The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1879-12-24
Life in Lemons.
rom the Pacific Rural Press.

lSCb lcIuOu ole OuAtNAh5 AoA AAOAO
wisely than they know. The lemon
which shall contain the greatest
amount OF pure citric acid and the
least bitterness has seemed to them
very desirable thing to attain
very comfortable thing as well. be-
cause such fruit will win market
honors. And beyond mere luster of
lucre, there has been thought of
mild public service to ;ncite lemon i'm
provers, for if the perfect lemon could
but regulate the national bile on land
and sea, would it not be blessing to
the nation? We doubt if our lemon
propagators have dared to dream of
greater deeds than these for their
favorite seedlings, and yet, if ideas
which have just been promulgated in
Germany have but one per cent. OF
truth in them, the history of the lemon
will be regarded as one of the grand.
est instances of human blindness and
misunderstanding. For has not DR..
Wilhelm Schmoele, professor of path.
ologh, just published voluminous
treatise entitled "Makrobiotik and
Eubavik." which bears the imprint of
the University of Bonn printing office,
which has tor its central idea the
claims OF the lemon as the "elixir of
life" which the old alchemists sought
for centuries, and gave their life as
the price of failure in their search.
This Professor Schmoele, if news
paper reports of his writings be true,
goes as much beyond the common
idea of the healthfulness and sanitary
benefits OF lemon-eating as can be
well imagined. He declares that the
eating OF certain number of lemons
each day would ensure longevity, and
his book contains very careful eIabor-
alton OF this idea, with rules for the
application OF the lemon treatment to
the conditions Of particular individ-
uals. TO ladies over forty and under
fifty, commencing the citronian sys-
TEN, he prescribes two lemons per
diem, whilst gentlemen between those
ages must "assimilate" at least three
lemons daily. Between fifty and sixty
The dose tor ladies is set down at
three, for gentlemen, at four lemons
day. One lemon more per diem is or.
dained to each sex every additional de.
cade, so that centenarians must con-
sumo, IT Women their eight lemons
daily--if men, no fewer than nine. We
do not propose to approve this claim
nor TO dispute it, nor can we advise
any one to neglect preparations for
dissolution so long as lemons are
abundant. If we should doubt what
we hear, it would be partly because
we should think the centenOrian ap
petite would cloy at the rate OF nine
lemons every day in the year, and
wonder whether death would not be
considered restful release from such
an amount of acid, or whether friends
would not be forced to slip dose of
morphine into such specimen OF
senile sourness to rid themselves of
such a brake upon their comfort.
Suppose the claim were true, would
not the life. giving lemon rise to the
kingship in fruits, and the old favo.
rites, the apple and the orange,
quickly sink to subordinate rank.
Surprising, however, that there is
grain of truth in the lemon, and there
generally is modicum Of that article
in most claims, the practical lesson
would be that the lemon has even
higher place in the phenomena ofani-
NAL economy than is already &C.
corded it. If this should be gener.
ally recognized and the matter tested
by iudicious lemon eating by all per.
sons, this would be boon to our
experimenters and progagators from
the greatly increased demand for
their products. Therefore we are
willing to believe that there is some.
thing in the German professors claim,
and urge our producers to bestir
themselves to develop their lemon
resources. 1t would be fine thing
to have a market opened for lemon
and lime juice which would call for
this liquid as literally as it does for
cider. The wide publication which
the German savant's ideas are re.
ceiving must certainly awaken the
immediate demand for the fruit, just
as the ''blue glass" doctrines promul-
gated few years ago stimulated the
demand for azure silicates, until the
manufacturers found themselves una
BILE to supply it. 1t is to be hoped,
however, that there is more in lemon
than in blue glass, and that the impe::
tus to acquaintance with its virtues
which will be now melted, may result
in permanent appreciation of lem