272 YEAKBOOK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTUEE. 



POLLOCK AVOCADO. 



[PLATE VII.] 

 EABLY HISTORY. 



The Pollock avocado originated on the grounds of Mr. S. H. Pol- 

 lock, of Miami, Fla., about 1896 or 1897. The seed from which the 

 original tree grew was obtained from a fruit produced on a tree also 

 owned by Mr. Pollock, which it is claimed was brought from Cuba. 1 



The present name, given in honor of the originator, was in local 

 use as early as 1901, when budded trees of it under this designation 

 were commercially disseminated by Mr. George B. Cellon, of Miami. 

 The original tree is still in good condition. Fruit was exhibited at 

 the meeting of the American Pomological Society, which was held 

 in Boston, Mass., in September, 1903. 2 



This variety, has been grown to some extent in the work of the 

 Office, of Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction of the Bureau of Plant 

 Industry of this department and inventoried as S. P. I. No. 12936. 3 



DESCRIPTION. 



Form pyrif orm ; .size very large, sometimes weighing 3 pounds or 

 even more ; cavity regular, size and depth medium, slope gradual, 

 furrowed; apex a small point; surface undulating, indented; color 

 greenish with yellow marblings and indistinct purplish stripes ; dots 

 numerous, brown, indented ; flesh yellow with purplish veins, buttery, 

 tender ; seed obconic, medium in size in comparison with fruit, nearly 

 filling cavity ; flavor mild, very pleasant ; quality very good ; season 

 August and September, sometimes extending into October in south- 

 ern Florida. 



The tree makes only a moderate growth and produces a fair num- 

 ber of very large fruits. Though much less important commercially 

 than the Trapp avocado, 4 which in this respect leads all other sorts 

 grown in Florida, it is perhaps surpassed only by that variety in the 

 esteem in which it is held, its large size and high dessert quality be- 

 ing its chief distinguishing characteristics. 



The specimen illustrated in Plate VII was grown at the Subtrop- 

 ical Plant Introduction Garden of the Bureau of Plant Industry, 

 Miami, Dade County, Fla., in 1912. 



1 Letter from Mr. Edward Simmonds, Subtropical Plant Introduction Garden, Miami, 

 Fla., December, 1912. 



2 Letter from Prof. P. H. Rolfs, November, 1912. 



3 Bureau of Plant Industry, Bulletin 97 (Inventory No. 11), p. 119. 



* For description and illustration, see Yearbook, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, for 1905 

 p. 508. 



