80 



ANNUAL REPORT 1919 AND 1920 



SHADING THE GRAFTS AND WHITEWASHING 



It is very important to shade the grafts as soon as possible after grafting. A 

 palm leaf tied to the Hmb is a cheap and effective shade. Burlap fastened to 

 stakes is good. Be sure to whitewash the entire trunk and limbs. Best results 

 are obtained by grafting four or five of the largest limbs two or three feet from 

 the trunk if they are to be obtained, using the ones that will make the most 

 symmetrical tree. In top-working leave plenty of small limbs to carry the sap, 

 some, if possible, on the Hmbs grafted, and do not cut them off until the next 

 spring. 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON 



REGISTRATION AND CLASSIFICATION OF VARIETIES 



Many new varieties, both from, seedlings and imported buds, have come into 

 bearing in California during the past year. The Committee, since the last annual 

 meeting of the Association, has been active every month, and usually many times 

 in the month, in visiting all such trees of which! we could learn and sampling the 

 fruit when it was in season and available ; and also in striving to obtain the latest 

 information and knowledge of the older kinds, which have been recommended by 

 the Association for commercial planting. 



Of the twenty-four best varieties from the highlands of Guatemala, selected 

 and introduced into the United States by Mr. Wilson Popenoe, Agricultural 

 Explorer of the United States Department of Agriculture, two have, during the 

 past year, come into bearing in Florida, with a few fruit, the Nimlioh and the 

 Panchoy, enough to prove their identity with the parent tree, hardly more, bui 

 enough to permit the Department to release the buds for general distribution, which 

 they do not as yet permit except for these two varieties. All are being tested experi- 

 mentally in California, among them we expect to find some of great value to us 

 here and a number of them are setting fruit to mature during the coming season. 



The list of eight varieties recommended for commercial planting, issued on 

 October 25, 1917, as Circular No. 1 of the California Avocado Association, 

 embodied the results and conclusions reached after a careful study of the different 

 avocado varieties fruiting in California, made by the Committee and by the Board 

 of Directors of the Association. 



In a new industry, and with our rapidly extending knowledge and experience, 

 a critical examination of the list must be made at intervals. Most of our members 

 feel that the time has come to utilize the knowledge and experience which has been 

 obtained during the past three years, and to bring the recommendations of the 

 Association into accord with the most advanced knowledge. 



This Association occupies the position of guide and advisor to the men 

 who come into our young industry and plant avocado orchards — with few, or 

 no exceptions, they will want rapid returns on their investments, with as little 

 hindrance and unexpected expense as possible while awaiting crops. We must 

 consider their interests and, as a matter of justice to them, we! find the Taft, the 

 Lyon and the Blakeman varieties should be dropped from the list of varieties 

 recommended for commercial planting, which we do with regret, because the Taft 

 fruit is very fine, one of the very best, and the tree itself beautiful, and one, that 

 when it finally does come into bearing, will compensate those willing to wait a long 

 time for returns ; but it is longer in coming into bearing than the others that have been 

 recommended and more susceptible to frost injury. It is no longer commercially 

 planted. The Lyon is also a good fruit and the tree remarkably precocious and 

 prolific and best adapted for interplanting, by reason of its slender shape, but it 



