CALIFORNIA AVOCADO ASSOCIATION 



35 



(5) Secure data on uses of the avocado for medicinal purposes. 



(6) Issue recipe booklet, and how to select a good avocado and 

 prepare for the table. 



10. Urge revision of University's Correspondence course in "Avocado 

 Culture." 



1 1 . Continue co-operation in experiments by Citrus By-Products Lab- 

 oratory. 



12. Devise co-operative plan to discourage stealing of fruit. 

 While many matters of routine and occasional matters arising from a large 

 correspondence have occupied the attention of the Board, the items on this 

 program have ever been before it and much thought, study and work have been 

 expended upon them. We may review briefly some of the things accomplished 

 and note what remains to be done. 



Membership. This Association started in October, 1915, with 74 char- 

 ter members whose names are printed in the Annual Report of that year. The 

 list has been purged from time to time retaining only those who are paid up. 

 When the present administration took office three years ago there were 161 

 members, increased the following year to 216, last year to 301, and it is a 

 real satisfaction to be able to state that the goal of 400 set for this year has been 

 attained with a safety margin, the total enrolled now being 403. The majority 

 of the members are growers of avocados, the rest being nurserymen, scientific meii 

 and interested friends. About 100 are from Los Angeles and vicinity, about 

 50 from Pasadena and vicinity, 50 from the Foothill Region, 25 each from the 

 San Diego, Santa Barbara and Orange County districts, 25 from other states, 

 15 from foreign countries and the rest scattering. The financial stability of 

 the Association, as at present organized, depends upon the maintenance and in- 

 crease of this list, for the income from memberships is our principal resource for 

 meeting the expenses of management. It would be quite impossible to pay the 

 salary and expenses of a regular secretary and the incidental bills which must 

 be incurred if the number of paying members was allowed to fall below the 

 mark now set. We were fortunate this year in being presented with a gift of 

 $500 to assist in starting a department of bud wood selection in connection with 

 the secretary's office but we cannot depend upon generous occasional gifts. It 

 is necessary for the directors to budget their expenses at the beginning of each 

 year according to the estimated income and to do business strictly within that 

 income. Laxity at this point would be fatal, for it is improbable that our mem- 

 bers would tolerate the imposition of a tax in addition to the membership fee 

 to make up a deficit. It behooves the directors, therefore, and especially the 

 officers, to see to it that a sound financial policy is maintained. 



Varieties. In October, 1917, the Association, thru its Committee on 

 the Registration and Classification of Varieties, headed by Dr. H. J. Webber, 

 issued a list of eight varieties of avocados recommended for planting in California. 

 In August, 1920, the Committee, headed by Mr. Chas. D. Adams, issued a 

 report in which the list was reduced to five varieties, Fuerte, Spinks, Dickinson, 

 Sharpless and Puebla. It should be remembered that these reports embodied 

 the results of long-continued and careful study by a group of our members in 

 whom we repose confidence as to their ability and integrity. And it should not 

 be forgotten that the report of the Committee in each case was, by their request, 

 studied and approved by the Board of Directors and adopted by the members 

 of the Association. It is a tribute to the painstaking care with which the work 



