not market- able except in admixtures with normal oil. The season begins here later than in any of the other districts, often two months later than at Syracuse, and extends later into the warm weather, the month of June often finding several factories still in operation. Although this district contains the largest seaport and city of commercial importance in Sicily in the city of Palermo, only a comparatively small quantity of the by-products is shipped from that point, this exportation going to England, that coming to the United States being confined to fresh fruit. THE INDUSTRY IN THE SYRACUSE DISTRICT. The fourth by-product district is on the opposite side of the island, southeast of Palermo, and is but slightly less important than that center. The Syracuse district differs in many ways from the others of Sicily; the country not being mountainous, the fruit is cultivated farther inland than usual and the problem of irrigation is more difficult. Lemon culture is not the chief occupation here, for the country was one of the finest wheat-growing regions of ancient times, and at present besides this cereal both almonds and grapes are exten- sively cultivated. The climate is very mild, the gathering of lemons beginning several weeks earlier than in the other districts. October 15 to April 15 is a liberal estimate of the manufacturing season, while fifteen days might be cut from each end and more nearly represent the actual fact. The district contains several isolated centers of production, the gardens not being continuous, as in the lemon belt proper, but clus- tered in large groups about the several towns. Three of these centers are of considerable importance, the cities of Syracuse, Floridia, and Avola, all containing six or more factories and each employing 20 hands or more. At Syracuse there are no factories on the island which forms the old city, all being on the mainland in the newer suburbs. Comparing favorably in size with the average factories in other districts, they are in equipment above those at Palermo, but not so well equipped as those near Messina. Floridia is some 12 miles inland from Syracuse, situated in a very fertile valley of lemon groves, the half dozen fac- tories here varying in size, two being of considerable importance; all are, however, devoid of mechanical improvements. The output of this town is carted to Syracuse, as it has no railroad connections. South of Syracuse city no lemons are grown until Avola, 15 miles distant, is reached. Here is situated another large group of or- chards; the factories, as usual clustered about the town itself, are 160 49, ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS. below the average size and have no special equipment. Some orange oil is prepared in this district and large quantities of peel are dried and sold for the preparation of the lqueur curacao. The other centers in this district are Augusta, with one factory of average size; Priolo, with two small places; and Melilli, with one. Augusta is 18 miles north of Syracuse, on the coast, and is the center of the salt. industry; Priolo is between Syracuse and Augusta, some miles from the railroad, while Melilli is farther inland, situated well up in the low hills. The lemon products of the district find their way to market through Messina, with which there is direct railroad connection. THE INDUSTRY IN THE NORTH-COAST TOWNS. The remaining district to be considered is the heterogeneous col- lection of towns on the north coast. Here, again, as in Palermo and Syracuse, the cultivation of the lemon takes place in isolated groups of orchards around the central towns, the country being very moun- tainous and having no cultivated strip of coast land, as on the south. The fruit is grown in the valleys between the spurs of hills, all of the large towns being near the Messina-Palermo railroad line, which winds along the seacoast. By far the most important center, in fact the only important one of this region, is Barcelona, a small inland city not far from the seaport of Milazzo. Here are some three factories, employing from 30 to 50 hands each, and a few more of smaller size, all with- out mechanical equipment. The methods employed are, as has been stated, similar to those of the Palermo district, the old method of production being used and distilled oil manufactured from residues. The small city of Patti, the next largest by-product center, is west of Barcelona, 2 miles from the railroad station of the same name. There are but two factories here, both employing approximately 30 hands and, as at Barcelona, producing considerable sweet and bitter orange oil. Farther west there are no other factories until Capo d’Orlando is reached, at which place are several of small size, which is also the case at Santa Agata di Miletello. The factories in ail of these places use the so-called new or two-piece method of manufacture, which is peculiar, inasmuch as they are situated between two larger districts using the other method. At Santa Agata di Miletello the factories do not produce citrate of lime, the lemon juice being concentrated in copper kettles and sold to liqueur and bitters manufacturers in northern Italy. The commerce of the north-coast towns, as far as lemon by-prod- ucts are concerned, is carried on through Messina, although there is a thriving local seaport town, Milazzo. While the district covers 160 MANUFAOTURE OF BY-PRODUCTS. 