568 



t 



1896 and in 1908 the crop there was reported as enormous, 

 100-150 fruits sent out every week and during the quarter 

 Apiil to June, the amount realised from sales of the fruit was 

 £11 12*. (Govt. Gaz. S. Nig. Suppl. 26th Aug., 1908, p. i.)— the 



(K 



grows vigorously and 



produces huge crops of fruit (I.e. 1914, p. 268), St. Thomas 



on Monte Caffe, altitude about 2000 ft. (Hiern, Cat. Welw. Afr. 



PL iv. p. 915), &c. 



Cultivated on a commercial scale in California and Florida 

 (Cellon, seg.) ; in Jamaica from June to September the supply 

 is very good (Kew Bull, 1888, p. 179) and in the Bahamas the 

 fruit is in season August, September and October (I.e. p. 181), 



The fruit occasionally comes into Covent Garden Market. 



The tree is grown entirely for its fruit eaten fresh as dessert 



or as a salad. 

 (Bot. Mag. t. 



matunty 



West 



Indies for making ink (Technologist, ii. 1862, p. 241) and 

 Barham is quoted (Bot. Mag. I.e.) as stating " if you take the 

 stone of the seed and write uj^on a white wall the letters will 

 turn as red as blood and never go out till the wall is white- 

 washed again and then w^ith difficulty/' 



A rich well-drained soil and a hot cHmate are necessary. 

 Fruits have been obtained as far north as the Riviera (Rev. 

 Hort. 1891, p. 172); in England (under glass) a plant flowered 

 at Syon in 1829 (Rot. Reg. t. 1258) and at Kew in 1851 (Bot. 

 IVlag, t. 4580), but there appears to be no record of a tree having 

 fruited. 



There are several varieties under cultivation and the tree 

 may be propagated by seeds or by grafting ; beginning to bear 

 in about five years ; cultivation in general same as for mango 

 (p. 171). 



Bef. — " Persea gratissima : Avocado Pear," &c. in Bull. 



Misc, Inf. Trinidad, ii. Oct, 1896, pp. 217-218. "Avocado 



Pear," in Dip. & Cons. Report, Misc. No. 408, 1896, ''Fruits 



and Fruit Trade of Madeira," pp. 6-7. The Avocado in 



Florida : Its Propagation, Cultivation and Marketing," Rolfs, 

 U.S. Dept. Agric. Bureau of Plant Industry, Bull. No. 61, 1904, 



pp. 1-33, pis. i-iv (Govt. Printing Office Washington). ^The 



Avocado : A Salad Fruit from the Tropics, CoUins, U.S. Dept. 

 Agric. Bureau of Plant Industry, Bull. No. 77, 1905, pp. 1-49, 

 pis. i.-viii. ; abstract in Agric. News, Barbados, v. Aug. 25th, 



1906, p. 262. ^IVIarketing Hawaiian Fruits, Higgins, Hawaii 



Agric. Exp. Station, Bull. No. 14, 1907, pp. 1-44, including 

 *' Avocado " report of experimental shipments ; abstract in 

 Agric. News Barbados, vi. Dec. 28th, 1907, " Avocado Pears 



Preparation and Shipment," p. 404. *' Sobre um caso notave, 



de Polymorphismo nas folhas do Abacateiro {Persea gratis- 

 si7na)'' Huber, in Boletim do Museu Goeldi (Museu Paraense) 

 vi. 1909, pp. 5^59, with plate showing variation in the leaf, 

 ff. 1-19. '' The Development of the Avocado Industry," 



