436 



The Journal of Heredity 



grown in Bahia, with the exception of a 

 sour or bitter variety, called laranja 

 de terra (Citrus vulgaris Risso), which is 

 grown for the production of seeds used 

 for raising stocks. At Rio de Janeiro, 

 commercial orchards of the laranja 

 selecta variety arc still cultivated by 

 some of the farmers in agricultural 

 districts near the capital. In the first 

 orchard of this variety visited b\' the 

 writer, a tree was found having a limb 

 sport bearing typical navel orange 

 fruits, while the remainder of the tree 

 bore the regular seeded laranja selecta 

 orange. Other similar cases were ob- 

 served, tending to confirm the history 

 of the origin of this variety as related 

 by the Bahian orange growers and 

 others. The navel orange variety in 

 Brazil is called laranja selecta de mnbigo, 

 or the "select orange with the navel." 

 This name in itself tends to confirm the 

 established history of the origin of this 

 variety. 



NAVEL ORANGES IN BRAZIL 



The Brazilian expedition found that 

 the principal navel orange district in 

 Brazil is that of Bahia. A few trees of 

 this variety were found growing in the 

 orange groves near Rio de Janeiro. 

 We were informed on good authority 

 that limited i)lantings have been made 

 in some interior districts of Brazil, but 

 in no case has the development of the 

 industry reached such extent or im- 

 portance as in the Bahian district. We 

 found growing at Bahia about 50,000 

 bearing navel orange trees and about 

 an equal number of trees which had not 

 as yet reached the bearing age. A 

 tyijical tree is .shown in Fig. 1. Inas- 

 much as the trees are u.sually planted at 

 the rate of about 100 per acre, there 

 were about 1,000 acres of bearing and 

 non-bearing navel orange trees in the 

 Bahian district. 



The development of this industry has 

 been encouraged by the Brazilian 

 Government, and particularly by the 

 city of Bahia. We were told that 



' MancHoca is the Brazilian naino for the manioc or cassava {Mauihot ulilissima Pohl., Eiiphor- 

 biaccae),one of the important food plants which is native of South America. It is widely culti- 

 vated for its rof)ts, which sometimes weij^h as much as 30 jjounds and are ?> feet long. They are 

 ground up, and the hitter, poisonous juice which they contain is exi)elled liy drying on heated 

 plates; the resulting product is known to almost every one in the United States under the name 

 •of tapioca. 



within this municipality there are about 

 3vS,000 acres of land suitable for jjlant- 

 ing oranges. The city has established 

 an experimental farm for the purpo.se of 

 investigating methods of propagation, 

 culture, and handling oranges for the 

 benefit of citrus growers. Liberal in- 

 ducements arc given to prospective 

 planters in the way of long time, low 

 rentals and facilities for transporting 

 and selling the crops. A strong effort 

 is being made by the municipality of 

 Bahia to encourage an export trade, 

 particularly to the larger cities of South 

 America, so that the existing demand 

 for this fruit can be supi:)licd. 



Under present conditions the culture 

 of the navel orange at Bahia is a profit- 

 able undertaking for the growers, the 

 fruits retailing in the city of Bahia for 

 an average of about 3 cents each. A 

 typical Bahian navel orange is shown 

 in Fig. 2. The expense of clearing 

 the land, planting the orchards, and 

 bringing them into bearing is frequently 

 made up by the profits from the culture 

 of mandioca^ between the rows of 

 orange trees. The bearing orchards 

 are cultivated b\^ scraping off the weeds 

 from one to three times a year with a 

 heavy hoe, or "enchada." About the 

 only fertilizer used is barnyard manure. 

 All of the growers of the larger orchards 

 maintain dairies in connection with their 

 farms, mainly for the purpose of secur- 

 ing manure for use in their orange 

 groves. This manure is carefully con- 

 served and is u.sually applied by burying 

 it in heaps between the trees; on hill- 

 sides it is buried some distance above 

 the trees, usually under the drip of the 

 branches. It was the unanimous testi- 

 mony of Bahian orange growers that 

 mottle leaf and chlorosis of citrus trees 

 could be cured by the liberal use of 

 manure. Insect enemies and fungus 

 diseases arc not controlled artificially 

 exeei)t in the case of ants. The ant 

 colonies in the orchards are destroyed 

 ])\- digging them out or more recently 

 1)\- fvnniiration. 