43 a much greater territory than that covered by either the Palermo or Syracuse districts, it produces less oil and citrate than either. The season is more nearly like that of the Palermo district, although manufacturing begins somewhat earlier and ceases sooner than in that district. MANUFACTURE OF BY-PRODUCTS. There are two chief by-products of lemon culture—the essential oil of lemon and citrate of lime; besides these, lemon peel in brine and concentrated lemon juice are of lesser importance. Oil of lemon is used very largely for flavoring purposes. It finds application also in perfumes and to a limited extent in pharmaceutical preparations; the greater part of that imported into this country, however, is used in the preparation of the ordinary extract of lemon, well known to every housewife. Citrate of lime, or, more properly, calcium citrate, is an intermediate product in the manufacture of citric acid. In the lemon juice itself the acid occurs in the free state, together with sugars and mucilaginous bodies. It is in order to free it from these that it is combined with lime, for the compound thus formed is insolu- ble and precipitates from the juice, being finally separated by filtra- tion. This product must then be again treated in order to free it from lime and obtain the citric acid once more in the free state. There are no factories in Sicily for this purpose, although the Italian Government was, before the recent earthquake, making efforts to establish a plant by subsidy. The product is now shipped to Ger- many, England, and the United States, where the lime salt is decom- posed with sulphuric acid, filtered through boneblack, and crystallized from solution in water. The process is one of some difficulty, con- siderable loss arising from the decomposition of the citric acid by the sulphuric acid present. The salting of the lemon peel is usually confined to those districts of Sicily where the towns are upon the seacoast situated near slop- ing beaches, so that sea water is easily obtainable. It is not usually packed in the interior, although a few towns near Messina have some little trade in this line, the product being repacked in that city. Pro- ducers in Sicily claim that there is a demand for three separate kinds of stock; first, that from which no oil has been removed; second, that which contains approximately half the oil; and, lastly, a completely exhausted product. All classes are consumed in the bakers’ and con- fectioners’ trades. Where the rinds are to be used for packing, the lemons are divided lengthwise, the pulp removed in the usual way, and the peel packed by hand as firmly as possible in large hogsheads, which are afterwards filled with sea water and reenforced by the addition of salt. The production of concentrated juice is not extensive, the factories being small and the methods of evaporation extremely crude. In 160 44 ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS. those at Santa Agata di Miletello the juice is pressed from the pulp and filtered, as in the manufacture of citrate of lime, and then pumped into shallow tanks supported over a crude fireplace. Here evaporation takes place over a wood fire until the required consistency is obtained, this point being ascertained by cooling a portion of the juice and inserting a spindle. The final product, a very dark semi- sirup, of acid, bitter, and smoky taste, is sold to liqueur and bitters producers in northern Italy. Besides the two factories at Santa Agata di Miletello, there are one or two on the Calabrian mainland. Altogether the industry is of minor importance. EQUIPMENT OF BY-PRODUCT FACTORIES. It has already been hinted that in the great majority of cases the factories in Sicily are very poorly, even crudely, equipped, the nature of the operations which take place requiring but very simple appa- ratus. In the preparation of oil, machinery is not used except in the few factories which are situated in Calabria. For the manufacture of citrate, a crusher, as shown in Plate IV, figure 1, a filtering device for juice and another for citrate, a pre- cipitating tank supplied with a heating coil, an oven or heating room, and a small juice pump only are necessary. This apparatus is usually arranged to fit into quarters originally intended for other purposes; the crusher and filter presses on substantial foundations near the room where the cutting of the fruit takes place, near the latter a juice tank and pump, while the precipitating tank is also near by, as the pump- ing is usually done by hand in the heating room wherever convenient. In many of the smaller factories a loft is floored off and the space thus provided used for extraction of the oil, the room often being scarcely 6 feet high in the center, dark, and ill ventilated. On the north coast, where the work takes place at night (from midnight to 8 or 9 o’clock in the morning), this place also serves as sleeping quarters for the sponge men. The custom of preparing the oil at night seems confined to the Palermo and north-coast towns. The explanation given for this method of operation is that the sunlight has a dele- terious effect upon the oil, but a more probable cause is the fact that the sponging operation can take place at night with less trouble than any of the other processes in by-product manufacture and that the same workmen can thereby work during both daylight and darkness. PREPARATION OF THE FRUIT. The preparation of the fruit differs somewhat in the different dis- tricts, and while the variation seems slight it undoubtedly affects the length of the operation and perhaps the quality of the oil produced. In the Syracuse, Etna, and Messina districts and in Patti and Santa Agata di Miletello, north-coast towns, a method known as the “ two 160 EXTRACTION OF THE ESSENTIAL OIL. 45 piece” is used. In Palermo and Barcelona the process used is called “ three piece,” although some factories in the latter city use the other method. The