The St. Johns herald., 1901-03-30
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 the other day. Indeed, as far as shape, size, pungency and good keep ing qualities are concerned the Cali fornia product has within the past 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 5,0O0,OG boxes. In 1896 Italy and Spain supplied us with 4,700, ,OCO boxes of lemons and 100000 boxes were grown in California. Last year there were imported from Mediterranean countries 3,80O,COO boxes of lemons and l, 1,20O, ,0CO boxes of the fruit came , importation of lemons will be con- siderably smaller than ever before, and, providing the present high stan- dard of the California fruit is main tained, the growers of the state will in the course of few seasons sue ceed 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 a hun dred years, the cultivation of the fruit as a commercial industry dates only from 1882. In that year the first grove was started on a large scale at Riverside with the intention of producing fruit to compete i'll the eastern markets with that imported from Italy and Spain. The zeal. for lemon growing soon spread to Po- mona valley, to Santa Barbara, Ven tura, Ontario and Pasadena, where the growers, in trying to make the cultivation of the fruit profitable industry, met with a great many dis arrangements and failures for the first half dozen years.
 ''The trees grew and bore some ex- cellent fruit, but while it was found that a shapely, thin-skinned and juicy lemon could be produced on the trees, it was found a difficult task to cure the fruit so that it would not only not rot and show blemishes, but would retain its pungency and oiliness of peel, as well as it's full acid juiciness, from the picking season in winter until the following summer, when it was wanted by the consumer.
 "The art of curing lemons was only properly learned by the Californians in 1897, when the principal lemon growers clubbed together and sent experts over to Italy and Spain to 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 where it is kept at a temperature of about 50 degrees for some 20 days, which 'sweats out all the sugar. It is then removed to another temper ature for 60 days more before it is ready for the market. Thus the high est degree of acid and :he 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. It originally grows thick and tough. but the acid seems to eat it up. Rough estimates put the capital invested in California in growing and curing lemons with all the appurten- ances at S4,5OO,O00.
 "The person whose knowledge of lemons is limited to an occasional pur- chase of a dozen will be surprised to learn that there are r distinct va rieties grown in California and Flor ida. These differ in size, shape, qual- ity and skin and in keeping qualities' But there are only four varieties that have any popularity in California and in eastern markets. These are the Eureka, Lisbon, Villa France and Bon- nie Brae."