BUD VARIATION" IN THE VALENCIA ORANGE. 3 



Horticultural Society and the nomenclature committee of that so- 

 ciety gave them the name Hart's Tardiff, which was successively 

 changed to Hart's Tardy and Hart's Late. The American Pomo- 

 logical Society has adopted the name Hart for this variety, but the 

 names mentioned above are still in common use by nurserymen and 

 growers in Florida. On comparison, the fruits of the Hart introduc- 

 tion were found to be identical with those grown by General Sanford 

 under the name Brown. 1 Budded trees of both the Sanford and 

 Hart introductions were included in the earlier shipments of trees 

 from Florida to California. 2 It was soon found, however, that the 

 Brown, Hart, and Valencia were the same variety, and as it seemed 

 probable that the California Valencia Late and the Florida intro- 

 ductions were nearly related and came from the same original source, 

 the name Valencia is used in California to designate all trees which 

 have descended from these different introductions. Orchards grown 

 from trees or buds received from these sources show only minor 

 differences, if any, and when present these are of such a character as 

 may be due to local soil and climatic conditions rather than to inher- 

 ent varietal differences. As a rule, the Chapman introduction of 

 Valencia orange has a more globular shape than the Florida strains 

 and is said to ripen somewhat earlier. The Chapman trees usually 

 are more upright in habit of growth than those of the Florida 

 Valencia, but not enough reliable information is available regarding 

 this or other comparative varietal tree and fruit characters of these 

 introductions for any final conclusions as to inherent differences 

 between them. 



The performance records of individual trees and the observations, 

 illustrations, and notes of trees and fruits contained in this bulletin 

 have all been obtained from trees which trace back to the Florida 

 introductions now commonly known in California as the Valencia 

 orange. These records and observations have been made in the 

 orchards of southern California and for the most part in those located 

 in Riverside County. 



VARIABILITY WITHIN THE VARIETY. 



Previous to this study it had been generally supposed that one 

 Valencia tree was as good as another and that for a series of years 

 they would produce practically equivalent crops. Contrary to this, 

 these investigations have proved that instead of the Valencia vari- 

 ety being stable and constant, it is composed of several distinct 

 strains which differ from each other in many characters of fruit and 

 tree. The term "strain" is used here to designate a group of in- 

 dividuals of a horticultural variety which differ from all other indi- 



i Letter of Mr. E. H. Hart to Prof. E. H. Van Deman, U. S. Department of Agriculture, June 10, 1887. 

 2 Statement received from Mr. Daniel Houston, Zellwood, Fla., May 9, 1916. 



