Henderson daily dispatch., 1939-07-13
The Market
Basket
Bureau of Home Economics, u. S.
Department of Agriculture
Plenty of Lines and Lemons for
Summer "Ade" Season


duplicated in. heaven. From the
American point Of view, lemonade
is also generally considered one of
the better things of especially
on sWeltering summer days.
Along about the, time that cheat
versus humidity becomes the great
American topic of conversation, de-
mand for lemons and limes-the two
most popular Of the "ade" fruits
is at its height. Lemons are available
the year round-for drinks as we'll
as numerous other uses. The season
for lines grown in this country us
ually opens in April, ends along in
December.
This summer, supplies of lines
and lemons should be plentiful
cording to estimates of the United
States Department of AgricultlHe.
The lemon crop which started COM
ing to market last November, is the
largest since the 1934-35 crop, and
very nearly the largest on record
The lime crop doubtless will top
those of previous years.
llC LID CO1 VI OOCIl CIlCSC CICl uS
fruits reads like a romantic travel
ogue. Lines and lemons first grew
in the Orient spread westward by
way of the trade routes-put in an
appearance in Europe in the fifteen
tn century. Shortly after that, Span
ish adventurers brought them to
the New World. Ports of call along
the way from the Orient to America
have been such story-book places
as Sicily, Yucatan, and Tahiti.
But though lemons and lines
have practically circled the globe,
they have ventured neither far to
the north nor to the south. Like
other citrus fruits, they can be grown
successfully only where the climate
is subtropical.
Lime-producing center of the ma
ton is in Florida. Two main varieties
are grown here-the Tahiti or Per-
sian lime, and the smaller Key lime.
It's been during the past 4 or 5
years that considerable quantities of
Persian lines have come into pro-
duction. These are about the size
of a lemon and have slightly less
acid than Key lines. They are seed
less. Because they are picked when
they are green in color they are
often referred to as "green lines"
Key lines are higher in acid than
the other citrus fruits. They are
small-from about l to 11a inches
in diameter. Usually the fruit is
picked just as it is turning yellow.
Most of these lines are grown at
the southern-most tip, of the country
on the Florida Keys. 1t is from
these small islanls that they get
their popular name.
Shopping tips for lines are few.
Ordinarily good lines are heavy for
their size. That indicates good juice
content Decay may appear as
mold or as a soft discolored place on
the stem end. Brown discolorations
of the skin may or may not affect
the fruit inside.
Just as Florida supplies the nation
with lines, nearly all the lemons for
the country are produced in Cali
fornia. All told, very many more
lemons than lines are grown each
year. According to the latest figures,
the lemon crop evenly distributed
would supply each person in the
United States with over 20 year.
Lemons that have a fine-teXtured
skin and are heavy for their size are
generally of better quality than
coarse skinned, lightweight fruit.
Decay, as in lines, appears as mold
or as a soft discolored spot at the
stem end. Lemons to avoid are those
that are soft or spongy to the touch.
One of the promising newcomers
in the citrus family is the Perrine
lemon-a lemon-lime hybrid devel-
oped by plant breeders in the Fed
eral Bureau of Plant Industry to
meet the need for a lemon that
could be grown successfully in Flor
ida This lemon-lime, since its in
PRODUCTION in 1881 has come to be
regarded as a new variety of lemon
1t closely resembles the lemon in
appearance, and has a lemOnlike
flavor. Its lime heritage shows up
mostly in the pale greenish yellow
of the pulp.
Even before vitamins were singled
out 5y food scientists it was known
that lemons and lines had certain
something needed in the diet. Sail
ors took along supplies of lemon and
lime, juice on long voyages es-to pre-
vent the dread disease of scurvy. To-
day, this something has been iden-
tilted as vitamin c or aScorbid acid.
AS a source OF it, lemon juice ranks
along with orange and grapefruit
Juices in the excellent class. Lime
Juice usually is considered lower in
vitamin G value.
Besides giving flavor to cooling
LIQUID shments-lemons and
lines have countless other uses in
cooking. Both are good in Sherbets
and ices-in sauces to serve over
cakes or puddings- gs-and in pies. To
make the most OF the fresh flavor of
the lemon, add the juice and grated
rind to the filling of pie at the end
of the cooking-along with the but
ter. Beat and pour into a baked pie
crust. Or serve it as pudding-if
the weather's too hot to bother
about making pastry.
n tod