1476 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OP PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



ceedingly hardy, and the grape and the 

 fig are still grown and for domestic con- 

 sumption are still in favor; the Mission 

 orange, however, could not stand before 

 the Navel, the Mediterranean Sweet, the 

 Valencia and other varieties, and after 

 more than a century of popularity it 

 had to give way. 



The work done by the mission fathers 

 demonstrated the feasibility of growing 

 the semi-tropical fruits in ("alifornia, but 

 beyond this nothing was done in this 

 direction for a century, and the great 

 citrus industry which, with a full crop, 

 will now export nearly 50,000 cars of 

 fruit annually, may be said to have risen 

 within the past thirty years. The first 

 commercial shipment was made from the 

 Wolfskin orchard, which was then lo- 

 cated in what is now a busy section of 

 Los Angeles. Freights were high, from 

 $1,000 to $1,200 per carload, and while 

 this shipment made good returns to the 

 owner, owing principally to its novelty, 

 the export of oranges was slow and lan- 

 guishing, and ten years after the first 

 shipments had been made the exports had 

 not risen much over 2,000 carloads from 

 the whole state. 



The event whirh transformed the 

 whole situation in California orange 

 growing was the introduction of the 

 Bahia or Washington Navel orange, a 

 description and history of which fol- 

 lows: 



♦Washington Navel (Bahia. Riverside 

 Navel). Fruit large, solid and heavy; 

 skin smooth and of a very fine texture; 

 very juicy; high flavored, with melting 

 pulp; is practically seedless, only in ex- 

 ceptional cases are seeds found; tree is 

 a good and prolific bearer, medium 

 thorny, a rapid grower, although it does 

 not attain a very large size; bears when 

 very young, commencing to bear as early 

 as one year old from the bud; ripens 

 early. This variety was imported from 

 Bahia, Brazil, in 1870, by Mr. W. Saun- 

 ders of the Department of Agriculture 

 at Washington, and in 1874 two trees 

 were received from Washington by Mrs. 

 Tibbetts, of Riverside, California. Trees 

 were also received about the same time 



' E. .T. WIckson In California Fruits. 



by Alexander Craw, but the Riverside 

 trees were first to bear fruit, and the 

 excellence of the variety being at once 

 recognized, it was propagated rapidly and 

 took the name of Riverside Navel from 

 the place where its characteristics were 

 first made known. As It came to be 

 known largely in other districts as well, 

 a broader name, Washington Navel, rec- 

 ognizing its receipt from the national 

 capital, was adopted. 



There is much tendency to variation 

 in the Washington Navel, and sub-varie- 

 ties are to be found involving departures 

 in the direction of thinness and silki- 

 ness of rind, etc., as well as interior 

 characters. The first to become promi- 

 nent of these is Thompson's Improved 

 Navel, which A. C. Thompson, of Duarte, 

 Los Angeles county, claimed to have pro- 

 duced by a process of propagation, but 

 which is believed to be a natural varia- 

 tion. It is a very refined fruit, generally 

 held to be too fine for ordinary handling. 



( ITRITS FRUIT GROWIXG 



The growing of the finest citrus fruits 

 is a horticultural accomplishment not 

 surpassed in any line of the art. There 

 are very few agricultural occupations 

 that require an equal amount of judg- 

 ment, and very few that give as remu- 

 nerative a return for the mental outlay. 



Climate 



In general it may be stated that in all 

 regions in which the temperature does 

 not fall below 18 degrees above zero nor 

 rise above 100 degrees F., and where 

 there is sufficient moisture, citrus fruits 

 may be produced. There are, however, 

 localities within these limitations that 

 can not be said to be good citrus-growing 

 sections. In some places, although the 

 trees grow luxuriantly, heavy rainfalls 

 occur at the time when the fruits are 

 maturing, making it impossible to gather 

 and market them. In others the condi- 

 tions for vegetative growth are so favor- 

 able that very little fruit sets. Regions 

 that are excessively dry may, however, 

 be utilized for citrus culture when irri- 

 gation can be practiced. The more nearly 

 the northern limit of the citrus belt is 

 approached, the more sprightly and deli- 

 ciously flavored the fruit becomes, some 



