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CURING LEMONS.
HOW TBE LEMON 3B HANDLED IN
^ SICILY.
CALIFORNIAN METHODS.
(W. Catto» Grasby.)
] have been, asked by two grower« to pub
Usn an article on curing lemons, th«
inquirers apparently heve en ide*
that there is something mysterious «
the prooess. One grower merely wanted
to know how to obtain the lemon eolous
and thin «kin from lemon« picked green;
while the other had in bis mind pot onlj
this, but tho storing of fruit for a
lengthy period. -
in attempting to deal with this «ubieol
I am well Ware that the ideas mentioned
above are only two of many which exercise
the thought of lemon growers, and I ani
«Lo conscious of the fact that the practica'
^work of dealing with a lemon crop satis-
factorily eau only be mastered after a. con
ajderable amount of personal experience,
That the work of curing the lemon is nol
difficult when undertaken by an intelligenl
man may be gathered from the fact thal
«vt « show last season the first prize care
wag placed upon a dish of wou
flerfully fine lemons, almost perfect
in shape, texture, solidity and juici
ness, the weakest point being the col
our, which somewhat lacked the unifora
rioh lemon yellow of tho perfect-lemon. Th«
exhibitor took me to see the lemon exhibit*
and asked my opinion of the first prize dish
which I gave him as above. He then re
minded nie that three or four year« pre
viously I had acted as judge and threw hb
out of the competition as being too large
too thick skinned, irregular in shape, lack'
ing in solidity, and generally defective. 3
had no recollection of the matter, but h«
told me that he had asked me why I threw
them out, and after giving my reasons ]
had explained to him the désirable ebarac
teristica of a show lemon and how to gel
it, «.nd with no other instruction he bad
succeeded in winning the prize with the ex-
hibit before us. Âs a matter of fact, it it
very easy indeed to cure lemons if the righi
Srinciples are observed. Summed up, th«
irection* arc, gather the lemons when jusi
turning, selecting solid, shapely, beavy epeci
mens a. trifle larger than the desired íize,
Allow them to wilt for a day or so in the
shade, then store them in a cool place whert
they will not dry too milch" so as to become
withered and wrinkled.
The Lemon in Sicily.
As is well known, the growers in Sicily
take first place in the world in producing,
during, keeping, and generally handling
lemons, and probably an outline oj thc
n^othods followed there will bc of use to oui
rowers. The present notes are based pu
report Í made on the. subject in 1896,
when, as Honorary Commissioner for the
South Australian Government, I made a per-
sonal inquiry into the conditions and me-
thods followed in the cultivation of the le-
mon in Sicily. The report was afterwards
- issued -m leaflet form by the South Austra-
lian Government at the' request of the Brit-
ish Colonial Office, London, and was re-
printed by the State Board of Horticulture
in, California as a section of a volume en-
titled "Culture of the CitruB in California."
The first principle in connection with
handling a lemon crop in Sicily ie care,
the second is greater care, And the third
is still greater care. After one has thor-
oughly impressed these three essentials he
should bear iu mind that the Sicilian lemon
grower gathers his leraonB when they are
the right size irrespective of ripeness. He
ofteu gathers them quite green. This state-
ment does not apply always, but it does
Îppîy to lemons which would grow too large.
a Sicily, aa here, there are several crops
br pickings. In the first picking of tue main
crop notting ie taken which is not three
inches in length. Practised pickers gauge
the fruit by the finger and thumb or ny
the eye. The first picking of the main crop
is valuable because lemons are scarce, and
this fruit is not kept any length of time.
The second gathering is lighter in colour
end barder to the touch than the first, and
at this second picking the pickers gather
á'l fruit which, is colouring, whatever Its
. alie, and all fruit which has reached the
(Standard sise, whether it is ripe or not.
Tbl« picking takes place in November, is
of the best quality, and is often put eway
m cases until March before it is repacked
fó<- sale. All small^ damaged, or imperfect
fruit is either sola at once for export, or ls
used in making oil of lemon, citric acid, qr
çfndied peel, industries which must accom-
pany » Very large output of lemons, but
witch of course is entirely impracticable in
Western Australia at the present time.
tn emphasising the importance of great
care I may mention that when one asks in
Sicily about the methods of curing 'lemons
