THE NAVEL ORANGE OF BAHIA. 13 



large export trade and the fruit were held in storage for some time. 

 At present it is picked from day to day to supply the market de- 

 mands, and very few days elapse before it is consumed. 



Oranges are either sold on the tree to peddlers who pick them, 

 carry them to town, and hawk them about the streets, or picked by 

 the orchardist and delivered to the buyer at the grove. Practically 

 all of the crop is carried from the groves to the city, usually a distance 

 of 2 to 4 miles, in baskets, either by horses and mules or on the heads 

 of the natives. The grower usually receives $1.50 to $2 per hundred 

 oranges, and the buyer retails them at about $3.30 a hundred. The 

 local demand is said to be increasing rapidly, and orange culture is 

 proving to be one of the most remunerative agricultural industries. 

 At the present time the best groves are said to be returning net 

 annual profits of $75 to $150 per acre. 



An experimental shipment, consisting of a box of 96 fruits, care- 

 fully picked and handled so as to avoid bruising, was made from 

 Bahia to Washington, D. C, on January 4, 1914. When examined 

 in Washington on January 27, with the exception of one partly de- 

 cayed fruit the shipment was in perfect condition. With careful 

 handling and proper facilities for shipping there is little doubt that 

 the Bahia orange can be successfully carried to the leading orange 

 markets of the world. The light greenish yellow color will perhaps 

 make it a slow seller at first, until buyers have learned that it is 

 characteristic of this variety as grown in Bahia. 



THE FRUIT OF THE NAVEL ORANGE AT BAHIA. 



The navel orange of Bahia has long been known to travelers on the 

 eastern coast of South America, many recent travelers having as- 

 serted that it is a fruit vastly superior to the California navel 

 orange. Some declared that its superiority is due to the climate; 

 others affirmed that better types are grown in Bahia than in Cali- 

 fornia, or that since its introduction into North America the navel 

 orange has degenerated. 



True it is that there are marked differences in the size, the color, 

 and the quality of the navel oranges produced in these two widely 

 distant regions, though of the same horticultural variety. As to the 

 superiority of one over the other this is a question which can only 

 be decided by individual taste. The navel orange of Bahia (PI. VI) 

 is large, varying from 3^ to over 4 inches in diameter; yellow green 

 in color, unless very ripe; extremely juicy and sweet, lacking that 

 sprightly subacid flavor which characterizes the California product. 

 The skin is comparatively thin, and, although the flesh is filled with 

 juice, it is not quite so tender as in the California fruit. Those 

 who prefer a sweet fiMiit would pioljaldy choose the Bahia orange 



