16 



THE AVOCADO IN FLORIDA. 



THE SEED BED. 



Seed may be obtained in large quantities during- the ripening season 

 from southern Florida, Cuba, and other places in the Antillean region. 



At the present time good seeds cost 

 from H to 2 cents each. These prices 

 seem somewhat high, but every seed 

 is nearly certain to make a seedling. 



The seed bed should be made in 

 some moist locality, in soil free from 

 rocks and containing an abundance 

 of vegetable matter. The rows may 

 be made such distances apart as will 

 suit convenience — from 1 to -I feet. 

 Place the seeds from i to 6 inches 

 apart in a drill 3 or -i inches deep; 

 firm the soil about the seed and cover 

 2 or 3 inches deep. Supply a heavy 

 cover of mulch. 



As soon as the seedlings (see fig. 1) 

 appear above ground, fertilizer ma}^ 

 be applied. The mulch should be 

 turned back, the fertilizer raked in or 

 cultivated in, and the mulch replaced. 

 If the seedlings are to be removed 

 to the nursery soon, fertilizing and 

 cultivating may be omitted. Removal 

 to the nursery may be deferred until 

 seasonable weather. 



THE NURSERY. 



For starting a nursery the best 

 land should be selected, especially 

 such as is fairly dry though never 

 suffering from drought. Land that 

 is subject to flooding should by all 

 means be avoided. While the trees 

 are able to live in standing water for 

 two or three weeks, they become sub- 

 ject to attack by various forms of 

 disease. When practicable, a gen- 

 erous application of fertilizer should 

 be made two or three weeks before 

 the trees are set out. It should be 

 scattered down the row and raked in, in the usual way. The land should 

 be thoroughly grubbed and put into a first-class state of cultivation. 



Fig. 1.— Seedling avocado in December from 

 seed planted in September (somewhat slow 

 in starting, but otherwise apparently nor- 

 mal): (a) First shoot to start; (6) second 

 shoot starting from the axil of the incipient 

 leaf; (c) third shoot to start— in case of se- 

 vere drought or other adverse conditions, all 

 of these shoots may fail and some other bud 

 grow into a new shoot; (d) scale-like leaf; (e) 

 one of the cotyledons, the other having been 

 removed, scar opposite e; (f) primary root. 

 (Reduced to one-third natural diameter.) 



