CALIFORNIA CITRUS CULTURE. 87 



rowly winged, fruit of varying color yellow to orange size and form 

 from spherical to oblong, pulp when ripe, sweet and delicious. The 

 seeds are large and much valued for planting. The tree is from twenty 

 to forty feet in height. 



The Washington Navel Orange. 



(Fig. 58.) 



The most prized and excellent variety in California is the Wash- 

 ington navel. This in its perfection is at present certainly incompar- 

 able, not only as an orange, but as a fruit. The peculiar scar at the 

 blossom or calyx end, and the fact that it was brought to Washington 

 from Bahia, Brazil, by the Department of Agriculture in 1870, has 

 given it the name of Washington navel. Two trees were brought from 

 Washington, D. C., to Riverside, California, and thus a second name 

 Riverside navel. From these two trees buds have been taken in pro- 

 fusion, and thus our "King of Oranges" is now widely distributed, 

 keenly relished and in great demand. The navel is the unmistakable 

 mark, though occasionally found in other kinds of oranges and very 

 rarely in lemons. This navel seems to be like a proliferous rose where 

 the stem pushes through the flower and bears a second rose. Some 

 wild flowers (Salvia) exhibit the same peculiarity. Here the second 

 orange simply reaches the surface, though occasionally it pushes up 

 partly through the rind, and rarely we have a second orange surmount- 

 ing the fruit. The orange is seedless, which may be due to the fact 

 that this second fruit prevents the pollen threads from pushing through 

 to fecundate the seeds. The pollen being useless, nature has robbed the 

 navel bloom of this product. Occasionally, although very rarely, pollen 

 from other sources is effective and we have seeds, even in the navel. 

 This fact suggests that in the near future all our citrus fruits will be 

 rid of seeds. This navel orange is large, highly colored, pulp luscious, 

 very sweet, flavor incomparable. It will always be a favorite. The tree 

 is a profuse bearer, and of course must have most generous treatment. 

 Decadent care will result in decadent trees. 



An inferior navel, both in tree and fruit, is known as the Australian 

 navel. Some think it is merely a sport of the Washington navel, while 

 others think it is distinc.t It is a shy bearer and produces a coarse, 

 undesirable fruit. 



The Washington navel is not ready for the market in southern Cali- 

 fornia till January, though often shipped for the holiday trade and 

 may last, not greatly impaired in excellence, till July. In northern 

 California it ripens earlier. In Florida this variety is a shy bearer 

 and does not give the satisfaction that it does in Arizona and California. 

 As remarked above, other varieties occasionally exhibit the navel cicatrix. 



