170 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



this be followed by a very hot bath. If one has the 

 luxury of a bath-tub in the home, a vigorous scrub- 

 bing with a stiff brush in water as hot as can be 

 borne will destroy those that have not yet buried 

 themselves in the flesh. If the deed is done, then 

 one can only spat the itching spots with camphor, al- 

 cohol, or ammonia, and make the best of it. You'll 

 get over noticing them after awhile, which will con- 

 sole you more or less until that happy time arrives. 



Before I saw the above I had been won- 

 dering if one could ever become really im- 

 mune to redbugs the same as he does to 

 stings of bees. My experience does not quite 

 agree with it. If, however, I could keep in 

 a beaten path and avoid brushing against 

 weeds and palmettos back in the woods I 

 would not have verj' much trouble. Some- 

 times something comes up wlien I am in a 

 great hurry to get through the thicket, and 



I take my chances. Then I am troubled by 

 redbugs. If, however, I should rub my feel 

 and ankles wi(h citronella before going out 

 in the thicket, I have little or no trouble; 

 and as this citronella keeps off mosquitos 

 and sandflies I would suggest it as the best 

 and simplest preventive. Another thing, 

 where the woods have been cleared up and 

 crops planted, there is no ti'ouble with the 

 redbugs, and there is little or none to 

 people wlio live in town unless they get out 

 among the wild woods and scrub j)almettos. 

 All such pests belong more or less to new 

 countries before the land has been settled; 

 and, as suggested above, tliere are certain 

 persons who are never troubled, no matter 

 where they go. 



IGH^PMESSUEE (CAMDENENG 



A SINGLE TREE WORTH $30,000. 



The article below was mailed us by our 

 youngest daughter, with no explanation as 

 to where it came from, except the remark, 

 "I thought father might like to see this; 

 perhaps it is a fake." Before deciding to 

 give it a place in print I submitted it to my 

 good friend Reasoner, and he replied that 

 it is substantially true, and that one of our 

 Bradentown people with whom I am ac- 

 quainted had actually seen the tree. To 

 make sure, I called on the lady and got her 

 endorsement. With this introduction I give 

 it to our readers. 



The most valuable fruit-tree in the world, so far 

 as can be learned, is an avocado, or alligator pear- 

 tree, owned by H. A. Woodworth, who lives on a 

 five-acre ranch at "Whittier, Cal. The tree is insured 

 agaiast damage by wind or fire with Lloyds, of 

 London, for $30,000. During the year 1912 it 

 yielded its owner a profit of $3206. The tree is en- 

 closed by a slat fence 38 feet high, which the insur- 

 ance company requires Mr. Woodworth to maintain. 



Seven years ago the tree sprang from the seed of 

 an avocado that was growing wild in the highlands 

 of Mexico. Burt Rideout. a Los Angele« County 

 nurseryman, planted the tree on his five-acre ranch; 

 and when it was three years old he sold the ranch 

 to Mr. Woodworth, a retired Wall Street broker. 



Nobody suspected that the tree would prove the 

 money-maker that it is. The average alligator pear- 

 tree does not come into bearing until it is eight or 

 ten years old. Mr. Woodworth's avocado began bear- 

 ing when it was only four years old. During the 

 fifth year it produced $1716 worth of fruit and bud 

 wood. In its sixth year it netted its owner $3206, 

 of which $1500 was derived from the sale of alliga- 

 tor pears, at the rate of $6.00 per dozen, and the 

 remainder, or $1706, was derived from the sale of 

 buds at from ten to twenty-two cents each. 



Owing to the scarcity of productive avocado trees 

 there is always a strong demand for bud wood with 

 which to bud young seedlings in the nurseries; and 

 bearing heavily there was a general rush for bud 

 wood. Mr. Woodworth sold all the buds that he 

 cared to take from the tree, and raised the price of 



IT 



buds to twenty-two cents in order to stop the de- 

 mand, but that did not check it. 



" I was afraid for a while that we were going to 

 injure the tree by cutting buds," he said; "but I 

 guess we didn't hurt it in the least. At any rate, it 

 is loaded with pears again. We took more than 1500 

 pears from it prior to New Year's day, and I should 

 not be surprised if the total crop amounts to 3000 

 pears, for the branches are filled with green fruit 

 which is hardly distinguishable, because it is nearly 

 the same color as the foliage." Mr. Woodworth is 

 very proud of the tree. 



"That the tree bears any fruit at all is indeed 

 surprising," he remarks, " for it hasn't had half a 

 chance since it made a reputation for itself. Every 

 day throughout the year the crowds of tourists who 

 visit Whittier to see the sights come here to pay their 

 respects to the tree, and they will never be satisfied 

 until I take them within the enclosure so they can 

 touch the tree, break oflf a twig, take off a leaf, peel 

 off a little scale of the bark, just to see what it looks 

 like. 



" Curious persons keep the ground around the tree 

 trampled down so hard that it would be useless for 

 me to attempt to fertilize it. In that connection I 

 may add that fertilization for avocadoes is a waste of 

 time and money. So is sub-irrigation. 



" The avocado comes from the highlands of Mexico 

 and Central America, where it gets little or no 

 moisture from the surface soil. It has a tap root 

 that goes straight down to moisture. With such 

 roots as that, it is useless to try to introduce water 

 and fertilizer from the surface. 



" Another thing about the avocado is that it does 

 not need spraying. It is more nearly free from pests 

 and disease than any other tree grown in the West." 



The prize tree blooms in March. The crop begins 

 maturing in September, and continues to ripen until 

 late January. A curious thing about the alligator pear 

 is that it is worthless if permitted to ripen upon the 

 tree. The pears, which are light green in color, 

 must be gathered when they have reached the proper 

 size, and laid away in a dark place to mature, like 

 bananas; and when they become mellow they are 

 ready to serve. 



The average avocado, when mellow, weighs from 

 eight to ten ounces. It is neither acid nor sweet. 

 It contains a high percentage of vegetable fat — more 

 than that contained in any other known fruit. Per- 

 sons who cannot digest other fruits find the avocado 

 easy to assimilate. It can be served as a sauce or 