he is not understood. The fact is there is
no recognised process of curing lemons car-
ried out in Sicily. All the same, the faofc
remains that the methods adopted result in
what we term the cured lemon.
A Succession of Crops.
All Sicilian lemons will not keep. I have
previously stated that lemon trees bear a
series of crops, there being, however, a main
crop of the finest and best quality fruit, the
same as in this State. It is the best of this
crop only that will keep well.
The lemon 1B grown on a varied series of
soils and at different altitudes, from sea
level to 3,000ft. np to the mountainous in-
terior of the island. As the main crop
ripens on the sea coaBt from October to
December, and the same crop continues to
mature later and later as we ascend the
mountains, I may state that the main crop
is ripening in different districts from Ooto
ber to February, which ls precisely the
period o^ the year when Sicilian lemons »re
wanted in Australia. Then it must be re-
membered that the good fruit will hang on
the trees without serious loss for three
months, so that it may be stated that the
chief lemon harvest may bo extended' from
October to May. It is, however, not con
?ldered good, either for the fruit or the
rees, to allow the lemons to hang too long,
because the fruM will keep better if pro
Îierly picked and stored. In this connection
t must be remembered that the weather
during all these months is cool, considerable
cooler than in Perth at the corresponding
time of the seat, and that ia, next to cari
in packing ana handling, the most essential
condition for success in keeping lemont, or,
indeed, any fruit.
Keeping Qualities Depend on Soil, Etc.
I must not omit to mention that the keep-
ing qualities of lemons depend a good deal
on the soil and situation in which they are
frown. Lemons grown on light, sandy soil
eteriorate quickly. They get dry and
spongy, and will not stand shipment well.
On the other hand, lemons grown in loamy
soil, or loam, with well-drained day sub-
soils, such as predominate in th« mountain-
ous lemon districts, keep much better, gc
great is thiB influenoe, that lemons grown
in these soils sell at one-third higher price
than those grown on the sandy land. "Moun-
tain lemons," that is, fruit grown in loamy
soils with clay subsoil, is firmer and keeps
better. Fruit dealer« mark the best fruit
M meaning "Mountain." Here ie a sample
quotation, which indioates the difference in
price of the different grades :-'Mountain,"
26 to 50 lire per 1,000; "Hilly," 21 to 27 lire
per 1,000; "Plains,'' 17 lire per 1,000. The
ideal situation for a. lemon grove is in "deep,
loamy, clay land, well drained, open and
exposed to tho rays of the sun all the year,
sheltered from strong winds and frosts, end
with water always available.
How Lemons are Handled.
I was fortunate in being in Sicily during
the gathering of the main crop, and there,
fore saw the lemons at their best. I knew
care was taken in handling the fruit, but 1
was hardly prepared to find how much. In
connection with many cultural operation«
tho U68 of modern cultivators in thc hands
of intelligent Australian workmeu, and
j drawn by our horses, will more than com-
pensate, for the cheap labour of the Mediter-
ranean : but, when it comes to handling
fruit, the cost of labour ie simply prohibi-
tive of the samé care and attention. The
I wages paid are, for men ls. 3d. to ls. Od.
' a day, for women 3d, to 6d. The Sioilian
I handles lemons as gently as eggs from CUB
j tom, and he does it quickly. But
let me describe what I saw of the
picking and handling of lemons for export,
I could not follow the one parcel of fruit;
but, as I saw each operation repealed, Ï
think my description is in every general par
I ticular correct.
i Picking.
I The picking is done by men, women, and
firle. The packers have small wicker baskets
olding from one and a half to two gallons,
andljned with soft hessian, in thp form of a
j bag, hardly resting on the bottom. The
i lemons are picked with the fingers, the
picker breaking off from ono to three inches
I of the twig with the lemon. In going over
tho trees they lake:-First, all lemons
reaching maturity which are three inches
long and approximately 3¿oz. Large
lemons are gathered, no matter how
green. The packers learn to judge
che size and "weight with wonder-
ful accuracy, using the thumb and finger
as a gauge. Second, all lemons which are
turning yellow, whether they reach the
standard or not.
Shipping and First Grading
The pickers take their baskets to the
orchard roadways, where the foreman sits
with several women and a number of bas-
kets of about a bushel capacity lined with
