TABLE XIV.-Imports and exports of refined boric acid for Italy, 1910-1917. Imports into Italy. Exports from Italy. 1910. 1911. 1912. 1913. 1914. 1915. 1916. 1917. 1910. 1911. 1912. 1913. 1914. 1915. 1916. 1917. TABLE XV.—Imports and cxports of borax for Italy, 1910–1917. The price of borax and boric acid has about doubled since the outbreak of the European war. For several years before the war the normal price of borax was 4 to 4 cents per pound and of boric acid 7 to 8 cents per pound. At the close of the war borax was selling at about 8 cents per pound and boric acid at about 14 cents per pound. TARIFF HISTORY. The tariff act of 1897 contains the following provisions: Par. 1. Acids: Boracic, 5 cents per pound. Par. 11. Borax, 5 cents per pound; borates of lime or soda, or other borate material not otherwise provided for, containing more than 36 per cent of anhydrous boracic acid, 4 cents per pound; borates of soda, or other borate material not otherwise provided for, containing not more than 36 per cent of anhydrous boracic acid, 3 cents per pound. The act of 1909 contains the following provisions: Par. 1. Acids: Boracic acid, 3 cents per pound. Par. 11. Borax, 2 cents per pound; borates of lime, soda, or other borate material not otherwise provided for in this section, 2 cents per pound. The act of 1913 contains the following provisions: Par. 1. Acids: Boracic acid, -cent per pound. Par. 67. Soda: Borate of or borax refined, -cent per pound. Par. 429 (free list). Borax, crude and unmanufactured, and borate of lime, soda, and other borate material, crude and unmanufactured, not otherwise provided for in this section. TABLE XVI.-Rates of import duties on borar in principal countries. 5 Borocalcite, boracite, etc., also crude borax, not purified (borax tincal). 6 Borax, purified, in crystals, powder, or anhydrous. 7 Borax or borate of soda. Borax in packages of not less than 25 pounds weight. The general rate applies to the United States. 10 Borate (borax), whole: borate (borax,) in powder. 11 Chemicals and drugs, n. e.i. other than those packed for use in the household, TABLE XVII-Rates of import duties on boric acid in principal countries. 1 Conversions into United States currency are base 1 on par value. cent per pound. Free. Do. $0.0157. $0.0105. Free. $0.0017. Free. 5 per cent ad valorem. 7 per cent ad valorem. 74 per cent ad valorem. $0.0198. $0.0152. $0.0184. $0.0120. 2 Boric acid, natural from Tuscany, containing 15 per cent or more of impurity. In crystals, powder, or anhydrous. Boracic acid in packages of not less than 25-pound weight. 5 The general rate is applied to the United States. COURT AND TREASURY DECISIONS. (Decisions under the act of 1897.) Borate material.-The provision in paragraph 11 for "other borate material" includes only borate materials found in nature in a raw condition, such as the "borates of lime or soda " enumerated in the same provision, and does not include borate of manganese, or bormangan, a manufactured article which is made from manganese and borates of lime or soda, which is held to fall within the provision in paragraph 3 for chemical compounds and salts. (Hempstead v. Thomas (C. C. A.), 129 Fed., 907, T. D. 25315. Borax glass.-Borax glass, or fused borax, was claimed to be dutiable as the cruder material, borate of soda, but the protest was overruled and the collector's decision affirmed that borax glass is a variety of borax and as such is dutiable at the rate of 5 cents a pound under the provisions of paragraph 11. (T. D. 25149 (G. A. 5621).) (Decisions under the act of 1909.) Boracic acid and borax mixture.-An antiseptic preservative consisting of boracic acid and borax, mechanically mixed, boracic acid in chief value, was held dutiable as boracic acid by similitude. (Berth Levi & Co. v. United States, 126 Fed. 420, T. D. 25050.) Perborate of soda.-Under neither the tariff act of 1897 nor the tariff act of 1909 may perborate of soda be classed as a borate material. It is the product of a chemical reaction, is a chemical compound, and dutiable as such under paragraph 3 of each of said acts. (Morgenstern & Co. v. United States (2 Ct. Cust. Appls., 212), T. D. 31949; (G. A. Ab. 23840) T. D. 30865, affirmed.) PART 3.-CITRIC ACID AND OTHER BY-PRODUCTS OF THE LEMON-GROWING INDUSTRY. The tariff act of 1913 covers the by-products of the lemon-growing industry under the following paragraphs: Par. 1. * * Citric acid, 5 cents per pound * Par. 5. Alkalies, alkaloids, and all chemical and medicinal compounds, preparations, mixtures, and salts, and combinations thereof not specially provided for in this section, 15 per centum ad valorem. (This clause covers many salts of citric acid, including the citrates of ammonium, bismuth, caffeine, copper, iron, magnesium, nickel, potassium, and silver, which are used chiefly as drugs.) Par. 41. Lime, citrate of, 1 cent per pound. Par. 46. Oils, distilled and essential: valorem * * *. * lemon, 10 per cent ad Par. 532. (Free list.) Lemon juice, lime juice, and sour orange juice, all the foregoing containing not more