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ANNUAL REPORT 1918 AND 1919 



and thick-skinned varieties. The food demonstration was an event re- 

 membered with pleasure. During the noon hour, under the guidance of 

 Mr. T. U. Barber, assisted by the ladies of the San Diego Floral Asso- 

 ciation, more than six hundred people tested the avocado served in sand- 

 wiches and salads. The merits of the fruit were thus advertised to many 

 who had never tasted it before. The educational value of such a demon- 

 tration in the early stages of our industry should encourage the Board of 

 Directors to provide the necessary expenses for similar advertising projects. 

 For a long time to come the public will need education on such elemental 

 matters as how to tell when the fruit is in prime condition to eat and how 

 to prepare and serve it in such palatable and attractive fashion that an 

 appetite will be created for more. Twenty-six papers were presented at 

 this meeting, all of which were printed in the Annual Report, fourteen of 

 them being read to the gathering. Most of the papers consisted of the 

 personal experiences of growers and of the history of the avocado in other 

 regions. The program was concluded by two lectures with lantern slides 

 by Prof. Condit and Dr. Webber, many of the illustrations being repro- 

 duced in the Annual Report. From the wealth of information spread 

 before us at this time, it is difficult to select the papers which call for 

 special comment. From the history of the avocado in other parts of 

 California, in Florida and in distemt lands, we glean information of value 

 to ourselves, and from the experience of growers we learn how to avoid 

 mistakes, how to propagate, plant in orchard form, cultivate, irrigate, detect 

 disease, extend the season of ripening and the like. The paper by Mr. 

 F. O. Popenoe on "Growing an Avocado Tree" is a compendium on the 

 subject. Prof. Condit's "History of the Avocado and its Varieties in 

 California" with a check list of all named varieties numbering at that time 

 143, gave point to the ringing appeal of Prof. L. B. Scott that it was 

 high time to take definite action on the elimination of varieties. 



The fourth semi-annual meeting held in the auditorium of Normal 

 Hill Center, Los Angeles, May 18th and 19th, 1917, was devoted almost 

 entirely to a discussion of varieties. The history and propagation of the 

 Sharpless and Monroe, the Wagner, Lambert and Surprise and the Taft 

 were presented in papers by the men who had most to do with originating 

 and propagating these varieties. Personal experiences with these and many 

 other varieties were detailed by growers, culminating in a paper by Mr. 

 W. A. Spinks on "Interplanting and Changing Varieties," in which is a 

 tribute to the nurserymen which deserves to be re-read — and crowned by 

 a masterly recital by Prof. L. B. Scott on the "Comparative Merits of 

 the California Avocado Varieties," which those who heard will not soon 

 forget. The effect of cold periods of weather upon different varieties of 

 avocado trees obtained in statements from fifty members of the Association, 

 was presented by Dr. Webber. The evidence seemed to connect the 

 degree of injury with the water conditions in the soil, the maximum injury, 

 according to reports, accruing to those trees which were suffering for lack 

 of irrigation. Mr. Thos. H. Shedden, ex-president, "poet laureate" and 

 committee of one on what he terms "that animal-vegetable conglomeration 

 'Alligator pear'," stirred the meeting to risibility with a "partial report of 

 incomplete work" on his "effort to familiarize the public with that gentle 

 and euphonious word 'Avocado'." The program was enriched by three 

 lectures with lantern slides on "The Avocado in California" by Dr. Web- 



