116 



TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO BULLETIN. [XVIII. 3. 



It is well known that the avocado is extremely variable and 

 experience here as in other countries proves that propagation by seed is 

 an unreliable means of securing good kinds. In many cases no effort 

 at selection was made but any seeds sown, with the result that we find 

 good, indifferent and bad kinds growing together indiscriminately'. 



There are two generally applicable methods of improving fiuit bear- 

 ing ti'ees ; seed selection and propagation by budding, grafting, etc. 

 Seed selection entails choosing seeds from trees bearing the best kinds 

 of fruit and characterised also by vegetative vigour and high productive- 

 ness. From a large number of plants so produced it is probable that a 

 few may be better than the parent, others as good, and the rest inferior. 

 The relative numbers in each group depend on various factoi-s which 

 vary with different kinds of plants. Some plants breed fairly true from 

 seed, others are very variable. For the person wishing to establish an 

 orchard of good trees the method has obvious disadvantages if the plant 

 he is cultivating is one which does not breed true, and especially, as in 

 the case of the avocado, if it takes several years to come into bearing. 

 He selects his seeds, brings, at considerable expense, his plants to the 

 bearing stage, only to find that he has a very mixed assemblage of good,. 

 bad, and indifferent kinds. 



The avocado is such a variable plant and definitely known examples 

 show the great variation in fruits all raised from the seeds of a 

 single tree. 



Fig. 1. Shows an instance of an undesirable large seeded fruit 

 produced by a seedling of a tree bearing large fruits with very 

 small seeds. 



~6 



E — ^ 



= — 1 



Fig. 1.— a Large Seeded Avocado. 

 A seedling from a tree bearing a large fruit with a very small seed. 



By making use of the second method of propagation— budding or 

 grafting— we can get over this difficulty provided we have a good 

 variety to bud or graft from. It is necessary to emphasize this point 



