CALIFORNIA AVOCADO ASSOCIATION 



17 



SOME THINGS WE HAVE LEARNED 



WM. A. SPINKS, DUARTE. CALIF. 



Mr. Presideni, Ladies and Gentlemen: 



I believe the entire present day method of propagating Avocado trees to be 

 unscientific and should be abandoned, especially in making orchards. The seed 

 should be planted where the tree is to grow — the seedling budded where it stands 

 and never moved. 



In my humble judgment, this is the only way to obtain a one hundred 

 f)ercent. tree. I do not assert that very good trees may not be had by the old 

 method of growing in nursery rows, balling and moving to the permanent location, 

 but I do say that in no case can a tree be just as good as when left in its original 

 location, while in many instances it is not nearly as good. The plan is hardly 

 practicable for those needing only a few trees for home use, there being, as a rule, 

 too many difficulties in the way of getting the work done. I see nothing in the 

 way of its adoption by orchardists. 



The Avocado when left to take its natural course will put down a deep tap 

 root. In the balling process this tap root is almost invariably cut, from one to two 

 feet below the surface and when it starts growing again does not take its original 

 vertical course but puts out a number of lateral branches, none of which ever attain 

 much depth. The result is a shallow and unnatural root system — the disadvan- 

 tages of which are too numerous to mention here in detail. This much should be 

 clear, however, to anyone who beheves at all in Nature's wisdom. A tree which 

 wants to make a deep tap root cannot attain its full strength and vigor if prevented 

 in any way from doing so. The deep tap root gets the lower moisture, conse- 

 quently the tree requires less irrigation and cannot be tipped over by wind. 



A serious objection to the practice of balling and moving trees is that they 

 are often placed in soil entirely different to that from which they were taken. 

 Should the soil in which the tree is placed be of more porous nature than the ball 

 of dirt surrounding the roots, great care must be exercised in irrigating to prevent 

 the water from draining off before the small amount of heavier soil containing the 

 roots has been saturated. This rule apphes especially when the trees have just 

 been moved and before the roots have had time to grow out into the new soil. 

 Many trees have been lost in this way, I am sure, with the grower unable to account 

 for their failure. With such conditions it would probably bt better to move the 

 trees "open root," thus eliminating all of the heavy soil. In moving either large 

 or small trees "open root," first cut them back, then do not move at once but wait 

 until the new growth starts. Keep the roots moist by puddling or some other 

 means until the tree is safely planted and watered. 



Let me here digress enough to say that Avocado trees planted in heavy soils 

 where water does not readily drain off may easily be over watered, while it is prac- 

 tically impossible to over water them in light, porous soil. 



Another objection to the practice of growing trees in nurseries and shipping 

 to innumerable places is the danger of spreading pests and diseases. This would 

 be entirely eliminated by the plan here suggested. But you say "a seed may not 

 sprout and I should have many blanks in my orchard." I suggest that several 

 seeds be planted in a small circle around the location for each tree. It is not 

 likely that they would all fail to grow. Bud all of the resultant seedlings, finally 

 ehmmating all but the best one. Avocado seeds sometimes take several months 

 to sprout. In soils which bake easily a little sand mixed in where the seeds are 

 planted is an advantage. Watering and caring for seeds thus planted in orchard 



