CALIFORNIA AVOCADO ASSOCIATION 



67 



Cultural Practices of the Mexicans 



There are certain regions in Mexico where avocados are grown in 

 more or less regular plantations with the definite object of commercial fruit 

 production. Queretaro is one of the most importeuit of these. Here there 

 is a small valley called the Canyada, some two and a half miles in length 

 by a quarter of a mile in width, which presents, when viewed from the 

 neighboring hillside, the appearance of a solid grove of avocado trees. 

 Such a region as this gives us our best chance to observe the cultural prac- 

 tices of the Mexicans. 



It is of interest to note that the Mexicans understand the principle of 

 seed selection, and that intelligent orchardists are careful to choose seeds 

 from the very best fruits when establishing a new plantation. Needless to 

 say, all of the avocado plantations in Mexico are composed of seedlings; 

 budding and grafting have been attempted only recently, and on a very 

 limited scale. While I do not know that this principle of selection is applied 

 generally, it is understood by the better class of natives, at least. It must 

 be remembered that a large proportion of the trees in Mexico were never 

 intentionally planted, but have sprung up from dropped seeds, in which 

 case there is no opportunity for the application of this principle. 



One of the most striking features of the groves at Queretaro is the 

 immense variation in the size of the trees. Upon an acre of ground will 

 be found trees of all sizes, varying from slender saplings struggling upward 

 toward the light to rugged old giants sixty feet in height, with trunks four 

 feet in thickness. The trees are nearly always too close together. Being 

 seedlings, and planted on good soil, they would develop to enormous size 

 if given the opportunity, but when they are often less than ten feet apart 

 their development is necessarily limited. It is evident that under the condi- 

 tions which obtain at Queretaro, — I am referring now to climate and soil, 

 — the trees should not be planted less than 50 feet apart; this applies as 

 well to many other sections of Mexico. Since we do not yet know what 

 size budded trees will ultimately develop in California it is impossible to 

 say whether the same rule should apply to our budded groves or not. I 

 am inclined to suspect that our trees will ultimately reach large size and 

 that it will be necessary to thin out most of the orchards. 



When the groves are old and dense nothing is usually planted be- 

 neath the trees. The ground is never tilled. The deep shade prevents 

 anything but a scanty growth of weeds and grass in most places. In those 

 instances where the groves are less dense, — where there is open space 

 between the trees, — such crops as barley and alfalfa are sometimes planted 

 beneath the avocados. 



I was deeply impressed by the appearance of a young grove which 

 I encountered in the middle of the Canyada, after having rambled about 

 for a couple of hours in the deep shade of the older plantations. None of 

 the latter which I had so far seen were planted in regular order; the trees 

 were scattered about promiscuously, rarely more than ten feet apart, and 

 sometimes a group of three or four within a circle six feet in diameter. 

 Suddenly I came upon a young orchard, perhaps five years old, in which 

 the trees were planted in straight rows about 20 feet apart, with the 

 ground between producing a splendid crop of alfalfa. Here at last, I 

 thought, was something approaching the California method, and I would 

 have an opportunity to compare the results obtained by the no-tillage, no- 