canvas. The lemons are taken one by one
from the pickers' basket; the stem is snipped
ofi close with the same pattern of snips used by
lemon gatherers in California and Mildura.
If apparently perfect, and of large size, it
goes into No. 1 basket ; If perfect but smal-
ler, into No. 2 ; and «o on, about four grades
Ïieing made. The defective or lower quality
mit is sold off at once, and is used for
extracting oil of lemon or making citrio
acid or lemon peel.
Drying or Wilting.
Tbs good fruit of first or second grade
is at once taken to the fruit house, where
it ls spread out on .the floor (if the floor
be stone, as ie usual, mats are spread be-
fore the fruit ¡6 placed on it). The depth
of the heaps and length of tüno. the lemons
remain depend on circumstances. The ob-
ject is to allow the moisture to evaporate
from the skin, but care must be taken that
ihe lemons in the bottom layer do not heat.
They may be piled from one to three feet,
an'i remain from twenty-four hours up to
six day».
Sorting and Wrapping for Market.
When dry the lemons are carefully sorted
over, all defective fruit being put aside. The
sound lemons are wrapped in tissue paper,
packed ia boxes carefully, and taken io the
warehouses of the merchants, who may
either store the fruit or ship it.
, If fruit is to be kept, it is placed In well
built cold stores (not artificially called) and
carefully gone over «very three weeks. Each
I lemon is unwrapped, examined, and if sound
rewrapped and put back; but if it «hows any
signs of not keeping it is taken away for
sale. Lemons are also stored in dark under-
ground grottos or cellars without being wrap-
ped and cased. When this method is adopt-
ed. I understand the fruit is gone over every
week or two; eo that, put into a sentence,
the only art used in preserving lemons is
Sicily ie to handle them frequently with
care, and remove all showing signs of de-
cay.
Packing for Export.
I met muoh difficulty iu gratifying my de-
termination to see the operation of packing
for shipment. This was in marked contrast
to the freedom I was allowed on visiting the
orchards, and watching all operations therè,
including ih& drying and packing for mar-
ket I Felt that the excuses made were not
genuine, and at Palermo waited aVfull week
over my proposed time of departure in order
to break ¿own the opposition which had
Ïltherto baffled me. At length I obtained
ree entry to several packing houses, and
was abie to take several photographs of
well-built, well-lighted, beautifully clean,
conveniently arranged packing rooms- No-
where in the world have I seen cleaner, bet-
ter appointed packing houses.
At the time of my visit (the beginning of
January) the best lemons were coming from
Îhe interior, although I «aw splendid fruit
leing gathered in the hills about ten miles
from Palermo. The price quoted thea was
7s. a ¿ase of 300 c.i.f. to Now York. The
price paid in Palermo for mountain lemons
variad from 7s. to '16s. per 1,080.
I am, of course, all through describing
the preparation of the beet lemons which
Îiave made the name of Sicily famous. When
emons are to be exported the prepared
fruit ie taken direct from the lemon stores
to the packing houses. Here the boxes are
opened, the lemons unwrapped and carefully
examined- The sorters are experts. A lemon
with a blemish, which could not be dis-
tinguished except as the result of continued
practice, is at once detected and put aside.
The fruit is regraded, because from the time
of gathering it has shrunk considerably.
The work is thus divided :-First : Girls
unpack and unwrap the lemons, putting
them into lined baskets. Second: The ex-
perienced graders (men) sort them, putting
them into other baskets. Third: Another
set of girls wrap them ia fresa tissue
paper. Fourth ; Boys carry the baskets to
the packers. Fifth: Expert packers pack
them into the various steed boxee required
by the different markets. This packing is
one of tho smartest and cleverest things "I
have seen in conneotion with any branch of
the fruit industry. The fruit ie handled with
particular care, but is packed very closely.
Aa the box becomes full it is noticed that the
fruit in the middle is higher than at the
sides, and when the last layer of lemons is
put on, the outside fruit stands about half
an inch above the sides of the box, but the
middle is fully three inches above. The
boxes are made of very thin beech- wood,
and in order to make it hold together
wooden hoops are nailed over. It requires
much skill to fasten down the lids, for it
involves the bending of the cover, and the
elasticity of the wood is sufficient to occa-
sionally draw out the nails. When nailed