difference between the two hes in the manner of re- moving the rind from the fruit. In the former the lemon is halved and the pulp removed from these halves; in the other the peel is pared off in three longitudinal strips. The three-piece method of preparing the fruit is shown in Plate V, figure 1. When the fruit arrives at the factory it is dumped into large bins, around which sit the cutters, who divide the lemons in halves or pare them, according to the method used. An ordinary cheap kitchen paring knife is used for this purpose, the operators being women, girls, and boys on the south coast; on the north coast women and children are seldom em- ployed. The work is carried on very rapidly where the fruit is halved crosswise, the lemon being cut and tossed into the tub with a single motion of the arm. Where the peel is to be salted down, the fruit is divided from end to end, and the time consumed is relatively longer, as is also the case where it is pared. The next step in the process is naturally omitted where the latter method is used. The half lemons are thrown upon shallow troughs, on each side of which stand the operators provided with baskets for holding the peel. The instrument used consists of a sharp, slightly concave disk firmly fastened on the end of a stout sickle-shaped wire, provided at the opposite end with a wooden handle. The disk is skillfully slipped between the pulp and rind of the lemon, held in the left hand, and forced toward the end with a circular motion of both the instrument and fruit. When sufficiently far advanced, a quick jerk removes the pulp, the separation being complete and the rind unbroken. The operators are usually paid by the basket of resulting peel, the women making from 20 to 40 cents a day, while the children, who do the cutting, rarely make over 15 cents, often as low as 5 cents, Where the lemons are pared the separation is much less complete, there being always considerable pulp left on the rinds and some httle rind at the ends of the pared fruit. Asa result of this, some little lemon juice becomes mixed with the extracted oil, and after the extraction of the oil from the peel the latter has to be mixed with the fruit pulp in order not to lose the considerable portion of the part of the fruit clinging to it. EXTRACTION OF THE ESSENTIAL OIL.? In both methods of operation the peel is thrown into large wicker baskets, which, when full, are dipped into a reservoir of cold water and thoroughly shaken to remove the excess. This washing is said 4See also the article by the same author, entitled ‘‘The Manufacture of Flavoring Extracts,’ in the Yearbook of the Department of Agriculture for 1908, pp. 333-342. 160 46 ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS. to wilt the rind and render a complete extraction of the oil possible. However this may be, it is certain that fruit treated in this manner and allowed to stand for several hours yields relatively more oil than that worked up immediately after separation from the pulp. At this stage, the pulp and peel having been separated, the former is sent to the crusher to be converted finally into citrate of lime, the latter to sponge men, who extract the oil. The extraction or sponging process is not essentially different with the different forms of peel, the operators sitting upon low stools with an earthenware bowl! between the feet, a pile of peel in front of them, and a basket for the exhausted material at one side. The bowl is about a foot in diameter, provided with a deep lip, directly beneath which is a small, round, concave depression which serves when the bowl is tilted forward, in pouring out its contents, to hold back the settlings of juice and precipitated matter. Across the top is placed a stick so notched as to fit tightly on the sides; resting upon it are the sponges, which differ somewhat according to the manner of pre- paring the peel. Where the fruit is cut crosswise, a large, flat sponge is surmounted by a smaller concave one, shaped somewhat like a brimless slouch hat, the half lemon being placed within this sponge when pressed. When the lemon is cut in the other direction, a large, heavy sponge rests upon the flat one and the fruit is pressed, colored side down, into it. This method is also followed where the rind has been pared from the fruit. With the first method the half rind is held in the right hand between the thumb and first two fingers and inserted in the wide aperture of the concave sponge, whereupon the latter is pressed upon with the left hand, the weight of the body being thrown into the motion. The pressure is relieved, the peel turned partly over with the right hand, and the pressing repeated. The same operation is carried on once or twice more, the rind thus receiving three or four pressings. Where the concave sponge is not used, the peel or slices are pressed face downward on the other sponge with the right hand, the left being used to keep the sponge in place, the same amount of force and number of pressings being required in either case. The sponging process is somewhat varied where the three-piece method is used, owing to the quantity of pulp left adhering to the rind. A shallow, glazed bowl is placed upon the one ordinarily used and the notched stick fitted to it so that the mixture of juice and oil is received directly here. At the end of the operation the sponges are thoroughly squeezed out by hand and the lemon oil separated from the juice by tilting forward the glazed bowl over the other and violently blowing the breath upon the surface of the mixture until the oil has been carried over into the lower bowl. In this operation some juice and residue are found mixed with the oil, and this is sep- 160 TREATMENT OF THE RESIDUES. 