CALIFORNIA AVOCADO ASSOCIATION 



65 



The West Indian race is predominantly a lowland avocado, as is 

 well known to North Americans. I have observed it on the Gulf coast at 

 Tampico, which I suspect may be the northern limit of its cultivation. 

 Southward from Tampico it is common all along the coast; in the state of 

 Veracruz it is abundant, as also in Tabasco, Campeche, and Yucatan. 

 Both Tabasco and Yucatan have the reputation of producing very fine 

 fruits of this race. 



The West coast I have scarcely been able to touch as yet, but I 

 believe this race is found along most of its extension from Mazatalan, or 

 perhaps farther north, to the Guatemalan border. In the vicinity of Tapa- 

 chula, Chiapas, only a few miles from the Guatemalan frontier, I have 

 found some excellent fruits, equal to the best produced in Cuba. 



This race extends across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, there being no 

 high elevations in this region. I do not believe it is found on the plateau 

 of central Mexico, but I have not yet visited many parts of this region. 

 At Orizaba, in Veracruz state, it is cultivated in great abundance, and it 

 is worth noting that this city lies at an elevation of 4200 feet, which is 

 about 1 500 feet higher than I found the West Indian race to be grown 

 anywhere in Guatemala. 



The Mexican race is the predominant race on the plateau. From San 

 Luis Potosi on the north to Puebla on the south it seems to be abundant, 

 and beyond these limits it is grown to a certain extent. 



Its culture is not limited to the highlands, but is most extensive there; 

 I have seen a few trees in the state of Veracruz at sea level. As a wild 

 tree it seems to occur abundantly in this state, notably about the base of 

 the volcano Orizaba, and probably farther to the north. It is grown in 

 the state of Oaxaca and also, I am told, in Guerrero, and I believe it to 

 occur as far north as Nuevo Leon, though not in great numbers. Queretaro 

 is probably the best know center of production. 



The Guatemalan race I have scarcely seen in Mexico up to the 

 present. We know it to be grown in the state of Puebla, and from de- 

 scriptions of avocados grown in Jalisco and Nayarit which have been 

 given me by Mexican horticulturists I take it that this must be the race 

 found in the region north of Guadalajara, but this remains to be investi- 

 gated. This race extends across the borders of Guatemala into the high- 

 lands of Chiapas, but I have not found it on the coast of that state. 



Climate and Soil 



As in other tropical countries, climate in Mexico is largely a matter 

 of altitude. It is the custom to speak of the three zones which I have 

 treated in my paper on the avocados of Guatemala, published in the 1917 

 Report of the California Avocado Association. These zones are usually 

 referred to as the tierra caliente, tierra templada, and tierra fria, or hot 

 region, temperate region, and cold region, but as suggested in the paper 

 mentioned the names tropical, subtropical, and temperate seem less mis- 

 leading. The tropical zone extends from sea level to 2500 or 3000 

 feet; the subtropical from about 3000 to 7000 or 7500; and the temperate 

 from 7500 to the upper limit of cultivation. The fruit trees mentioned in 

 the discussion of these zones in Guatemala are in most cases characteristic 

 of the zones in Mexico as well. 



