56 BULLETIN 743, U. S-. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



very promising variety, especially for Florida, where many of the 

 Guatemalan avocados do not bear heavily. 



The parent tree is growing in the finca La Polvora in Antigua. 

 The elevation is approximately 5,100 feet. On all sides of the tree, 

 and crowding it somewhat, are large coffee bushes. The soil is a 

 rich sandy loam of volcanic origin, deep and friable. The tree is 

 probably 6 or 7 years old. It is 20 feet in height, very slender in 

 habit, the trunk 6 inches thick at the base, branching at 8 feet 

 from the ground. The crown is slender, sparsely branched, with 

 very little fruiting wood. Its growth seems to be reasonably vigor- 

 ous, the young branchlets being stout, though very short. The wood 

 is rather brittle. The bud wood furnished by the tree is rather poor, 

 owing to the shortness of the growths and the fact that the buds are 

 too closely crowded together. The eyes, however, are well formed 

 and show no tendency to drop and leave a blind bud. It may be 

 found that the tree will require training when young to keep it stocky 

 and of good form. 



The hardiness of the variety can not be ascertained at present, since 

 the climate of Antigua is not cold. It may be assumed, until a test 

 is made in the United States, that it is about as hardy as the average 

 of the Guatemalan race. 



The tree did not flower in 1917, owing, most likely, to the heavy 

 crop which it ripened from the 1916 blooms. Probably under better 

 cultural conditions and by thinning heavy crops, greater regularity 

 in bearing could be induced ; in Guatemala, where no cultural atten- 

 tion is given to the trees, it is common for them to bear very heavily 

 one season and fail to bear the next. Judging by the appearance of 

 the spring flush of growth, which always accompanies the flowers, 

 the variety will flower in March. The fruits ripen from March to 

 May. Although the tree has very little fruiting wood, it produced 

 125 fruits in 1917, which can be considered a very heavy crop. 

 Several of the branches, in fact, were broken by the weight of the 

 fruits they were carrying. 



The form of the fruit, as already mentioned, is practically the 

 same as that of the Trapp — oblate or roundish oblate. The average 

 weight is 12 to 16 ounces, but it may be expected that the weight of 

 this and all other varieties in the collection will be slightly greater 

 under good culture in the United States than it is in Guatemala, 

 where the trees receive no attention. The skin is rather thin and smooth 

 on the surface. The color is deep purple, almost black. Unlike most 

 Guatemalan avocados, the surface possesses a decided glossiness. 

 The flesh is rich yellow in color, free from discoloration or fiber, 

 and of very rich flavor. The seed varies from small to slightly 

 large. In this connection it may be noted that seeds of round or 



