50 



ANNUAL REPORT 1919 AND 1920 



pose of marketing the crops, this shipping quahty should be taken into considera- 

 tion. The fruits of a variety may be admirably adapted for home use or for even 

 local markets but will not make a good standard pack or hold up in good con- 

 dition where the fruits are shipped to distant markets. 



(7) I do not know whether any information is available as to the com- 

 parative keeping qualities of the fruits of different avocado varieties. That such 

 differences do exist there is not much doubt. A variety which produces crops 

 that can be held in storage or under other conditions for a considerable period 

 after picking is one meriting consideration. I think that one of the difficulties found 

 in trying to introduce West Indian grown avocados in Eastern markets has been 

 the poor keeping quality of some of the fruit; at least this is what several fruit 

 dealers in New York, New Haven, Hartford and Boston have told me. 



(8) Shape of Fruits. In the citrus, fruits having a certain shape make 

 a better commercial pack than others. This condition may or may not hold true 

 for the avocado. It seems likely to me that it may. Therefore, other things 

 being equal, the shape of the avocado best adapted for making a good standard 

 commercial pack may prove to be an important factor in selecting the variety for 

 planting in orchard form. 



EXAMPLE OF AVOCADO PERFORMANCE RECORDS 



I have secured from several avocado growers the individual tree records which 

 they have been keeping. The data in these records are frequently incomplete 

 from my point of view. It is with the hope of stimulating more complete records 

 and encouraging greater attention toward this subject that I am presenting these 

 data and suggestions as to their improvement from the standpoint of securing ade- 

 quate data from which safe conclusions can be drawn as to the selection of varie- 

 ties, strains, and individual parent trees for propagation. 



Several years ago the California Fruit Growers' Exchange, a cooperative 

 organization of about 10,000 citrus growers, established a department of bud 

 selection. This department has been self-supporting through the sale of selected 

 buds from its beginning. Last year 230,000 buds selected from superior parent 

 citrus trees were sold to propagators. These buds were sold for five cents each 

 to members of the Exchange and six cents each to others. An experimental 

 nursery has been established in Lamanda Park for testing stocks, buds and meth- 

 ods of budding. The fall season of budding for this year has just begun and 

 more buds have been ordered than were sold during all of last year. As the 

 spring season is the popular budding time for the citrus it seems likely that this 

 department will sell about a half-million buds. More than a hundred bushels of 

 citrus seed was planted for stocks last spring and we anticipate a demand for more 

 than a million selected citrus buds next year. 



Is it not possible that some similar organization may become advisable and 

 necessary for the avocado industry? 