47 arated finally in the larger bowl by carefully tilting forward and repeating the blowing operation. The small amount of juice and residue now present is caught by the depression in this bowl and the oil is received in a measuring bottle. The operation where the two- piece method is used is very similar; the oil and what little moisture and residue are extracted are caught in the earthenware bowl and separated as indicated. The oil in either case is allowed to settle for twenty-four hours or longer, filtered through paper, and stored in large copper containers; that made by the three-piece method is said to keep longer without becoming turbid. TREATMENT OF THE RESIDUES. The treatment of the residues resulting from both methods is differ- ent; with the two-piece method they are passed through a conical cloth filter and the oil and water received in an earthen- ware bowl, where they are separated in the usual way. The filter is tied at the top and placed under a_ hand press, where the last traces of oil and water are expressed. The residues from the three- piece process, which are rela- tively greater in amount than by the other method, are placed in small copper stills, diluted with water, and dis- tilled. The still is made in two parts, the pot being about 2 feet high, narrowing ab- ruptly to a 3-inch aperture at the top, over which the con- densing part fits tightly, the joint being cemented each time with clay. The latter part is a basin, whose straight ¢ E E Fie@, 5.—A lemon-oil still used on residues, Palermo. sides are continued a short dis- The oil produced is inferior to the hand-pressed tance beyond the concave bot- Pa" tom, after which they converge similarly to the sides of a funnel. It is provided with two spouts, one of which enters under the bottom into what becomes the condensing chamber of the still; the other enters above and is used to draw off the water placed in the basin in order to cool the vapor coming in contact with it during the dis- 1587—Bull. 160—09—_4 48 ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS. tillation. The condensation is further aided by wrapping the other spout with rags, over which the attendant pours cold water from time to time. A still is shown in figure 5. The oil obtained by this process is water white, of disagreeable odor and abnormal chemical characteristics; having no sale in the pure state it is invariably mixed by either producer or broker with the hand-pressed product. The filtration method undoubtedly gives the best results, for if the residues are treated immediately the resulting oil can scarcely be distinguished from the original. Distilled oi] is produced only at Barcelona and Palermo; in all other districts the residues are filtered. MACHINE-MADE ESSENTIAL OIL. The manufacture of lemon oil by machine is confined to the main- land of Italy, in the province of Calabria. As has been said, large amounts of bergamot oil are made here, and it is with the machine used in this industry that lemon oil is produced. The bergamot is shaped more like an orange than a lemon, being nearly round, so that the apparatus has to be slightly modified in order to use it on the latter fruit. The modification consists in removing the flat disks and substituting concave ones for them. The machine itself, shown in Plate VI, figure 1, consists of a stand supporting two upright arms united by a cr abe at the top. On the inside of one of these uprights is hung a large cogged wooden fly wheel geared against a cylinder, the sides of which are upright spokes fitting into the cogs of the fly wheel. 'To the under side of this cylinder is bolted a corrugated disk, shown in Plate VI, figure 2, fitted so as to revolve above a like stationary one at the bottom of the machine. An arrangement for raising and lowering the upper disk is provided for by an arm fastened to the cylinder and extending over a crosspiece at the rear. This arm is so weighted as to regulate the pressure brought to bear upon the fruit which is placed between the upper and lower disks. When it is lowered, the upper disk is raised and the lemons, which must be of uniform size, are placed within. The lever is then raised, lowering the disk upon the fruit, and the outside fly wheel is turned by hand. After two minutes it is stopped and the fruit removed, each lemon being carefully wiped otf with a sponge. The grated rind and oil are received in a large pan set beneath the machine and subsequently filtered through cloth filters, the residue being placed under hand presses to express the last traces of oil and moisture. Oil manufactured in this way is not in the least inferior to the hand-pressed product and has the added advantage of a much richer color, being used chiefly for the purpose of bringing up the color of 160 CITRATE OF LIME. 49 the latter. The machine is not used on lemons until after the close of the bergamot season, fruit ripening before that time being sold to Sicilian buyers. CITRATE OF LIME. After the pulp of the lemon has been removed from the rind it is conveyed to a crusher, sometimes power-driven, but in a vast majority of factories run by hand. A crushing machine is shown in Plate IV, figure 1. The ordinary type consists of a hopper leading into wooden rollers and a small chute for carrying off the crushed pulp, the whole being placed over, or very near, a juice tank, into which the drippings flow. The crushed pulp is shoveled into large, circular, straw filter- ing mats and pounded down firmly with wooden rams. These mats are closely woven of coarse straw and have a circular opening at the top; after being filled they are placed one upon