Evening star., 1914-02-04
ROOSEVELT TO Be
BOTANICAL SCOUT
Will Take Trained Agricultural
Explorer on Next Trip
to WiIds.
HIS INTEREST AROUSED
BY RECENT EXPEDITION
Comes in Contact With Department
Experts Sent to Study Brazil
Oranges.

Co. Roosevelt has volunteered as an
agricultural scout for this government
He says that during the remainder of his
South American trip he is going to turn
the country wrongside out, from botan-
.cal standpoint, and that on his next ex-
pedition to the wilds he intends to include
a regularly trained agricultural explorer
as part of his encourage
All this was the result of his going to
South America on the same steamer that
carried an agricultural exploring expedi-
ton from the Department of Agriculture
to Brazil. The expedition consisted of A
D. Shamel P. II. Dorset and Mr Popa-
noe Of the bureau of plant industry. Col.
Roosevelt had never heard of an agri-
cultural explorer. thought it was a great
thing. and said at once that he was going
TO be one henceforth. He said, in addi
ton. that there were Just two very i'm
portant things in agriculture: one was
making the most of the plants in hand.
and the other getting things the other
fellow had. That was the object of the
expedition from the Department of Agri-
culture.
Returns From Brazil.
Mr.. Shamel has Just returned from
Brazil, preparatory to being sent back to
the Pacific coast to look after citrus fruit
culture. Mr.. Dorset and MI Popanoe
have remained in Brazil, and are just
starting on a nine-hundred-mile trip up
the san Francisco river. stream about
as big as the Missouri but which is never
heard of in this country
Mr.. Shamel Is enthusiastic about Brazil.
He says it is bigger than this country,
exclusive of Alaska: is mine of wealth,
botanic and otherwise and has scarcely
been scratched on the surface from a
scientific exploring standpoint
The expedition was sent to Brazil to
look after oranges. 1t got them in guam
titles and qualities that promise to prove
valuable, but it obtained lot of things
besides. and there is wealth of agri-
cultural products that they barely had a
chance to look at.
There was a great deal of interest in
this country in the navel orange of
Brazil. because that was where the navel
orange of this country came from and
il was desirable to infuse fresh blood or
rather sap INTO the American stock.
Responsible for Industry.
The Department of Agriculture is re-
sponsible for the navel orange industry.
1t is rather a romantic story \ woman
traveller in the neighhorhood of Bahia,
Brazil. in 1870 noticed a seedless orange
growing there. She had the American
consul send half dozen trees to this
country. They were not well packed and
all died, \ second shipment had better
luck and lived, most of them being tried
out in Florida, where they did not do
very well.
In 1S1:; a Mrs. Tibbetts was keeping
a boarding house here in Washington.
Her husband lost his health and had to
be taken TO California One of the Agri-
cultural Department men had boarded
with Mrs. Tibbetts and sent her Il couple
of the navel orange trees. They took
hold excellently in California, and the
whole OF the present navel orange in
dustry. which is the biggest single fruit
industry in the world. sprang from those
TWO trees. They are still living in Cali
forrIa, and there viii he a special cele-
tration held over them in 1915 stimuli
taneous with the Panama Pacific expo
sit