Cochise review. [volume] (Bisbee, Ariz.) 1900-1901, 1900-11-07
CALIFORNIA LEMONS.
-Four Million Dollars Wasted In
Growing and Curing.
The Principal Growers Had TO send
Experts TO Spain and Italy
to Learn the Business
Properly.

THE prejudice which existed until
quite recently in this country
against the domestic grown lemon is
fast disappearing and American con
sumers of the fruit are beginning to
appreciate the fact that as fine lem
ons can now be obtained from south
ern California as ever came from
Mediterranean ports" remarked "a
wholesale fruit merchant in New
York TO a Washington Star writer
the other day Indeed, as far as
shape, size, pungency and good keep
ing qualities are concerned the Cali
fornia product has within the pasl
four years become a dangerous rival
of the best Italian and Spanish fruit
The annual consumption of lemons
in the United States amounts to about
100000 boxes. In 1896 Italy ana
Spain supplied us with 100000 boxes
of lemons and 100000 boxes were
grown in California. Last year. there
were imported from Mediterranean
countries 100000 boxes of lemons
and 1905 boxes of the fruit came
from the Pacific coast. This year the
importation of lemons will be con
siderably smaller than ever before
and, providing the present high stan
dard of the California fruit is main
tanned, the growers of the state will
in the course of q few seasons sue
coed in driving the Mediterranean
lemons from our markets, just as they
have driven out the foreign prunes
and raisins. ..... ....
While lemons have been grown in
southern California for over q hun
dred years, the cultivation of the
fruit as commercial industry dates
only from 1882. In that year the
first grove was started on large
scale at Riverside with the intention
of producing fruit to compete in the
eastern markets with that imported
from Italy and Spain. The zeal for
lemon growing soon spread TO Pc
mona valley, TO Santa Barbara, Ven
tura, Ontario and Pasadena, where
the growers, in trying TO make the
cultivation of the fruit a. profitable
industry, met with great many dis
couragements and failures for the
first half dozen years ....
The trees grew and bore some ex
cellent fruit, but while It was found
that shapely. thin-skinned and juicy
lemon could be produced on the trees,
it was found difficult task to cure
the fruit so that it would not only not
rot and show blemishes, but would
retain It's pungency and oiliness of
peel, as well as its full acid juiciness
from the picking season in winter
until the following summer when 1t
was wanted by the consumer 70.
The art Of curing lemons was only
properly learned by the Californians
in 1897, when the principal lemon
growers dubbed together and sent
experts oyerrto Italy and Spain, 70
learn the business, and now they are
producing excellent results, To make
the lemons sour they are picked be
fore they begin TO turn yellow The
fruit is then put in a curing house,
where it is kept at & temperature Of
about 50 degrees tor some 20 days
which 'sweaJs out all the sugar. It
is then removed to another semper-
ature for go days more before it lie
ready for the market Thus the high
est degree OF acid and the largest de-
gree of juice is obtained One of the
curious effects OF this sweating proc
ess is to reduce the thickness OF the
skin. 1t originally grows thick and
tough, but the acid seems to eat il
up. Rough estimates put the capital
invested in California in growing and
curing lemons with all the sppurten-
ances at ST. 100000 ..... ...,
"The person whose knowledge Of
lemons is limited to an occasional pur-
chase OF dozen Will be surprised TO
learn that there are II distinct va
rieties grown in California and Flor
ida. These diffsJ in size, shape, quail
ity and skin and in keeping qualities
But there are only four varieties that
have any popularity in California ana
in eastern markets. These are the
Eureka, Lisbon, villa France and Bon.
ME Bras"
.-. -s -