26 



THE AVOCADO IN FLORIDA. 



When the ideal crate shall be adopted it will probably be .similar in 

 shape to the boxes used for California pears. 



Before packing, the individual avocado should be wrapped in some 

 substantial and attractive paper. This will add materially to the car- 

 rying quality and to the selling price of the fruit. Enough fruit 

 should be put into the crate so that it will be packed firmly, to pre- 

 vent any possibility of shaking on the way to market. It is not always 



B. 



A.. 



Fig. 9. — Longitudinal sections of bottle-necked avocados (about one-half natural diameter"): A, West 

 Indian-South American variety, with very large cavity; B, Mexican variety, with seed filling 

 cavity. 



possible to properly fill the crates now used, and it sometimes becomes 

 necessary to fill up the vacant space with excelsior. In large crates 

 and with well-matured fruit a considerable quanthry of excelsior must 

 be used to make sure that the fruit will not be bruised. The produc- 

 tion of avocados in the United States is so limited and the demand 

 thus far is so much greater than the supply that comparatively little 

 care has been necessary to secure good prices, provided the fruit 

 reached the market in sound condition. 



