Main Importations


1866. Several thousand trees grown from the seed were given out
during the years following 1870. The expected cure-all did not
materialize, however, for tests proved that the trees did not con-
tain the cinchona alkaloids.
 The roots of the Eucalyptus do have absorbent powers, and
the trees were found to be useful in drying up marshlands by
rapid transpiration. The tree also gained popularity because of
the real and imagined antimalarial properties it possessed. Many
thought that the leaves gave off a volatile oil and an acid which
made the atmosphere healthful and invigorating.
 Large plantings have been made, especially in California where
it is now one of the most familiar trees of the landscape. Planting
the Eucalyptus became a craze in California during the 1870's
and in Oakland alone over 100,000 trees were sold in 1875. The
tree did not spread widely, however, because it is easily killed by
frost. It has proved very valuable in California for timber, wind-
breaks, shelters, and landscaping and is now voluntarily replant-
ing itself.
 BAHIA (NAVEL) ORANGE AND OTHER CITRUS FRUITS
 Credit for the introduction of the navel orange is shared by
an American missionary, the Department of Agriculture, and
the State Department. The first step was taken by the Reverend
F. I. C. Schneider, first Presbyterian missionary to Bahia, Brazil,
who wrote a letter about this orange to the Commissioner of Agri-
culture. The story is continued in this excerpt from the Journal
of William Saunders.
 Sometime in 1869 the then Commissioner of Agriculture, Horace Capron ...
read to me a letter . from a correspondent at Bahia, Brazil. Among other
matters, special mention was made of a fine seedless orange of large size and fine
flavor; thinking that it might be of value in this country I . sent a letter asking
to be the recipient of a few plants of this orange. This request brought me in
course of time a small box of orange twigs utterly dry and useless. I immediately
sent a letter requesting that some one be employed to graft a few trees on young
stock, and that all expenses would be paid by the Department. Ultimately a box
arrived containing 12 newly budded trees, and being packed as I had suggested,
were found to be in fairly good condition. I believe that two of them failed
to grow. No expenses were charged, so I presume that the correspondent sent them
as a gift. . .
 I had a supply of young orange stocks on hand and as fast as I could secure
buds, they were inserted on these stocks. The first two young plants that were
sent out were sent [in 1873] to a Mrs. [Luther C.] Tibbetts, Riverside, California.
That lady called here and was anxious to get some of these plants for her place,
and I sent two of them by mail. They prospered with her and when they fruited
attention was directed to their size and fine appearance, and when ripe their