THE AVOCADO IN GUATEMALA. 19 



assumption that the avocados of Guatemala must exhibit unusually 

 wide variation in season. The fact that the capital city is supplied 

 with avocados from several different regions has been overlooked, 

 and this oversight has been responsible for a misconception; for 

 these several regions lie at different altitudes, and in Guatemala 

 elevation is the factor which determines the ripening season of 

 avocados. 



In any given avocado district of Guatemala it is not possible to 

 market ripe avocados more than six or seven months of the year. 

 There may be an occasional tree which lengthens this period (it may 

 be mentioned in passing that these occasional trees which fruit out 

 of season are the very ones which are of greatest interest to avocado 

 growers in the United States), but such trees are so scarce that their 

 influence is not felt in the market. By picking immature fruits, a 

 common practice in Guatemala, the market is often supplied during 

 two months more. 



The variation in the ripening season, due to differences in elevation, 

 may best be shown by the following list of important avocado dis- 

 tricts, with their main seasons of ripening ; that is, the periods dur- 

 ing which fully ripe fruits are available in abundance : 



Senahu, Alta Vera Paz 3,200 feet, November to February. 



Amatitlan 3,900 feet, January to April. 



San Cristobal, Alta Vera Paz— 4,600 feet, February to May. 



Antigua 5,100 feet, March to June. 



Purula, Baja Vera Paz 5,100 feet, March to June. 



Panajachel, Solola 5,300 feet, February to May. 



Chimaltenango 6,000 feet, April to July. 



Momostenango, Totonicapam 7,400 feet, May to August. 



Ascending from 3,000 to 7,000 feet, the change from a warm to a 

 comparatively cool climate produces a corresponding retardation in 

 the ripening season. For every thousand feet of altitude ripening 

 is retarded at least one month, except in those rare cases where un- 

 usual conditions come into play. Panajachel, for example, at an 

 elevation of 5,300 feet, has an earlier season than Antigua, at 5,100 

 feet; this can be accounted for by the peculiar situation of Pana- 

 jachel, in a sheltered valley opening toward the south on a large body 

 of water, whose influence upon the climate must be considerable. 

 This section is doubtless much warmer than most other towns in 

 Guatemala which lie at similar elevations. 



In general the ripening season at various altitudes may be consid- 

 ered approximately as follows : 



3,000 feet .November to February. 



4,000 feet January to April. 



5,000 feet—_ March to June. 



6,000 feet—_ April to July. 



7,000 feet May to August. 



