WASHINGTON NAVEL ORANGE 



Important California Citrus Fruit Originated in Brazil Nearly a Century Ago, 

 Brought to United States in 1869 — Comparison of Culture in Cali- 

 fornia and Brazil — Importance of Bud Mutations^ 



A. D. Shamel 

 Physiologist, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Riverside, Cal. 



THE Washington Navel Orange 

 is one of the most interesting 

 and important horticultural 

 varieties in existence. The facts 

 concerning its origin and introduction 

 into the citrus districts of the United 

 States and other countries are well estab- 

 lished. The development of the culture 

 of this variety on an extensive com- 

 mercial basis has occurred well within the 

 history of men now living. The recol- 

 lections of these men concerning its 

 early propagation, methods of planting 

 and culture, are clear and well defined. 

 While many of the men and women who 

 were directly concerned in the intro- 

 duction of this variety into the United 

 States have passed away, they have, 

 fortunately for posterity, left permanent 

 records of some of their experiences in 

 this connection. 



The following paper is an attempt by 

 the writer to bring together the avail- 

 able information concerning the origin 

 and development of this variety. A 

 study of the facts should be of intense 

 interest to all plant breeders and others 

 who are concerned in the development 

 and improvement of our horticultural 

 varieties. The historical data presented 

 in this paper relating to the origin and 

 development of the Washington Navel 

 Orange in Brazil were collected by an 

 expedition sent to that country by the 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture in the 

 fall of 1913, consisting of P. H. Dorsett, 

 Wilson Popenoe, and the writer. The 

 facts mentioned in the discussion of 

 the introduction and development of 

 the navel orange in the United States 

 have been secured from papers and 



reports in the possession of the U. S. 

 Department of Agriculture, and from 

 first-hand interviews with some of the 

 men and women in southern California 

 who took part in this work. 



ORIGIN 



The Washington Navel orange orig- 

 inated at Bahia, Brazil, as a bud sport 

 from the Portuguese variety of orange, 

 laranja selecta, or the "select orange." 

 This variety was undoubtedly intro- 

 duced by the Portuguese into Brazil 

 very soon after the colonization of that 

 country. According to V. A. Argollo- 

 Ferrao,^ the navel orange appeared as a 

 bud sport of the laranja selecta variety 

 and was discovered and first propagated 

 by a Portuguese gardener at Bahia in 

 1822. This account of the origin of the 

 Bahian navel orange was confirmed by 

 all other available information. The 

 fathers or grandfathers of some of the 

 orange growers at Bahia were personally 

 acquainted with the circumstances con- 

 nected with the origin and propagation 

 of this variety and this knowledge was 

 handed down to their sons and grand- 

 sons. 



From the first, the seedless fruits of 

 the navel orange trees were highly 

 prized by the Bahians. The superior 

 qualities of these fruits attracted general 

 attention. The growers of the parent 

 laranja selecta variety, recognizing the 

 importance of the seedless navel fruits, 

 planted that variety exclusively, as 

 soon as trees were available for this 

 purpose. At the present time the 

 Bahian navel orange has practically 

 supplanted all other varieties of oranges 



1 Read before the twelfth annual meeting of the American Genetic Association on August 3, 

 1915, at Berkeley, Cal. 

 ^Inspectoria Agricola do 11° Districta, Bahia, Brazil. 



435 



