12 BULLETIN 143, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



been brought about in the avocado appears quite equal to that which 

 has taken place in the northern fruits. The latter have been in the 

 hands of horticulturists who have called to their aid not only the art 

 of grafting but much skill in cultivation. The improvement of the 

 avocado, on the other hand, has scarcely been a conscious process and 

 has been carried on by a people who are preeminently agriculturists 

 and not horticulturists. 



Cook and others have spoken of the intimate knowledge which the 

 Indians of Central America possess concerning the plants among 

 which they live and of their specialized methods in the cultivation 

 of staple food crops. They have a name for nearly every tree in the 

 forest, are familiar with the habits of many plants, and possess well- 

 defined beliefs concerning the medicinal uses of a large number. 

 Their agricultural practices, though based upon tradition, are in 

 many respects admirable. They have highly specialized varieties of 

 maize to meet the various conditions of climate which are found 

 throughout the region which they occupy, and they are well ac- 

 quainted with the particular merits of these varieties. 



They seem, however, to have devoted all their energies to the culti- 

 vation of field crops, fruits having received very little attention. With 

 regard to the avocado, for example, it does not appear that the 

 Indians cultivate the soil around the base of the tree, apply fertilizers 

 of any sort, prune the tree, or bestow any care upon it. Ideas regard- 

 ing the age at which seedling trees come into bearing are nearly always 

 vague and rarely based upon accurate observation of even a single 

 instance. It is rather remarkable, in fact., that the Indians should 

 have so few definite ideas regarding a fruit which plays such an 

 important part in their daily life as the avocado, for they are an 

 intelligent and in many ways a capable people. 



It can not be doubted, however, that the avocado has been planted 

 by the Indians in their dooryards since a remote time. The native 

 name for the fruit, oh, okh, or on in the principal Maya dialects 

 of Guatemala, 1 and many other circumstances, indicate that it has 

 been known to the Guatemalan Indians since the earliest times. 

 The evolutionary processes which can be observed at the present 

 day have doubtless been going on for centuries, and could the 

 Indians have taken advantage of vegetative propagation to per- 

 petuate the best varieties obtained by selection, avocados even more 



1 The aboriginal names of the avocado in the dialects of southern Mexico and Guate- 

 mala, according to Dr. Karl Sapper (Das Nordliche Mittelamerika), are as follows: 

 ,/m (Huasteca, according to Stoll) ; ou (Chicomulcelteca) ; on (Maya of Yucatan, according 

 to Stoll) ; on (Maya of Peten, according to Stoll) ; urn (Choi) ; un (Chorti) ; un (Chontal, 

 according to Stoll) ; on (Tzental) ; un (Tzotzil, according to Stoll) ; on (Tozolabal) ; 

 on (Motozintleca) ; oj (Mam) ; on (Jacalteca) ; oj (Aguacateca, according to Stoll) ; oj 

 (Quiche\ according to Stoll) ; oj (Cakchiquel, according to Stoll) ; oj (Tzutihil) ; oj 

 (Uspanteca) ; o (Quekchi) ; oj (Pokonchi, according to Stoll); oj (Pokomam of Jilote- 

 peque) ; oj (Pokomam, according to Stoll). 