another in stacks of 4 to 12 under hand presses of large size. The presses are set, often by the aid of a windlass, and the combined pressing and filtration proceeds until the flow of juice ceases, the presses being set down several times during the operation. A press and filtering mats are shown in Plate IV, figure 2. The juice is led into the juice tank, from whence it is pumped, usually by hand, into a large vat pro- vided with suitable heating arrangements consisting of direct fire, steam coil, or, in one or two instances, leading steam directly into the juice. In this tank the acidity of the juice is neutralized by means of lime water, the point of neutrality being ascertained by the use of litmus paper, and after heating for several hours the juice is run off into the filtering tank while still hot. The latter tank is pro- vided with a false bottom of wooden latticework, over which is spread a special filtering cloth; the citrate of lime, which is deposited in a voluminous white powder, is retained by this cloth, while the waste liquor runs through and is discarded. When this liquor has sufficiently drained off, the deposit is shoveled into a small filtering bag and placed in stacks beneath a small press, where the excess is further removed. It is usually readily removed from these sacks to iron pans in which it goes to the drying oven. This oven is a small room, ventilated at the top, around the sides of which are built tiers of iron frames for holding the pans. In the center of the room is a gigantic charcoal burner, which supplies the heat for the evaporation, from six to forty-eight hours’ drying being necessary, depending upon its size. The thoroughly dried cake, containing over 60 per cent of citric acid, is broken into small pieces and packed in hogs- heads holding about 675 pounds each. An interior view of a by- product factory is shown in Plate V, figure 2. The method of disposing of this product is very similar to that used with essential oils; small or large lots are offered to brokerage 50 ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS. firms, accompanied by a certificate of analysis showing the actual con- tent of citric acid. Exportation is nearly always through one of these houses, and there seems to be little or no effort to market the output cooperatively. The product is purchased on the citric-acid content by the large chemical supply houses in Germany, England, and the United States. COST OF PRODUCTION OF BY-PRODUCTS. The quantity of the by-products obtained from a given number of fresh lemons will depend upon the quality of the fruit, the season of the year, the time which has elapsed between the gathering and working up, and the efficiency of the latter process. When allowed to ripen upon the tree, the lemon loses a considerable part of its acidity and the oil is also less in quantity and of an inferior grade. Where the fruit is broken or bruised in handling, the yield of oil is diminished, and this is also the case where a number of days are allowed to elapse between picking and working up. The content of citric acid is not lessened by these faults, however. On the average quality of fruit, 100 pounds of oil and 675 pounds of citrate of lime, containing 430 pounds of citric acid, can be produced from 100,000 lemons. The average price for these substances varies from $80 to $100 for the oil and $75 to $95 for the citrate. At the time of writing, owing to the recent earthquake disaster in Sicily, the prices are firm and somewhat higher. The cost of production is very difficult to estimate and will, of course, vary in every locality and almost with every factory. In the consular reports of the late Doctor Cheney he estimates the aver- age value of lemons to the grower in Sicily at $150 per 100,000. The fruit going for by-products is the lowest grade, however, and will not average over $100 per 100,000, leaving a gross profit to the by- product producer of from $50 to $100. One sponge man can produce between 2 and 3 pounds of oil per day, for which he receives about 30 cents, making the cost of extracting the oil from 100,000 lemons from $10 to $15. Other processes about the factory are much cheaper, and it would seem, at the usual wages of workmen, that $5 to $10 additional would be a liberal estimate for other expenses, leaving a profit of from $30 to $70 jointly on 100 pounds of oil and a pipe of citrate of lime. It is believed that the above estimates are very conservative and that the actual profits are considerably higher than the figures given. 160 dig Sve 'al OA hey DESCRIPTION OF PLATES. Puate I. Lemon groves on the Amalfi coast. Fig. 1—Terraces of lemon trees on the mountain side near Majori. Masonry walls are built to keep the land from sliding. Fig. 2.—Terraces of lemon trees rising from the sea. The larger trees are olives. There is a trellis over each terrace for frost protection. PLATE IJ. An Italian and an American lemon grove compared. Fig. 1.—One of the better types of groves at Mascali, Sicily, showing the high-headed trees, a distributing furrow between the rows, and basins around the trees. Fig. 2.—A grove of low-headed trees in California. PLATE III. A lemon-picking scene and a packing-house interior. Fig. 1.—Pick- ing and grading the fruit, Palermo. The lemons are being graded roughly for by-products and for export. Fig. 2.—Interior of a packing house at Catania, showing the padded bins used in grading and packing. PuaTe IV. Preparation of citrate of lime. Fig. 1—A crushing machine. Mills are not used for extracting lemon juice in Sicily. Fig. 2A lemon-juice press. This press acts also as a filter. PuLate V. Preparation of lemon oil. Fig. 1.