42 



ANNUAL REPORT 1919 AND 1920 



other oblong-pyriform. Beneath this photograph is the following legend: "Bud 

 variation in Fuerte avocado (one-half natural size). On right normal Fuerte 

 fruit, on left round fruit of Redondo type produced on the same budded tree of 

 the Fuerte on the ranch of Mr. J. T. Whedon, at Yorba Linda, Cal. The 

 tendency of this variety to produce two types of fruit is said to be the cause for 

 the naming of two varieties, Fuerte and Redondo, when they were imported from 

 Mexico. The Redondo is now known to be the round fruited bud variation of 

 the Fuerte." 



I found no fruits on the parent Fuerte tree which varied strikingly from the 

 type. Redondo is a distinct variety, not to be confused with Fuerte: the parent 

 tree, which I have examined, is growing in the garden of Salvador Amor, as 

 indicated by Schmidt in his notes. The fruit is very thick skinned, and in size and 

 form resembles Challenge. Redondo is a true Guatemalan in every respect. 



TTie probability of Fuerte being a cross between the Mexican and Guate- 

 malan races has been discussed in print on several occasions. Scarcely had the 

 variety commenced to fruit in California when this was suggested as a hypothesis 

 to account for some of its extraordinary characteristics, and as time has passed, 

 behef in its hybrid origin has grown stronger. Doubt always remained in my 

 mind, however, until I had visited Atlixco. I had suspicioned that Fuerte might 

 represent a distinct race found in that region. I found nothing to indicate, how- 

 ever, that Atlixco possesses any races or groups not already known to us. The 

 Mexican and the Guatemalan, as grown in Atlixco, differ in no important char- 

 acteristics from these races as we know them in California. No trees were found 

 which closely resembled Fuerte in habit and fruit, though I looked particularly 

 for such. 



I feel, therefore, that it is now more reasonable than ever to believe that this 

 variety is a hybrid. In certain of its characteristics we have indications of its hybrid 

 nature, and additional evidence has recently been furnished by the behavior of its 

 seedlings. A number of these have been grown at the U. S. Plant Introduction 

 Garden, Miami, Florida. Some of them closely resemble the parent in foliage, 

 including the possession of the anise-like odor which has been taken, in Fuerte, to 

 indicate Mexican blood, inasmuch as this odor is never present in true Guatemalans 

 or West Indians. Others are typical Guatemalans in appearance, and have lost 

 the anise-like odor. It will be interesting to watch these seedlings come into bear- 

 ing. It is possible, of course, that some of them are the result of cross-pollination, 

 flowers of the Fuerte having been visited by insects carrying pollen from trees of 

 other varieties; but their behavior is decidedly different from that of ordinary 

 avocado seedlings. 



While it has not been possible for me to keep in close touch with the avocado 

 industry in Cahfornia during the past few years, I had formed a high opinion of 

 Fuerte from what I had seen and heard of its behavior in that State. In Florida, 

 also, it has shown much promise. My visit to Atlixco served to increase my confi- 

 dence in this variety, and I believe any California avocado grower who could have 

 shared my week there would have come to feel the same way. Let me, if I can, 

 make my position clear. 



We have recognized that Fuerte was an unusual variety, and its hardiness, its 

 vigorous growth, its tendency to fruit while very young, its season of ripening, and 

 the excellent ouality of its fruits have combined to make us realize that it possessed 

 exceptional value. But always we have felt that perhaps in the region from which 

 it came there were even better varieties which we could and should obtain ; that 

 Fuerte, in other words, might be representative of a group or race occurring in 



