22 THE MONTHIiY BULLETIN. 



they were offered for sale at 50 to 75 cents each that small number of 

 fmits actnall}' glutted the market and scarcely half were sold! 



We need some Henry Fords in the avocado business to bring the fruit 

 production and marketing to a sensible basis, whereby the masses can be 

 enabled to know, and value, and use this most nutritious of all fruits. 

 "We must have cheaper nursery trees and cheaper fruit on the market, 

 and then — and not until then — the people Avill use avocadoes and will 

 buy them as freely as many of our other fruits. It is to ])e hoped that 

 the new Ahuacate Growers' Association — how much better to have 

 named it the Avocado Growers' Association — will attack this, their 

 great&st problem, in some such wa.y as suggested above. The problems 

 of diseases and insect pests will be plenty, but not so serious as that 

 immediately before us now — taking the avocado from the luxury list 

 and making it a necessitv. 



THE MANGO. 



The mango industry will never be so successful in this State as that 

 of the avocado, for it is a fruit more closely adapted to the humid tropics 

 and thus far has not been a marked success here. The treas grow fairly 

 well here and withstand considerable cold weather, but are not able to 

 ripen their fruit successfully, becaiLse the warm season is not quite long 

 enough. Moreover, the fruit can be grown to perfection in nearby 

 tropical countries and easily shipped into this country in sufficient 

 quantity to supph' our demand. I have eaten mangoes in California 

 received from Manila, one mouth in transit ! 



There is promise of some success in the mango industry here, however, 

 on another basis. Green mangoes can be made into the finest kind of 

 sauce, much resembling apple sauce but superior in flavor. A mango 

 tree is usually fully as prolific as an apple tree, and although it does not 

 ripen its fruits well the;s^ can be used in this way to good advantage, 

 even commercially. 



Mangoes, however, correspond in the tropics to our peaches and 

 plums — that is. they fill the same need in diet — and because we are well 

 supplied with the two latter fruits and need no substitute, and because 

 the mangoes do not thrive here as well as they should, it is very probable 

 that this fruit will never be an important one in the horticulture of 

 California. 



THE GUAVA AND FEIJOA. 



Next in importance to the avocado come these several closely related 

 fruits, for they not only are being grown successfully in our State now, 

 but they fill a ver}^ important need not wholly met by otlier fruits. We 

 are familiar with the small strawberry guava and the excellent jam and 

 jelly which is made from it. IMuch more valuable, however, are certain 

 other species of guavas which yield larger fruit and in greater numbers. 

 The lemon guava is especially valuable, since the trees become large and 

 are very productive, while the fruits are as large as small lemons and 

 very useful in jam and jelly making. 



Special emphasis, however, must be given to the feijoa (Feijoa sellotv- 

 iama), which is a close relative of the guava, has more or le&s the same 

 flavor and more value as a fruit for commerce. This is a South 

 American fruit, native to a country very similar in climate to our own. 

 About twent3"-five years ago a few cuttings were taken to France and 



