6o CROPS THAT PAY. 



"I recommend the planting of avocado orchards. In the right place 

 and well managed they will be scarcely excelled in profit by any other 

 product, unless it be mangoes." 



"It is certainly profitable, and the demand for the fruit promises to 

 increase, as people learn about it." 



"I certainly am of the ooinion and this is based on the prices 

 received for this fruit, prolific bearing, healthfulness of the tree, that 

 growing the avocado will be extremely profitable, far surpassing that of 

 citrus fruit growing. I can conscientiously recommend the planting of 

 large commercial orchards." 



In Florida, the choice of a location for a commercial orchard 

 of avocados is necessarily restricted to the southern counties. Soil 

 and climate suitable for the mango are equally adapted to success- 

 fully growing the avocado. In the Yearbook of the Department of 

 Agriculture for 1901, on page 391, referring to the mango, the plant- 

 ing of this fruit is recommended in eastern Florida, south of latitude 

 27°, and on the Keys, as well as in the frostless belts of California. 

 The same applies to the avocado. 



Only budded or grafted trees should be planted, and these, to 

 become profitable, should be given the best treatment and sufficient 

 fertilizing. The methods of cultivation of both mango and avocado 

 are not yet so generally known as are those suited to success in grow- 

 ing some of the other crops of this section, therefore the planter of 

 avocados on a large scale, unless himself a practical grower, should 

 be guided by the experience of one who has already made a success 

 of this particular kind of planting. 



The cost of land, clearing, cultivation three years, fertilizer, etc.. 

 would not materially vary from the cost of making a citrus orchard 

 in the same locality and cultivating it for the same number of years; 

 but the avocado trees will begin to bear earlier than the citrus, 

 which is of course an advantage in favor of the former. Roughly 

 estimated, the cost of bringing an acre of avocado orchard to the 

 bearing age is from $250 to $300. 



The budded avocado tree (and no others should be planted) 

 will begin to bear in the fourth year, and give a profitable crop in 

 the fifth under favorable conditions. The yield of fruits per tree 

 in a series of years, may be estimated as follows: 40, 80, 120, 160. 

 200, 240, 240, 240 in eight successive crops from the fifth to the 

 twelfth years, inclusive. The quantity of fruit depends largely on the 

 care given the trees and the free use of fertilizer. A single limb of 

 a large avocado tree at Cocoanut Grove, Florida, broken ofif by the 

 weight of its fruit, bore 100 ; and trees at eight years have been known 

 to yield several hundred. The above estimate is conservative and 

 low enough to allow for the smaller crops in the ofif years. 



The price received for the fruit varies considerably, being gov- 

 erned by the size and the season. Avocados which ripen late in 

 the season always command a much higher price. Northern dealers 

 sometimes keep choice fruits in cold storage until after the season, 

 when they readily sell for a dollar each. The high price, however, 

 does not mean correspondingly high profit, for dealers declare that 

 the refrigerated fruit does not keep perfectly, and their loss is con- 

 siderable on this account. 



Shipped to the north generally in crates, which contain a vary- 

 ing number according to the size, but averaging 72 fruits, avocados 



