2 BULLETIX 623, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



carloads annually. From these figures it can be seen that the Wash- 

 ington Navel orange crop for the year 1916 was probably between 

 21,500 and 22,500 carloads. In northern and central California, 

 the Washington Navel variety is shipped largely during the months 

 of November, December, and January, while in southern California 

 the crop is mostly shipped from January to June, inclusive. Owing 

 to large plantings of this variety in northern and central California 

 which have not yet come into full bearing, it seems likely that its 

 production in the State will be increased in the near future. 



The Washington Navel orange besides contributing such an 

 important part to the citrus industry of California is extensively 

 cultivated in the region of its nativity, Bahia, Brazil, and is grown 

 commercially in Australia, South Africa, Japan, and some other citrus- 

 growing regions. This remarkable development has occurred well 

 within the past century and most of it during the last 25 years. 



HISTORY OF THE WASHINGTON NAVEL VARIETY. 



The Washington Navel orange (Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck) origi- 

 nated at Bahia, Brazil, apparently as a bud variation from the Portu- 

 guese orange variety, laranja Selecta. This variety, commonly 

 called the Selecta orange, probably introduced into Brazil by the 

 early Portuguese explorers and settlers, is supposed to have come 

 from India. In Brazil the Selecta orange produces fruits bearing 

 seeds and is one of the important citrus varieties grown in the vicinity 

 of Rio de Janeiro at the present time. The occurrence of navel fruit 

 variations in many trees in these orchards is corroborative evidence 

 of the origin of the navel variety as a bud variation from the laranja 

 Selecta. 



As nearly as can be ascertained, the navel orange variation was 

 first propagated about 1820 at Bahia 1 by a Portuguese gardener, 

 who is said to have been the first person in Brazil to propagate plants 

 by budding. The superior value of the seedless navel oranges in 

 comparison with the seed-bearing Selecta fruits was soon recognized 

 by the Bahians, and at the present time the navel orange has almost 

 entirely supplanted the parent variety in the orchards at Bahia. 

 In 1914 about a thousand acres of navel-orange trees were being 

 cultivated within the municipality of Bahia, 2 while only a few individ- 

 ual Selecta trees were to be found in that district. 



In 1868 the late William Saunders, Horticulturist of the United 

 States Department of Agriculture, learned through a correspondent 

 then in Bahia, Brazil, that the oranges grown there were seedless 



1 Interview with Dr. V. A. Argollo Ferrao, agricultural inspector of the Eleventh District, Bahia, Brazil, 

 November, 1913. 



2 Estimate of the Brazilian agricultural exploring expedition of the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture, 1913-14. 



