76 



ANNUAL REPORT 1920 AND 1921 



In summing it up, the following benefits would be derived by a co-operative 

 marketing organization : 



Place the industry on an equal basis for all growers. 



Control the output to conform with the demand. 



Increase the demand to absorb the output. 



Protect the grower and consumer by stabilizing the product. 



Create confidence in financial circles as to the stability of the avocado 

 industry. 



Make every grower a helper to his fellow grower instead of a competitor. 

 Secure economy in buying supplies in large amounts for the growers. 

 Give the country at large a valuable food product at a fair return to the 

 grower. 



The avocado industry is prosperous. Keep it so. In time of prosperity 

 prepare for adversity. Don't wait until it gets down then try to help it up. 

 Keep it from going down. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. 



LETTER FROM EQUADOR 



WILSON POPENOE 



Eighteen months ago I met with you at Santa Barbara, and immediately 

 following that meeting I sailed for the tropics to continue the search for avocados 

 which the Department of Agriculture commenced, at your instigation, some five 

 years ago. This trip, however, as pleinned by my superiors at Washington, 

 was to be somewhat broader in its scope than the earlier voyages: not only geo- 

 graphically, but also in regard to the plants studied. We have planned to cover 

 all the interesting avocado territory between Guatemala and Chile; and it has 

 been our intention not only to look for avocados, but to obtain for introduction 

 into the United States many other plants as well. It has not seemed desirable to 

 limit the present work solely to avocados, for the reason that we have already 

 covered the best avocado territory, and are reduced to less promising fields. 

 If we limited ourselves to avocados, and found nothing of value, the voyage 

 would be unprofitable: but if we gather in as many promising plants of all sorts 

 as we possibly can, the work may prove profitable even in those countries which 

 yield nothing of value in so far as avocados are concerned. 



Here I am, then, after eighteen months of this fascinating work, high in 

 the Andes and precisely at the longitudinal center of the world; and from here 

 I wish not only to send my cordial greetings to all of you, but also to give you 

 a brief account of the work accomplished thus far. 



My immediate destination, upon sailing from California early in November 

 1919, was Guatemala, — that country which seems destined to play a more 

 prominent part than any other in the development of avocado culture in the 

 United States. It was with a thrill of pleasure that I once again set foot on 

 Guatemalan soil, after an absence of two years ; and as I ascended into the high- 

 lands on board the little train from San Jose, and saw the glorious cone of the 

 Volcan de Agua reveal itself among the clouds, I was fairly beside myself with 

 delight. Some day, when all of you have made your fortune, as you of course 

 will do if you grow avocados, I would recommend that you organize an excur- 

 sion to Guatemala, for the members of the Association: not only will you see 

 avocado regions which will have historic interest for us, but you will also see one 

 of the most beautiful and picturesque countries of tropical America. 