down this elasticity prevents any movement
.of the fruit, and allows for shrinkage, which
is, however, not great after the lemons have
been stored. Lemons cut in November and
packed ÛOO in a box will by February have
shrunk so that 360 will pack into the same
box. It is this November crop (ripening in
November near the coast, and on to Febru-
ary on the mountains) which keeps the beet,
so that ehipmete of it are frequently made
to New York up to May. It is this crop,
but not usually the firet grade of it, which
is sent to Australia.
California Methods.
In addition to republishing my notes on
the lemop. in fiicily the Californian work
above referred to has the following notes
on treatment of the lemon:
"The systems of processing the lemon for
market aro numerous, but in all the main
objects are to reduce the thickness of the
rind, to close up the pores of the «kin in
a natural way, so as to render the texture
smooth and velvety to the touch, while tho
lemon remains Arm and solid, to increase its
' juiciness, and to hold the fruit in that con
I dation to supply the market when it is
at its best
"J. W. Freeman, of Ontario, gives the fol-
lowing suggestions in handling and process-
ing lemons, derived from experience of years
of processing and marketing lemons by the
Ontario Exchange :
"The question that is now to the front in
the lemon industry is - what might
properly be termed lemon-holding.
Those most familiar with the busi-
ness have, for some time, been con-
vinced that some way should be devised tor
taking the surplus fruit off the winter mar-
ket, and holding it for the summer trade.
Indeed, tho life of the industry seemed to
depend upon the possibility of that being
successfully done. With that end in view ft
few of our growers, beginning with the No-
vember pick, held their winter lemons un-
til May, June, and July, of the season of
1896-97, securing saUsfactory results as to
keeping qualities and prices. Encouraged
by the success of these, some eighty of our
members pursued the eame plan the follow-
ing season, with like results, excepting that
6ome of the fruit was marketed in August,
a month later than the year before. It
would be only fair to say that success has
not been uniform in each case, but it has
fieen In proportion to the care taken and tho
acilitie6 for storing the fruit.
The Method Described.
"An expensive house is not necessary, in-
deed almost any "pîace will do in winter,
but appliances for keeping' a low, even
temperature are necessary in summer, and
doubtless are desirable in winter as well. A
fairly tight box with plenty of fresh air
circulating about it, at a temperature be-
tween 60deg, and 70deg., seems to us to be
the essential condition for the Best success
lit holding lemons. Shade will greatly help
In keeping down temperature, and is, by
some, thought to be equal to a double
wall. Means should bo provided, by doora;
windows, or ventilators, for thoroughly
changing the air ©very night unless in very
damp weather, when it might be advisable
to air in daytime. Fruit should not be
allowed to wilt before putiing away, but
i the boxes should be left somewhat open
[ for a time, varying according to the condi-
tions of the place in which they aye, to
[ allow surplus moisture to pass off. The
top boxes should be well covered so that
I the fruit will not dry out and thus become
Worthless. It is desirable to retard what
is known es the curing process as long as
possible, so each grower should study the
conditions of his house, and have as little
evaporation as possible, without allowing
moisture to collect on the fruit. This will
also prevent the fruit's getting soft. Stack-
ing fruit in large piles without spaces be-
tween should be avoided, although wc have
known it to keep wei! for a time in that
way. when it was not in a close room.
Medium-sieed houses should be preferable.
To be in ideal condition the fruit should
come out firm, with stems fast and green
This will not be the case if fruit heats or
Bweats. The fruit should be placed so
that it can be inspected occasionally, that
defects may be remedied.
"Having said this riiucli, any description
of a house will be unnecessary, as mich a
one as will meet the requirements of each
grower will readily suggest itself. I might
say, however, that a sloping roof inside
with air holes at ridge will give better ven-
tilation than a flat ceiling. We deem ib
.desirable, if not essential, that each grower
hold his' own fruit.
A Word as to the Fruit.
"AU that has ever been said as to the
need of carefully handling the fruit should
have -full weight. The trees should be kept
clean. The fruit cannot be at its best if
