FORMS AND VARIETIES. 31 



THE IDEAL AVOCADO. 



The tree should be of small or medium size. So long as the supply 

 is limited and the fruit brings fancy prices, the cost of gathering from 

 the tall-growing trees is no serious obstacle, but much fruit is lost 

 from a tall tree as a result of high winds, which are common in the 

 Antillean region during the ripening season. 



The fruit should weigh about a pound to a pound and a half. This 

 is large enough for persons with an ordinary liking for this fruit, 

 while those who are extraordinarity fond of it can call for two fruits. 

 Pear-shaped (see fig. 8) or oblong varieties (see fig. 7) should be pre- 

 ferred, as they can be packed readily and transported without much 

 danger of being bruised in transit. The seed should not be loose in 

 the cavity, as the shaking of it in transit pounds the meat into an 

 unsightly mush. The color of the fruit should be either } T ellow or 

 scarlet. The fruits that ripen green are considered by the novice as 

 having been picked when too immature, and those that ripen brown 

 or purple look as if they were in the first stages of decay. A very 

 late variet}^ would undoubtedly be the most desirable, since it would 

 ripen at a time when all the West Indian and Mexican avocados were 

 gone, and most of the northern fruits were out of the market. 



USES OF THE FRUIT. 



According to Patrick Brown, a horses, cows, cats, dogs, as well as all 

 sorts of birds, feed on this fruit. 



Much has been written regarding the manner of serving this salad 

 fruit, but only one or two essential additions have been made in the 

 last two hundred years. No matter how daintily it may be prepared 

 one can scarcely relish it more than when, tramping through the 

 forests, he happens upon a tree with a few fruits fully matured. The 

 traveler is likely to be seated at once, enjoy his fruit without salt, 

 sugar, or other condiments, and forever after he will remember the 

 deliciousness of that particular fruit, which if eaten with any or all 

 condiments at the most carefully appointed table would not have made 

 as strong an impression on his memory. 



An avocado should not be used until the meat cuts smoothly with a 

 teaspoon and is about the consistency of well-frozen ice cream. No 

 one should attempt to eat the fruit after it has softened; a rancid 

 avocado ma} r well be compared to rancid butter. 



The simplest way of using this fruit is as already stated. One 

 merely halves the fruit, removes the seed, and dips out the meat with 

 a teaspoon, or to the plain fruit a bit of salt may be added. Some 

 people use pepper in addition. The number of ways in which the 



« Civil and Natural History of Jamaica, London, 1789, p. 214. 



