JANUARY 1 TO MARCH 31, 1917. 73 



44439. Persea amertcana Mill. Lauracese. Avocado. 



(P. gratissima Gaertn. f.) 

 From Guatemala. Budwood collected by Mr. Wilson Popenoe, Agricul- 

 tural Explorer for the Department of Agriculture. Received January to 

 March, 1917. 



"(No. 92. Avocado No. 15.) NahaV For productiveness combined with de- 

 sirable form and excellent quality of fruit, this variety seems particularly 

 worthy of trial in the United States. While not a large avocado, it is excellent 

 in every way, having a smooth green surface, rich yellow flesh of good flavor, 

 and a seed not unduly large in comparison to the size of the fruit. In addition, 

 it seems to be slightly earlier in season than the average. 



" The parent tree was accidentally destroyed in June, 1917, by a laborer 

 who was planting coffee. It stood among coffee bushes in the Finca Santa 

 Lucia, 7a Calle Foniente, near the Alameda de Santa Lucia, Antigua, Guate- 

 mala. The soil in this finca is a rich, black, sandy loam of volcanic origin, 

 deep and apparently very fertile. The tree was young, probably not more than 

 6 or 7 years old. It stood about 25 feet high, with a trunk 6 inches in 

 diameter at the base, branching 10 feet from the ground. The crown was 

 open, scantily branched, with little bearing wood. The young growths were 

 strong, stout, vigorous, and the budwood was excellent, having large, vigorous 

 eyes. The variety should not be difhcult to propagate, and the indications are 

 that it will be a good grower, though it is impossible to speak with certainty 

 in regard to this latter point. The wood is rather tough for an avocado. 



" The elevation of Antigua, 5,100 feet, is not great enough to insure unusual 

 hardiness in a variety, but it seems i-easonable to expect that varieties from 

 this elevation will be as hardy as the average of the Guatemalan race. There 

 is no way of determining whether they are hardier than the average until 

 they are tested in the United States. 



" The parent tree did not flower in 1917. Since flowers are nearly always 

 produced at the same time as the spring flush of growth, however, it may be 

 suspected that the flowering season of the variety will be rather late, since 

 the spring growth did not appear this season until the end of March. The 

 heavy crop of fruit produced last year probably prevented the tree from 

 flowering this season. When first examined, in October, 1916, the tree was 

 carrying more than 300 fruits. It ripened this crop— an unusually large one 

 for a tree of such small size, when the size of the fruit is considered— in 

 February and March, 1917, at which time they were all picked. They would 

 probably have remained on the tree until June if they had been allowed to 

 do so. 



" The fruit is nearly spherical in form, of convenient size for serving a half 

 fruit as a portion. It weighs 10 ounces or a little more. The surface is 

 smooth, bright green, very attractive in appearance. The skin is sufficiently 

 thick to make the fruit a good shipper and is of the characteristic Guate- 

 malan texture. The flesh is rich yellow in color, quite free from fiber or 

 discoloration, and very rich in flavor. The seed is tight in the cavity and 

 slightly below the average in size. Considered from all points of view, it bears 

 every indication of being an excellent little fruit. 



"A formal description of the variety follows : 



1 Thia and other varietal names for Mr. Popenoe's Guatemalan avocados are arbitrarily 

 selected from appropriate words in the Maya language. It has seemed wiser thus to give 

 these plants names which would indicate the origin of the variety than to give them Eng- 

 lish names that could convey no hint of the source whence the plants had come. 