—Paring lemons, 3-piece method, Palermo. This method is used only in the Palermo district and at Barce- lona. Fig. 2.—Interior of lemon by-product factory, Syracuse. This shows one of the few factories in Italy using mechanical devices in handling the fruit. PLATE VI. Lemon-oil machinery. Fig. 1—A lemon-oil machine used in Calabria. This machine is confined in its use to the Calabrian district, where it is also employed in the production of bergamot oil. Fig. 2.—Disks used in Calabrian machines. The surface of these disks is not unlike that of a burr mill. 160 52 Bul, 160, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. PLATE I. Fic. 1.—TERRACES ON THE MOUNTAIN SIDE. FIG. 2.—TERRACES RISING FROM THE SEA. LEMON GROVES ON THE AMALFI COAST. Bul. 160, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. PLATE Il. ws a Oa) a hae (7 po 4 at Fic. 1.—A GROVE AT MASCALI, SICILY, SHOWING A DISTRIBUTING FURROW AND BASINS AROUND THE TREES. Fic. 2.—A GROVE OF LOW-HEADED TREES IN CALIFORNIA. AN ITALIAN AND AN AMERICAN LEMON GROVE COMPARED. Bul. 160, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. PLATE III. c Lg cy =, Bi 43 = Py S35 og @ = if ie f a a a FiG. 2.—INTERIOR OF A PACKING House, CATANIA. A LEMON-PICKING SCENE AND A PACKING-HOUSE INTERIOR. PLATE IV. Bul. 160, Bureau of Plant Industry, U, S. Dept. of Agriculture. Fia. 1.—A CRUSHING MACHINE. PREPARATION OF CITRATE OF LIME. Fic. 2.—A LEMON-JUICE PRESS. 2 ; << Bul. 160, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. PLATE V. ~ . Fic. 1.—PARING LEMONS, 3-PIECE METHOD, PALERMO. FIG. 2.—INTERIOR OF LEMON ByY-PRopDUcT FactTory, SYRACUSE. PREPARATION OF LEMON OIL. ‘AYANIHOVW TIO-NOW3AT ‘VINaVIVO NI GAS SNIHOVI] TIO-NOWaq YW—"|} “9l4 “SANIHOV|] NVIYEV1IVD NI Gasf) susiq—'g “dij Bul. 160, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. PLATE VI. INDEX. Page Weide cine, mu imamuactured in. Maly. 222222 55.2.054222 552526. 620005. 28 15, 43 recovery from citrate of lime, process in Italy. DR eee See outs 43 fpininrttes. mited: Statesti.- ots. eee oe Bats een ee 19 Ammonia sulphate as source of nitrogen for lemon fertilizing................ 23,25 Aghes fermuner .0r lemon Pargens.--5-s5s2s-¢0. 2) fe feel pe ee kere. 25 ibareciona, Sicily, lemon-oil factories. 22.2. -5.2-22...02 2-202. 5-0 Eee Dees 42 Basin irrigation, lemon Se ap zis Be eee een hee, Soden spe abe i ree trincniinn, Menraipilanie. sents S-. 2s eet ae et Seeded ce 2 - 22 Basterdoni lemons, ee Ligh Pe ncit Ta ewes See NS, Se 22 Bergamot, feeeaaiad and restean of cid. Sears Sah ee Ne E abad KS apa Pre 48 Gi iaariiiae wise Cala btia: ae. co cors SG 5. cae a ns bn do Oy 48 MOEla supply trom Calabtia. 66 oes. ln... eb seek ol uae 36 Biancheitti lemons, description..............---..- Sa Mae Se Rena ster eee 22 Bone meal, fertilizer for lemon gardens, Italy.......-......--.-...-.-....---- 2 By-products, lemon, cost of production in Italy...................-..----.--- 50 exports irom Italy... 5 ..-2).-2- De pie et ee pee 4!) factories, location and desorption. arn ce Ces tn ee 35-43, 44 prades-or iruth used. inv Waly 22. ese s2 8 ree 15, 21, 31, 39, 40 SuSE Pea 1110s deplete lee ge aa RO 35-50 industry, Italy, geographical Giecdniron Fe Se Ree eee 35-43 manufacture and disposal in Italy.......-.. eras ....... 43-44 quantity of fruit used in Italy..............-.. Fe crate eS 10 : tariff rates, United States............. LSae Shopeeet Beene ae 19 Calabria sbercamonOulmmanulachuressere so. Secs aaeee sc eae ele eo) eee 36, 48 lemomipy-prodguch anausthy,-. 82-2. s-22) lc tesc~ eS. c 8 hen ks Soe 8, 15, 36, 48 Calcium citrate. See Lime, citrate. Carrubba, lemon-oil factories... .. OARS ct A oe VD ee a ae EN 37 Komienite, LEMMON. PROWANOS 222.02. 2. ks ee ee =< I Pele VRE aeRO ee 8, 9, 20, 23 TLL G TOES oat SE RS A ee ERE ea ea 37 Chace, E. M., paper entitled ‘‘The by-products of the lemon in Italy”... .. 35-50 Cheney, Dr. Arthur S., collection of statistics in Italy, 1908............-. 10, 27, 50 Citrate of ime. See Lime, citrate. Citric acid. See Acid, citric. Citron and lemon juice, concentrated, exports from Italy, 1898-1908 ........... 17-18 raw, exports from Italy, 1898-1908. ...............-.. 18 Citrus bigaradia, use as stock for lemon grafting in Italy -.......-. TAs seo Lie 24 fruit by-products, tariff rates, United States..............-.....-------- 19 peel Sexports irony dtaly, IS98-1908_ v.22 2.2. oe ete se eee B19 preparation for by-product manufacture in Italy Srey SASeage See 44-45 trees, Italy, number, estimate.........- mee eaey peer ery 7 fruits, essential oils, exports from Italy, 1898-1908 2 oe eae ey oa 16-17 Conco d’Oro, lemmearpeoonate RE Io eet = Che Seen Meh dient d=, a RAO 160 53 54 ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS. Page. Cost of producing lemons in Italy..........-. Meee Earthquake, Messina, destruction of femee and ae of lies stored for ship- MVOIG oc 2 Ee Eid Sed Som Set le ee ne ee, 20, 30 Etna district, lemon-oil factories, location and description. -... ae ae ee eee 36-38 Europe, imports of lemons from Italy by different countries, character of fruit. 21 Exports, lemon by-products, from Italy, 1899-1908, 1894-1908, and 1900-1908.. 15-19 lemons, from Italy, 1898-1908, percentage to United States.......... 11 principal sapmeess: S23) F254 ee 21 Etna district, Italy, lemon by-product industry... -.. 22. = seg scbed. on see 36-38 Factories, lemon by-product; lialy, equipment... ..-......--2.....:1/..28 44 oil, Sicily, description and location.....-.. wevd. dee eee Fertilizers, commercial, introduction into Italian ae caideer: ee aS 25 for Italian lemon, gardens; 5.22 1.=2 2. ee ee ie: ee bone 020 ee Frost, protection of lemon frees in Tialy. 