the trees aro infested with scale and the
fruit has to be washed ; but should that be
the case, the lemons should, by all means,
be brushed or washed when taken from the
trees. The fruit should be looked over
carefully and the inferior, dark-coloured,
and small-sized kept by themselves with a
view to earlier marketing. Fruit carefully
picked and properly stored under right
conditions, if uninjured by frost, will need
very little handling, if any," before ship-
ping. The less handling the better. So
much fruit as the trade will take at fair
prices should be marketed during the win-
ter. * Tiie matter of the desirability of
winter marketing will have to be governed
by the outlook for thc coming summer and
the supply.
"What effect a heavy rain or an irriga-
tion has on the keeping qualities of fruit
picked immediately after, is a disputed
question. Ordinarily no harm can como by
waiting, and good may. The important
points regarding the question of storing
are, we think, fairly well covered, so faj-
as our experience goes, and they are: Ex-
perience in picking the lemons at their
proper maturity and size; the greatest care
and tenderness in handling them in all the
processes of storage and marketing; keep-
ing them in an even temperature of from
80deg. to TOdeg., end frequent change ot
air in the storage house and apartments;
and individual holdings."
Riverside Method*.
"A. J. Everest, manager of the Everest
orchards at Riverside, in the 'California
Fruit Grower' of November 25, 1895, des-
cribes his method of picking, curing, and
packing lemont for shipment as follow:
"We piok our lemons whenever they are
large enough, without regard to colour,
preferably while green or slightly turned,
taking care that no fruit smaller than the
300 size to the box in picked, as the fruit
shrinks some in curing, and .thus increases
the number to the box. We have used
rings to determine "the size, but find it too
much trouble to try a ring on each lemon,
and now give each packer a lemon of the
proper ebie, and Jet him continually com-
pare his pioking.
"After being picked we haul the lemons
to the shed, ana pile them up in thc piok
ing-boxes for two or three weeks or until
most of the moisture is dried out, before
placing them in the curing bougé. We
then wrap the lemons separately in tissue
paper, and lay them on trays one layer
deep, having previously graded the fruit.
We then Blore them in our curing-husc,
which is made with double walls, filled in
with sawdust to keep the room at an even
temperature. We have ventilators in ceil-
ing and floor of room, and regulate amount
of fresh air and temperature by them, at- ¡
lowing temperature to stand from 56deg. to
60deg. as a rule.
"Storage curing trays are about three
inches deep with a cleat on each side, thus
raising them up to allow the air to circu-
late among the fruit, and to keep every
i thing dry as far as advisable. We find
that fruit picked carly and while quite
j green, say, in November, always cures the
best and with tho least possible shrinkage
or Joss by decay.
"When packing the fruit for shipment,
the wraps that were ueed for curing can
bc used, except where the paper has been
moistened by decay in the vicinity or if
torn or wet from other causes, lt is bet-
ter to. remove all old wraps, «regrade the
fruit, and then pack the same as oranges,
using if possible the Sicily style of box,
which is obtainable now on ibis coast."
Another Description.
'In 1890, N. W. Blanchard, of Santa
Paula, ail extensive lemon-grower, and px»
side&t and general manager of the Lemonia
Company, of Santa Paula, read an essay
on 'The Lemon and its Treatment,' before
the State Fruit Growers' Convention, in
which he described his method of curing
lemons, essentially the same as now prac-
tised by him. In 1694, in an essay before
the Farmers' Institute at Santa Barbara,
he said >
"The essentials for keeping lemons seve-
ral months are to "exclude thc air, or any
circulation of air around the fruit, and at
the same time to give ample circulation of
air about the trays or boxes that contain
the lemons. My experience is, that if
there are a good many boxes of lemons
closely massed, even with cool weather
some of the fruit will decay. When ono
lemon begins to rot heat is generated, and
this acts like yeast, causing fermentation
and rottenness to spread rapidly. I do
not think expensive buildings ae necessary»
I have seen no better cured and preserved
lemons than some that were wrapped in
pieces of newspaper, placed in layers in
common boxes with more paper between
layers, the boxes covered with light cover-
ing so as to shut off all circulation of air,
and all piled in the cud of an airy barn.