than 2 per centum of alcohol. (This clause covers not only the natural juice, just as it is obtained by pressing the fruit, but also a more concentrated product from which most of the water has been removed by evaporation.) Lemons are dutiable under the following paragraph: Par. 220. Lemons, limes, oranges, grapefruit, shaddocks, and pomelos in packages of a capacity of 11 cubic feet or less, 18 cents per package; in packages of capacity exceeding 11 cubic feet and not exceeding 24 cubic feet, 35 cents per package; in packages exceeding 21 and not exceeding 5 cubic feet, 70 cents per package; in packages exceeding 5 cubic feet or in bulk, one-half of 1 cent per pound. DESCRIPTION AND USES. Citric acid, as its name implies, occurs principally in the juice of the citrus fruits and is chiefly responsible for the sour taste of these fruits. Commercially it is derived mainly from the juice of the lemon, although smaller amounts are obtained from the lime, bergamot, and orange. Citric acid is usually made from the inferior fruit or "cull lemons" which have been damaged by insects, fungi, or frost, or which are misshapen, undersized or even oversized. It may be regarded, therefore, as a by-product of the lemon-growing industry. The principal use of citric acid is in the manufacture of beverages and effervescent salts. It is also used in the manufacture of many salts which are used in medicine, including the citrates of ammonium, bismuth, caffeine, iron, lithium, magnesium, potassium, quinine, and sodium. Citric acid and sodium citrate find some application in textile printing and in the manufacture of a few dyes. Many formulas for photographic developers and toning baths contain citric acid or sodium citrate. Ferric ammonium citrate is used in the manufacture of blue print paper. Citric acid and ammonium citrate are important laboratory reagents. They are essential for the determination of phosphates in fertilizers, which ranks as one of the most important of analytical operations. Citrate of lime is an intermediate substance obtained in the manufacture of citric acid from the fruit juices and is used for making citric acid. As cull lemons, on account of their bulk and perishable nature, can not be shipped for long distances, the commercial practice has been for growers to deliver them to local plants for conversion into citrate of lime, which is easily made from the fruit and which is not subject to decay or deterioration during shipment and storage. The manufacture of citric acid from citrate of lime is a relatively complex chemical operation, requiring special equipment and careful chemical control. Citrate of lime has, therefore, become an article of commerce, purchased by chemical factories specializing in the manufacture of citric acid and citrates therefrom. Some growers prefer to ship a juice which has been concentrated by evaporation instead of making the citrate of lime. Lemon oil, although entirely different from citric acid in chemical nature and uses, is, like citric acid, a by-product of the fruit-growing industry, and is, therefore, conveniently discussed with citric acid. It is used in flavoring extracts, perfumes, and medicine. PROCESS OF MANUFACTURE IN SICILY. The chief centers of the lemon-growing industry, and, therefore, the chief sources of the by-products, are Sicily, California, and the West Indies. The industry is older and larger in Sicily than in California or the West Indies. The proportion of the total crop which is not salable as fresh fruit, and which is, therefore, treated as "culls" for the conversion into by-products, varies greatly with the skill of the grower, the season, and the market conditions. In seasons when the fruit is plentiful and low in price, the grading may be more severe, and a larger proportion rejected as culls. In Sicily the proportion of culls converted into by-products is commonly as high as 30 per cent, and sometimes as high as 50 per cent of the total crop. The Sicilians cut the fruit in two and remove the pulp from the peel by means of a single knife operated by hand. The lemon oil is then pressed out of the peel into a sponge by the aid of a simple tool operated by hand. The lemon oil obtained in this way is the highest quality hand-pressed oil. The peel is uninjured and may be candied. The pulp is mechanically shredded and the juice separated in a press. The residue in the press may be fed to cattle or goats. The juice is filtered and heated nearly to the boiling point. Finely divided chalk is then added. The citric acid present in the juice combines chemically with the chalk, forming citrate of lime, a white insoluble powder which can be readily filtered, washed, and dried. Chemically pure citrate of lime contains 73.67 per cent expressed as crystallized citric acid. Commercially the citric acid content of citrate of lime varies from about 60 to 67 per cent. The standard commercial strength is 64 per cent. The manufacture of citric acid from citrate of lime, although simple in theory, requires careful attention to details, because the |