294 LUTHER BURBANK 



are almost numberless varieties of oranges now 

 growing in the region of the Amazon. A lady 

 who was traveling through South America was 

 surprised to find among the oranges served at 

 the hotel where she was stopping some that 

 were seedless a thing hitherto never conceived 

 even as a possibility among cultivators of the 

 fruit. 



The discovery was communicated to the Agri- 

 cultural Department at Washington, and in 1870 

 the new variety was imported. 



Four years later specimens of the tree were 

 sent from Washington to California and the 

 fruit, which was subsequently christened the 

 Washington Navel in recognition of its intro- 

 duction and its peculiar form, soon came to be 

 extensively cultivated. This variety, like most 

 of the citrus fruits, is subject to bud variation 

 and a number of more or less distinct varieties 

 have made their appearance. But there is still 

 abundant opportunity for improvement through 

 further selection. 



CULTIVATION OF THE ORANGE 



The orange is budded or grafted on roots of 

 its own species or on those of the lemon or the 

 shaddock, better known in its improved forms as 

 the grapefruit. 



