398 THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



As the rainfall in Bahia in 1913 was unusually heavy, we were told that 

 the December crop of this j^ear was unusually large and of superior 

 quality. 



In order to study the December crop under favorable conditions we 

 found it necessary to postpone an interior trip down the San Francisco 

 River, and after visiting Rio de Janeiro, where final arrangements were 

 made for our work, we decided to return to Bahia. 



We arrived at Rio de Janeiro October 21st, so that the voyage to this 

 point covered a period of eighteen days. During the voyage our expedi- 

 tion became acquainted with the Roosevelt expedition to South America. 

 Arrangements were made with Colonel Roosevelt so that members of his 

 party would collect information, seeds and plant specimens of any food 

 plants for the Department of Agriculture, that might be found in the 

 course of the work of their explorations. 



A serious effort was made to interest the passengers aboard the Van- 

 dyck in the work of the expedition and to point out the desirability of 

 all travelers observing food plants and their products in foreign coun- 

 tries. The introduction of the navel orange is an illustration of the 

 value of such efforts. One of our acquaintances on the Vandyck, 

 Dr. Wycliffe Rose, as a result of observations of this character some 

 months afterward discovered a very promising new citrus fruit in the 

 Island of Grenada and secured a supply of fruits and seeds of this 

 variety for the Department. 



OBSERVATIONS AT RIO DE JANEIRO. 



We found at Rio de Janeiro two commonly grown varieties of oranges : 

 Citrus depressum Risso, common name Laranja selecta; and C. pyri- 

 forme Risso, common name Laranja pera. The selecta variety produces 

 ripe fruits usually during the fall and winter seasons. The fruits are 

 large with comparatively thick skin, few seeds and of about the same 

 quality as the Bahian navel orange. We found on selecta trees frequent 

 navel fruits and in some cases entire limbs bearing typical navel 

 oranges. The pera variety produces ripe fruits usually in the spring 

 and summer months. The fruits have thin rinds, more seeds than the 

 selecta fruits, much juice and with a very sweet taste. Many of our 

 friends in Rio de Janeiro expressed a decided preference for the selecta 

 fruits. We foiind a total of about 100 acres of selecta trees and about 

 100 acres of pera trees. The methods of propagation, planting and 

 culture practiced in these orchards are very similar to those followed at 

 Bahia, which will be briefly described in the following pages. As a rule 

 the citrus trees near Rio de Janeiro are planted in the valleys at such 

 distance from the city markets that return trips can be made by the 

 growers to and from the markets in one day. The soils in the citrus 

 groves we found to be as a rule of a sandy loam character, the surface 

 soil frequently having a high content of fine sand, laid upon a rather 

 heavy clay soil of granite origin. 



In addition to the two varieties mentioned we found occasional trees 

 in the orange groves of many other citrus varieties. Among these the 

 following might be mentioned: Citrus aurantium L., common name 

 Laranja da China, a very thorny tree, with round fruits having a fine 

 thin rind and sweet taste. There are trees of this variety in Brazil said 

 to be more than 120 years old. The seeds of this variety are used for 

 raising stocks in some cases we were informed by several orange growers. 



