BUD VARIATION" IN THE WASHINGTON NAVEL ORANGE. 5 



both conditions being usually undesirable and unprofitable from the 

 grower's standpoint. Considerable differences in the time of ripen- 

 ing of the fruits borne by the trees of some of the diverse strains in 

 the same orchard were observed. This condition is objectionable 

 in commercial orange growing, from the fact that frequently the dif- 

 ferences in the ripeness of the fruits are not readily noticed by the 

 pickers or packers. 



On account of the presence of trees of inferior strains in the orchards, 

 it frequently happens that fruit from them is shipped together with 

 fruits of superior quality borne by trees of the best strain. Sooner 

 or later the results of this condition are felt by the grower, and his 

 fruit is sold with difficulty and at a low price. In order to maintain 

 the reputation of a brand the grower must furnish regular and uni- 

 form supplies of good fruit to the consumer. In most cases in Cali- 

 fornia brands are made up of the consolidated crops from many 

 orchards. In order to standardize as much as possible the pack 

 under such brands, it is necessary to use extreme care in assorting 

 the oranges from the several groves from which the fruit is produced. 

 From the standpoint of community endeavor this condition offers 

 an additional reason for standardizing the fruit so far as practicable 

 by the standardization of the trees in the groves through bud selec- 

 tion. The growing of inferior strains and the shipment of the fruits 

 of these strains will sooner or later result in a loss of the reputation and 

 prestige held by this variety. 



The success of the Washington Navel orange is the foundation 

 upon which the citrus industry of California has been developed. The 

 importance of conserving the variety and maintaining it, now that 

 its reputation has become established, must therefore be apparent 

 to every thinking person. 



OCCURRENCE AND FREQUENCY OF BUD VARIATIONS. 



The total number of strains existing in the Washington Navel 

 orange variety is unknown. Constant additions to the list are being 

 made as knowledge of the variety grows and the extent of the investi- 

 gations widens so as to include observations in a larger number of 

 orchards and with a greater number of trees. 



Thirteen important strains have been found in the investigational 

 performance-record plats. Many other less marked departures from 

 the Washington strain have been found from time to time, but are, 

 so far as is now known, of little significance or importance in the 

 consideration of methods for the stabilization of the variety by means 

 of bud selection. These infrequent and less important variations 

 therefore have not been included in the list of strains; but with a 

 wider knowledge of these variations gained from actual experience 