These lemons were shown (o me in July,
and I was informed that they were cut. tn
November previous. The lemons wore firm,
finely coloured, and in excellent condition
for shipment.

"I know no reason for changing my me-
thod of curing lemons. I continue to use
trays two by three feet and three inches
deep, each holding only one layer of le-
mons. They are convenient to work
with and to examine the lemons.
JPhey should be carefully made, so
that when the trays are stacked one. on the
other there is no chance for the air to
reach the fruit.

The lemons are picked frequently, if
there are any suitable to pick, so as to
prevent having over-large and over-ripe
fruit. I generally use a ring two and one
quarter inches iu diameter, and take all
that will not pass through it.

"The lemons are cut close to thc fruit,
handled very carefully, hauled from the
orchard in a truck on springs, washed im-
mediately if smutty or dusty, then placed
on'¿rays, and from one to ten days after
wari(ppiled away for keeping, jf they are
to be kept or need thc darkness to colour
If already coloured and needed for imme-
diate consumption, thc trays arc cross
piled, so as to give them all the air pos-
sible. If for remote shipment, the lemons
should be shipped quite hard, and even a
little green, for they will cure in transit
and in tho hands of the jobber and re-
tailer."

Pasadena Method.

T. J. Ashby, secretary of the Pasadena
Lemon-Growers' Association, in a report to
Ahe association, says :

"The stems must bc cut close, but care
must be taken not to cut, scratch or bruise
?he fruit. It is found that many culls
are made by careless clipping and long fin-
ger nails.

"The desirable sizes are the 360's in sum-
mer and the 300's in winter. These mea
' «ure 2 1-6 and 2¿ to 2 5-8 inches. Lemons

Above and below ere graded, subject to the
discretion of the manager.

"Lemon groves should be picked over
once a month. Use padded baskets or
peile, into which the fruit should be laid,
{ot dropped or thrown, then carefully

ransfer to boxes placed in the shade.

"Pick before irrigation or wait several
days. Never pick lemons moist from fog
çr dew, or- leave them unprotected after
gathering.

"Haul to the warehouse on easy springs;
drive carefully and have the lemons cover-
ed to protect from dust and sun. We ad-
vise delivering or placing in barn or shed
as soon, as possible after picking.

"Smutty fruit received will be washed
or sponged at the expense of the grower.
Members have thc option of doing this for
themselves, but it is well to remember that
spraying or fumigating is muck less of an
ëxpensc.

"It will pay the grower to cull his own
fruit and not to bc forced to haul it both
ways. Experience, will soon show ft novice
what to reject."

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