28 



ANNUAL REPORT 1919 AND 1920 



as well as a few additional varieties. Had not political conditions in Mexico be- 

 come so unsettled about this time other visits to the region would undoubtedly 

 have been made by those interested in the development of the avocado industry 

 in California, but for several years Atlixco has either been occupied by the Zapa- 

 tistas or subject to their raids, so that no one has desired to venture into the vicinity 

 on a mission of this nature. 



So far as I have been able to learn, the following varieties are all which 

 have been successfully introduced into California from Atlixco (I refer, of course, 

 to budded varieties, — that is, those which originated in Atlixco as seedlings, and 

 of which budwood was sent to California. Varieties which have originated as 

 seedlings in California, from seeds sent from Atlixco, are not included) : 



Introduction by William D. Stephens: Two varieties not yet named, grown 

 provisionally under the numbers Two and Fifteen. 



Introduction by the West India Gardens: Puebla (introduced under the 

 number Thirteen) ; Fuerte (No. Fifteen) ; Redondo (No. Sixteen) ; Verde (No. 

 Seventeen, at first called California Trapp, later changed to Verde) ; Merito (No. 

 Eighteen) ; Perfecto (No. Nineteen) ; Number Twenty, a variety not named, and 

 perhaps no longer growing in California; Number Twenty-two, a variety not 

 named, and perhaps included with Perfecto (in case the latter at any time shows 

 two distinct strains, it will be probable that one is the true Perfecto and the other 

 No. Twenty-two) ; Colon (No. Twenty-four) ; Canto (No. Twenty-five) ; 

 Alto (No. Twenty-eight) ; Atlixco (No. Twenty-nine) ; Oro (No. Thirty-two) ; 

 Montezuma (No. Thirty-three) ; Miles (No. Thirty- five) ; Sinaloa (No. Thirty- 

 seven) ; Grande (No. Thirty-nine) ; Schmidt (No. Forty) ; Obispo (No. Forty- 

 one) ; Popocatepetl (introduced without a serial number) ; Volcan (introduced 

 under the name Ixtaccihuatl) ; and Modesto. 



HISTORY 



Undoubtedly the valley of Atlixco was an important agricultural region be- 

 fore the arrival of the Spaniards. The indigenous inhabitants probably culti- 

 vated maize, beans, peppers, squashes, and a few other crops. 



It is evident that it did not take the Spaniards long to appreciate the attract- 

 iveness of the region, for they were already established here in 1 540, — less than 

 20 years after the arrival of Cortez in Mexico. Fray Toribio de Benavente, 

 better known as Montolinia, gives us a lengthy account of the valley in these 

 early days. Montolinia, who was the sixth Franciscan named as a missionary to 

 Mexico, received his letters patent in Spain in the year 1523. He wrote his de- 

 scription of Atlixco, from which I translate* only those portions which are of 

 most interest to us, in 1 540, and died on the day of San Lorenzo in the year 

 1 568 :^ 



^'Situated four leagues from this city (Puebla) is a region called the Val de 

 Cristo, where the inhabitants of Los Angeles (Puebla) have their vineyards and 

 their orchards of pomegranates and other fruits, and where these things grow 

 luxuriantly. They also have here their wheat fields, which yield nearly all the 

 year round, in contrast to those of the tierra fria, which only produce a single crop 

 annually, like those of Spain ; but in this valley of which I am speaking, since it is 

 tierra caliente (or at least the crops are not injured by frost) and water is always 

 abundant, they sow and harvest continuously. Fields can be seen in which the 

 seed has just been planted ; others in which the first green sprouts break through 



*I take this description from "Puebla; Su Territorio y Sus Habitantes," by En- 

 rique Juan Palacios, Mexico, 1917. 