30). sale eee ee 8, 27-28 ‘Fruit stored in Messina, destruction by earthquake, 1908.................... 20 See also Citrus, Lemon, Orange, etc. Furrow irrigation, lemon gardens in Italy be ath enieyy eons Gee ep pe ea eee 27 Gardens, lemon, care and management in Italy.................-.........-.- 24-30 description, size, number of trees, and yield in tay Sees Saat 8, 23-24 Grading lemonis, Italian methods. 512.2 eee es eee eat ee ee 31-32 Grafting lemons, Ttalian methods ::. 2° Sones ee ae eee 24 Groves, lemon. See Gardens. Gum disease, resistance of bitter orange.......------------:-..- Reps Seer ce 24 Harvesting lemons, Italy, seasons and methods...........---.....-..------ 20, 30-31 Imports, lemons, into United States, from Italy, 1898-1908, ports of entry and Of Om pOrt oko pela acca Ee ee a ee eee eae lee 11-13 Insecta; scale, control. by pruning methods; Maly ..-..20-.226-4 202 222-51 - 25 Introduction to paper on ‘‘The by-products of the lemon in Italy”’.........--- 35 “The Tiahian lemon iiduabisy 227-0 oases ae 7 ‘irrigation, lemon¢Gard ems.s lial sees cee ee ae ee en ee eee 26-27 lialy,: by-products of the lemon paper .. 4.5225 oh oe ae ee ee 35-50 lemoncmnduistry, paper: eae = ae ee eae aie Re ne ee ee ay 7-33 See also Lemons. Juice, lemon and citron, concentrated, exports from Italy, 1898-1908.......... 17-18 raw, exports from Italy, 1898-1908..................- 18 - ConGentrabed..maniiact ures Cells ees earner ee re eee 42, 43-44 Tabor, cost: lemon o1litactorres: jlitalliy =e sep soe ee ee ae 44, 50 lemon industry, Italy, scale of wages, men, women, and boys. .....-.-- 33 hava, beds; Mount Etna lemon oro wilt see ame = eee oe ee eee 8, 23 Lemon and citron juice, concentrated, exports from Italy, 1898-1908. ......-.-- 17-18 raw, exports from Ttaly, 1898-1908. .............-..- 18 by-products am: Haly, papers.222 22: <2 72 82 oe eee 35-50 See also By-products. crop, handling, selling, harvesting, sorting, packing, and shipping, Pally. cles ue ek see ae Boe ee bene ee eee 28-32 Ttaly., 1907, estimaiest 2 hap sie eae er ele Soe Seas aeee 10 gardens, Italy, fertilization, irrigation, pruning, etc..-...--.-..------- 23-26 growing, Italy, cost per acre, estimates: s:~ 52. ...05-54ees=ng-2s5e=- 55 33 propagation, pruning, tillage, irrigation, etc....-...... 24-30 resins, [tally vices Se eae eral oe eee eee a amar 7-10, 23 industry, Italian, article: by G: Harold Powell. o... 2222-7. 2e- 32224 7-33 commercial importance... 2 3 Segoe ee 10-11 extent snd Aoeation. 32.05 0 ee A eee 7-10 160 Page emonwermeniaem, Waalian wiethods. —. ..--.-- -. 2... ~~ 22-25-22 se eee eee eee 26-27 oil. See Oil, lemon. eerene Meniear, Milena. aos i eg e eo ee eee eae 31-32 . fea ee Doris) Iran MOO ee ek Sd ee 18-19 PRISM ne eee ole ee alesse ee 43 pulp, use in manufacture of citrate of lime.--........--..--.------ 46, 49-50 MERIGALES, LREAIMEME re pee emery seteees oe. oS Se SS sek POST RE he 47-48 BMoisin COMReme MEMEM tet seer ee i ee -- 10, 12-18, 20 trees. See Trees. Lemons, Bastardi, description. ....---------- BEML SP atte enters set ete E IS OS 22 (Sora! Gi GP Shao i ae 22 pmimeticus, Cescripuion. «262.02. ics ee ee weve ho « <= ee ee Rete 22 Classification, based om timeolripenimme- 2 = ss 2. 2-25 e522. 22 Gost on production in Italy: 2.2222 ose. 2. 2 en ee. +s Nea Wee Ce a) Gomiestic cansrtmipiion, commana ss. 025.25 2S en0 2... et ee ee eee 10 exported to United States from Italy, superior grades................ 21,31 exports from Italy, 1898-1908, percentage to United States........... 11 foreign, distribution in United States. 22... .22:.-.2.------.--.-.-- 13 methods of handling in United States. .................-.-- 13-15 eit tied, dialyid UMIted: ptabese--\- son sss Ses So ke 33 eradee KenL Lo citierome Maristas. -2). 2/22 5245.21.22 22 5225-2 22.6.2. Zi 3k hamvestile, SEASONS, ANd Mewes... 000. Soi et. see e eee eee 20; 30-31 imports into United States, with ports of entry and ports of export.. 11-13 Italian, handling in the United States, buying and selling. ........-. 13-15 Italy, character of fruit exported to different markets. .............. 21-22 grown in different localities............-.--- 21 PERU Sh AES ee Poe ole oho Cokes dat JoaeR aes 5 2 eae 25-26 PTI HM tie eho a nates Sree acted § oe Vested MUSING bem Bnet 26-27 PORQUE LIO RY ree ta ee oe II Sn ic eds Sa eas Sole ee 24-25 Dinveenien abdIBEL rusts ee te ae A ee GaSe anid 27-28 PEPER ENED EAPC i ee oe fol Pen St gta t SEI SE Shab 25 SERHOE Gus EUDOMMM Mesto reli y (4 wha ee a Siw s Leak eed tara 20 ae Ne eee cok tari te aS ES MOS 2 ohh ay At Ragas 25 SSRs CCUG MOTE ee et a a ae at DRS As cia RIE IOS ald aps 22 Lb Eta TOT Pega aide 4 ap Gtr RL ag S| ayy Clee a eg 22 Picea IN toll ye ATIC EOIEE nS) care a EN hin oo SSE SG isblee S 31-32 peeling for oil extraction, Italy, methods and cost ...............--- 44 Pema eal TACENOUS Co ole ei Ao ah tex ain Saeed a dees 30-31 praparmn tor olexiraction, Ttaly. 22.202): = Sie ase. sk eas he oe 44-45 price per thousand in the gardens, Italy... .......--....----------- 30 ripening season, harvesting, and shipping in Italy.....-......-..-..-- 20 selling the crop um Italy, anethods 26 = 52. fd 2) ale a Ste Se oom 28-30 Slandare welehe per thousand ~ 265!) O56 fc 2 sce nns ase ose 29 USER Rg! 1 fs Spee VRPT ard S12 TPE ean ee ge a er ee 19 terms applied to fruit ripening at different periods in Italy. ......-.- 22, WAINEC LO) PEOWIOL RRL nt a See tay me coc s sense eee en ava vai Sim alemclraee 30, 50 Verdelli, description and methods OF PLOGMChigns 1.2255 0o eee 22-23 ime, citrate, exports iron tialy, 1999-1908... <2... =. 2 et ae ee ee 15 imports Ime. Weited States, 1894-1908... 22. eset ee ae 16 manufacture, amount of fruit used, and product, 1907, Italy... 