26 



ANNUAL REPORT 1918 AND 1919 



I call attention to the Question Box, put in a conspicuous place for 

 the reception of questions pertinent to the avocado culture. As far as 

 possible, all questions put in the box, up until close of this session, will be 

 answered at last of tomorrow afternoon session. In the interim, persons 

 will be selected to reply, concisely and quickly, so that time will not be 

 lost. 



With a prayer for the diffusion of clear thought upon this assemblage, 

 I now declare the third annual meeting of the California Avocado Associa- 

 tion open and ready for the transaction of business. 



May 17, 1918. 



HOW FAR CAN WE GO WITH THE AVOCADO AS A 

 FOOD ? WILL PEOPLE EAT IT, AND TO WHAT EXTENT ? 



By Lester Keller, Aztec Ranch, Yorba Linda, Cal. 



This subject has been assigned to me by the program committee. 



The answer to it is rather speculative and while some of you may not 

 agree with me in all I say, I shall be recompensed by the thought that the 

 avocado growers will hope I am right in my conclusions. 



Every reference to the avocado in countries where it grows to any 

 great extent speaks of it as a staple article of food among the natives. 



Sailors, particularly of the old "wind jammers" of the "Tramp" type 

 referred to avocados as "mid-shipman's butter." On long voyages when 

 fresh fruits and vegetables were scarce and scurvy was common, the sailors 

 looked forward to the time with much interest when they would get avo- 

 cados to eat. Scurvy was unknown when avocados were the chief article 

 of food. One writer says when the stay was long and the chief article of 

 food was avocados, the sailors longed for the time when they might move on 

 where they would have another change of diet. How true this statement I 

 do not know. 



I asked a man who has lived years in Mexico how generally the avo- 

 cado was eaten there and he said: "every one eats them there, even the 

 poorest Indian, and they eat them as long as the season lasts." Seek a 

 Mexican settlement with avocados for sale and the eager manner in which 

 they dig up a coin for the AHUACATE will convince you that the above 

 is not overdrawn. 



I asked an engineer employed on the canal if avocados were generally 

 eaten in Panama and his reply was, "there are five thousand whites in the 

 City of Panama and if there is one who does not eat them he is a freak. 

 I do not believe he is there." 



I asked Mr. Knight if they were generally eaten in Guatemala and 

 he said, "why, man they live on them." 



Mr. Wilson Popenoe, who writes so entertainingly in the Journal of 

 Heredity, speaks of the Guatemalans living on avocados and tortillas and 

 on this diet doing the hardest of work, making long trips with heavy loads. 

 Some of the natives occasionally add frijoles to the avocados and tortillas. 

 In the tropics everywhere from Cuba to the Philippines we find that wher- 

 ever grown the avocado is a staple article of food among the inhabitants. 



