1041 



Mr. Wilson Popenoe writes from Guatemala City 

 Nov. 8, 1916: "As to early maturing varieties of the 

 chayote; I presume you mean by this those which will 

 come into fruit within a few months from planting. 

 Apparently they have chayotes here all the year round, 

 and consequently it is hard to tell which are the 

 early and which are the late varieties, but I will 

 look into the matter and see what I can find out. It 

 is hard to get real information on such a subject, 

 but by watching for plants in the gardens as I go 

 round, I can probably get some ideas as to the habits 

 of the different varieties. I am glad you liked the 

 large white perulero. This still looks to me like the 

 best variety here, and I have asked several of the 

 natives about it, and they have expressed the same 

 opinion. It is rare, and I have seen none of the 

 fruit in the market since I bought the last lot I 

 sent you. There is no end to the varieties of the 

 chayote here, but the choice varieties are very few. 

 I must say, although I do it with hesitation, that my 

 appetite for chayotes is on the wane. This is no re- 

 flection on the chayote, which is a meritorious vege- 

 table per se, but we get them every day, and nearly 

 always cooked in the same way, -just boiled and served 

 without anything on them. I want to tell you, how- 

 ever, that you Americans are making a great mistake 

 in not familiarizing yourselves with the ichinta. No, 

 this is not a new vegetable, it is merely the root of 

 the chayote, and I believe it is just about as good 

 as the chayote itself. It reminds me greatly of sweet 

 cassava, which we used to get in Brazil. It is starchy, 

 and not unlike an Irish potato in texture and ap- 

 pearance. They cut it in slices and fry it in batter, 

 and it is good. In the markets here it is extremely 

 common. I have also eaten the tender shoots of the 

 chayote,- I did not know what I was eating until I had 

 finished, -and they are not bad, but I do not consider 

 them any improve ment over the various kinds of greens 

 we already have in the states. I believe that large 

 white perulero, if grown under good culture, would be a 

 cracking good chayote, and I hope it will be given a 

 thorough trial. As yet I have not hunted for any 

 chayote diseases, but the vines I have seen have 

 seemed to be healthy, and I have noticed nothing which 

 seemed to be interfering with their growth seriously. 

 No doubt there are diseases, but so far I have run 

 across nothing which seemed to be wiping out the 

 vines. You expect to find a disease,, or several of 



