﻿34 SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 



44625 to 44628— Continued. 



it to make room for more coffee bushes, so that it will probably not be 

 in existence a year hence. The altitude here is about 5,100 feet. The 

 tree stands among coffee bushes, many of which grow beneath its 

 branches. The soil is a loose sandy loam, deep and fertile. The tree 

 is about 35 feet high, the trunk 18 inches in diameter at the base, and 

 the first branches 12 feet from the ground. The crown is round, dense, 

 of good form, but high above the ground. The age of the tree is not 

 known, but it would appear to be at least 20 years. The growth is 

 vigorous and shapely, though the branchlets are rather short. The 

 bud wood furnished by the tree is quite satisfactory, the eyes being 

 well developed and not losing their outer bud scales or falling early. 

 The bud sticks, however, are short. 



" The hardiness of the variety must be considered about average until 

 the facts can be ascertained by a test in the United States. Antigua is 

 not cold enough to show up the hardiness of an avocado of the Guate- 

 malan race. 



" The tree flowers in late February and March. It ripened a fairly 

 good crop of fruit in 1917 from the 1916 blooms, and set a very heavy 

 crop to ripen in 1918. Its productiveness, therefore, seems to be above 

 the average. The season of ripening is from February, when the 

 fruits change from green to purple and thus indicate their maturity, 

 to May, when the last fruits fall to the ground. It is a midseason sort, 

 commencing to ripen a trifle earlier, perhaps, than the average. 



''The fruit is broadly obovoid to pear shaped, about 20 ounces in 

 weight, with a rough surface of rich purplish maroon color. It pre- 

 sents a very attractive appearance. The skin is rather thin and some- 

 what pliable, but coarsely granular in texture. The flesh is rich 

 cream yellow in color, free from discoloration, and of very rich, pleasant 

 flavor. The seed is medium sized and tight in the cavity. 



" A formal description of the fruit is as follows : Form broad pyri- 

 form to obovoid; size very large, weight 20 ounces, length 5 inches, 

 greatest breadth 3f inches; base pointed, the stem inserted obliquely 

 without depression; apex rounded, slightly depressed immediately 

 around the stigmatic point; surface pebbled to rather rough, deep 

 purplish maroon in color, almost glossy, with few inconspicuous, light- 

 colored dots ; skin rather thin for this race, about one-sixteenth of an 

 inch throughout, fairly pliable and peeling from the flesh when fully 

 ripe, the purplish maroon color of the surface extending clear through 

 the skin ; flesh rich cream yellow in color, changing to pale green close 

 to the skin, firm, of rich flavor ; quality excellent ; seed medium sized, 

 weighing about 3 ounces, roundish conical, tight in the cavity, with 

 both seed coats adhering closely." (Popenoe.) 



See also Exploring Guatemala for Desirable New Avocados, Annual 

 Report of the California Avocado Association, 1917, p. 129, fig. 25; 

 reprint, 1918, p. 25, fig. 25; and The Avocado in Guatemala, U. S. De- 

 partment of Agriculture Bulletin No. 743, p. 57, pi. 18. 



44627. "(Nos. 113, 120, 140, 163, 225. Avocado No. 20.) Tumin. This 

 variety is remarkable for its unusual productiveness, the fruits often 

 being borne in clusters of two to five, a characteristic which is quite 

 rare in the Guatemala race. The fruit is almost identical with the 

 Florida Trapp in form ; it weighs almost a pound, and is of handsome 

 appearance, with a smooth, glossy skin of purple-black color. The 



