CALIFORNIA AVOCADO ASSOCIATION 



59 



Boulevard, the Yorba Linda district and the Santa Ana district. The Com- 

 mittee on varieties also spent a day in the San Diego district. The opportunities 

 for observation of the trees and the different methods of handling them and the 

 comparison of notes with the growers were most valuable. Information gained 

 in this way at first-hand, is extremely valuable to the leaders of an industry. 



This recital will show the value in business of having a well defined program 

 for a year's activities made out with as much care as a financial budget. We had 

 something definite to aim at, and in reviewing the year's record we find that 

 definite progress has been made. The projects of employing a Secretary on full 

 time and of establishing a department of budwood selection, which will also in- 

 volve the keeping of individual tree records, are advanced steps which promise 

 intelligent development. 



Our industry is still in the experimental stage and we have many unsolved 

 problems to face. We have learned that the business of growing avocados is 

 expensive and risky. While a good orange or lemon tree can be bought for 75 

 cents or a dollar, budded avocado nursery stock costs from $3.50 to v$ 10.00 

 each, according to variety. It is an expensive business to start and also, an ex- 

 pensive business to maintain, for the avocado tree demands more watchful care and 

 constant attention than the citrus tree. The business is risky because our ex- 

 perience in the culture of the avocado is limited, because much of the nursery 

 stock grown in boxes and cans develops curled roots which result in weak and 

 useless trees, because the tree is sensitive to wind, and to extremes of heat and cold 

 and the location or the nature of the soil in which it is planted may not meet its 

 requirements. Some varieties will thrive in one locality and others in another 

 and the experiment of discovering the varieties adapted to each locality is costly. 

 Prices for the fruit are high for this reason, and for the further reason, that the 

 supply does not equal the demand. The Mexican varieties sold for $1.50 to 

 $3.00 per dozen during the past winter, and the Guatemalan varieties are now 

 bringing from $5.00 to $12.00, and even $15.00 per dozen for very choice 

 specimens. The fruit retails on the Los Angeles market from 75 cents to $2.00 

 each. The retailer is the profiteer. The grower who bears the heavy expense 

 of labor and who takes the risk of the business is receiving a comparatively high 

 price for his product, but very few growers market enough to show any margin of 

 profit. There are probably about 650 to 700 acres planted to avocados in Cali- 

 fornia. With these and additional acreage in full bearing and with the accumu- 

 lation of knowledge about the tree and its habits, which is one of the chief objects 

 of this association, the prices will come down, and this "natural mayonaise," which 

 has a higher food value than any other known fruit, will become more generally 

 available. 



MATURITY WORK ON AVOCADOS 



E. M. CHACE, LOS ANGELES, CALIF. 



Mr. Chairman, friends and felloTv members of the Avocado Association: 



I have been requested to present for your consideration this morning some 

 phases of one of the problems confronting the avocado grower, "The Maturity 

 Problem." Briefly stated, this problem consists in arriving at the time in the 

 growth of the avocado when it can be harvested with best results, both as to 

 storage and to quality. There is a period in the development of all fruits when 

 they can be harvested with optimum results. The problem is to find this period. 



