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, 
earry 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- 
eayed 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 hght 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 Calli- 
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 fruit would probably choose the Bahia orange 