10 Rittaiepe Cle BANS 2) coal eee oe oes OPS eck 43, 49-50 Messina, destruction by earthquake, 1908.................-.--. 30 PiniCeastn ean acet ass tee eos eye tae duct Ps. A eet 50 pareoisi dil amennGs . WE oe ce pee Ree Obs oie cL lsee) a7 aie8, 49-50 HOUNCCTOMCIEDIGACIG eer chet Chet ieee oo tect e NUNs kcdte comtanaia ne Gletaiel fees 15, 43 160 INDEX. 5D 56 ITALIAN LEMONS AND THEIR BY-PRODUCTS. Page Limoni lemons, descriptian=.7.0. 3s. a28 Ba een ee ee ee 22 Mapgiolini lemons, description: ..5..53< 2252002 -e eee eee eee 22 Majori lemons, growing under trellises, \Ttaly.... 5232 322 see ee 28 Manure, composted, use on lemon gardens, Italy...-...-. 5 a ae 23, 25 green, value in lemon gardens, Taly<.<222 sa5- 22. sae ee 26 quantity per tree in lemon gardens, Italy.............-....--..1.--- 26 use in lemon gardens, methods of application, Italy...............-. 2 Messina, destruction of lemons and citrate of lime by earthquake............. 20, 30 district, Italy, lemon by-product industry... - ....-s222+-.2-+-2.-+22- 38-39 lemon ‘export. . S88 22 as. 8 Soe ee eee 48 essential, extraction, dtalyi. 22s sone oo Sa ee 45-47 machine-made; alyeSoor see eee eae cree 48-49 exports irom) Ttaly, 1900-1908 5 222. seo is a ee ee 17 extraction, night work, Italy, reasons assigned.............----.-- 44 process; Dalivss-ooiveke aes fee eee eee a 45-47 factories, Sicily, description, location, and equipment......... 35-43, 44 imports into. United States; 1898-1908... 222. sche a ee 17 machine-made,/Ttalys.< .adee sa: Coe Sa se Ber es See eee - 48 prices in ‘Halse se Se ae Be eee, Dig Rely OTe Ae ee 50 See also Oils, essential. orange, manufacture, Sicily. . 2.74 bo ee esse a eee eee See See So Gee 38, 42 See also Oils, essential. FEsidaless treat mien t sey host eae Ba eM eee ee ee ee ee ae a 47 Oils, essential, extraction process, methods in Italy..............-..-.------- 45-48 from citrus fruits, exports from Italy, 1898-1908... ........... 16-17 Orange, bitter, use as stock for lemon grafting, Italy............-..-.---..-- 24 oil manhtiacture, Sicily 7. s25ick Ss oe ee a a ee ee 38, 42 peel, exportsdrom: Italy, 1808-1908: 2) 2 3.50 oo Se a 18-19 Packing lemons, Maly; methods. 2< 22 :otc22s sftecee eee ee ae 31-32 Palermo district, Italy, lemon by-product industry. .....-......-..--------- 40-41 lemon export tradesiu- 2-2 t anes (oe Bao eee 10, 12-13, 20, 21, 41 PPO WINE cies Pees ee et eh is Been tee ore 8,9, 10; 20, 21, 23 Peel, citrus fruits: exports from Ttaly; 1808-008 2 228% osc S22 eee ee 18-19 lemon, exports from Ntaly; 1808-1908.) fe. se, foes se ee ee 18-19 Babdinio. Ttaly i o)ic3 0 oh 2 Sec ee se sets se eee 2 Sere wee eee 43 orangetexports irom Italy, 1898-1908 2.2. oc ooo Fe 2 oe eee 18-19 Peeling lemons for oil extraction, methods and cost of labor, Italy........-..-- 44 Picking lenions in Waly, aiethods:5 .2cc2 2 2 2. oe a a eae ee eee 30-31 Ports, Italian, shipping lemons to United States. .............-----..- 10, 12-13, 20 Potash, sulphate, fertilizer for lemon gardens, Italy...........--------------- 25 Powell, G. Harold, paper entitled ‘‘The Italian lemon industry” -..........-- 7-33 Pruning, lemon. trees, Jitalian methods 2:0 00 3c 34. =a se ceaees ee eee 25 Pulp, lemon, use in manufacture of citrate of lime, Italy.............----- 46, 49-50 Rainfall, annaal, Sicily (2.cs. saditel Secu ae ee at ae oe ee eee 27 Rock; ground, fertilizer for lemon gardens; ftalycs-J- 2-2-2222 -e- ee eae = 25 Santa Teresa, lemon: oil factories). -e mse eee oe eee eee eee ee seeeeraee = 38 160 INDEX. 57 Page. Bele teriasemriisly, Methods... ...----)-_...--. 2250 te eee ee eee ees 28-29 Shipping lemons in Italy, seasons and methods. ............................ 20, 31 Sicily. eae by-product industry. .........----2-2---..-.------..- 8, 10, 15, 35-43 growing districts, description, seasons, etc.................... 7-10, 20 CUNO NTIS) ry Pee] 20) S101 Ce 7-10, 21, 35-43 oil manufacture, districts and factories, description............. 35-43 RTE AGIA 2V 00 3 Si7 iN Be SS Se 27 lar, cerilizer tor lemon pardens, Uiahy. 0-8 2b 28 eee eee 25 Soda, nitrate, as nitrogen source for lemon fertilizing.................2....... Zao8 Sorrentine peninsula, lemon srowing.......--.-..-..-2...--2---....- 8, 20, 23, 27-28 porrentovlemons, srowane under trellises....--.-.2...2--.-2-...2..-002--00-0- 28 eponpine process aor extraction of lemon oil......2......-....-.-...--..-+.-. 46 Pace remem Ollila, GeSChiptuOns.. <0. 2065-40-25. == <2 see. seen ceeeees AT Syracuse district, Italy, lemon by-product industry.................2........ 41-42 i OE 2 8-9, 20 Tariff rates on lemons and their by-products entering United States. .....__.. 19 Terraces, lemon growing, Sorrentine peninsula..........-.----.......--...-.- 8, 28 mnte orjemmuie sardene ily fee ae See Ce 2 de te eee eee 25 Peer Ciera atiith,. (ely emiumber, eouiminte. <2. yo ste sea. tee eee ee 7 lemon, Italy, distribution aaa total number, SOR Meer eee Noo See 10 EG oC ee 24 yield invdimerent localities... 4.22.22. .0 2222-2 esse 24 eteces vesmon proves, description: ...2-- 22522... a. oes ee nee eee oe 8, 27-28 United States, distribution of foreign lemons. ........................--2--1- 13 districts from which Italian lemons are eed ng eee ae 12-13 LURPOP tA OMNCILrebe OMIM srs 0 cet Coe eee oe ec ees 16 RC UOTi OM een ete eee Moreen rene Reeth St, el oe NY 17 | EVIE ats [RO oe + nr pane ee Ae a eee aie 11-12 methods of handling foreign lemons. -........................ 13-15 rates of duty on lemons and their by-products................. 19 Verdelli lemons, description and methods of production. ..................-. 22-23 160 O ee ii 0009176424