759 



which was planted with pomelos of the 'seed' variety while 

 some 25 per cent of the area contained 'seedless' trees. 

 The orchard is divided into plats some 7 meters wide by 60 

 to 90 meters long, separated by trenches some 3 to 4 

 meters wide by two and one-half meters deep. The pomelo 

 trees are planted in single rows on these plats. All 

 trees are propagated by marcottage, or the 'don' method. 

 The soil of this orchard contains about 60 per cent clay. 

 The first fruits examined in the 'seedless' section proved 

 to be full of seeds. Upon inquiry as to the reason for 

 this it was stated that the seedlessness was due to the 

 salt deposited from the brackish water which backs up into 

 the river during the dry season; the planter also said 

 that a coconut shell of salt was placed in the hole at the 

 time of transplanting the tree and that another shellful 

 was given the tree each year." (Boyle, Philippine Agri- 

 cultural Review, February 1914.) 



Citrus sincnsis. (Rutaceae.) 37840. Plants of Laranja 

 selecta from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Purchased of Eick- 

 hoff, Carneiro Leao & Co. "This unusually choice orange 

 is one of the two principal varieties grown in the Rio de 

 Janeiro district, and has the added distinction of having 

 been, as all the evidence indicates, the parent of the 

 Bahia navel orange or 'selecta de umbigo,' as it is still 

 called, the culture of which in California at the present 

 day forms so important an industry. The origin of the 

 'selecta' orange is obscure. It has been cultivated in 

 Brazil for more than a century, and although it has been 

 superseded in Bahia by its offspring, the navel orange, it 

 is still cultivated commercially near Rio de Janeiro, par- 

 ticularly in the Sao Goncalo district at Nictheroy. The 

 main crop ripens in July, but it commences to come into 

 the market in March and continues until October. On the 

 fancy fruit stands it brings two or three milreis ($.65 to 

 $1.00) per dozen, but in the public market it can be pur- 

 chased at a considerably lower price. Around Nictheroy 

 the fruit is picked and brought to the market in baskets 

 strapped across the backs of mules and horses. While re- 

 sembling the Bahia navel orange in general characteristics, 

 'selecta is normally oblate in form, contains numerous 

 seeds, and does not produce a navel. The typical 'selecta' 

 as found in the markets may be described as follows: 

 General form roundish, oblate; cross section regularly 

 round; size medium large, good specimens being three to 

 three and one-half inches in length and three and one- 

 fourth to three and one-half inches in breadth; stem some- 

 times inserted somewhat obliquely; base usually tapering 

 very little, flattened for a distance of one-half to three- 

 fourths inch from the stem insertion, sometimes slightly 



