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ANNUAL REPORT 1920 AND 1921 



AN APPRECIATION OF THE WORK OF THE LATE 

 JACOB MILLER 



JAS. H. POPE 



With the death on May 1 9, 1 920 of Mr. Jacob Miller of Hollywood, the 

 avocado industry of Southern California saw the passing of one of its oldest 

 pioneers. 



Mr. Miller's interest in the avocado began in 1 883 and continued through- 

 out the remainder of his life. 



His contribution to the early development of the industry was important 

 from two standpoints. The first was the proof that the fruit could be successfully 

 grown without damage by frost and the second was the arousing of interest in 

 the fruit and the consequent distribution of trees through a broad district. 



Mr. Miller obtained his first avocado tree from Mr. John Grelck, an uncle 

 of Mrs. Miller. Mr. Grelck on a visit to Guatemala had his attention attracted 

 to the fruit and upon his return he brought a number of young trees with him 

 One of these trees which was afterward known as the "Miller" was given by 

 Mr. Grelck to Mr. Miller and by the latter set out on his ranch at the mouth of 

 Nichol's Canyon at a point which is now marked by the intersection of Holly- 

 wood Boulevard and Ogden Drive. Mr. Miller at this time was raising garden 

 truck for the San Francisco market and knew that the district was frostless. 



Mr. Grelck planted the remainder of his avocado trees on his own place 

 at what is now Main and Twenty-fifth streets. The following winter saw severe 

 damage from frost to the Grelck trees and to avoid losing what survived in some 

 subsequent frost the plants were moved to the Miller place. Among the plants 

 which were brought by Mr. Grelck and given to Mr. Miller after the frost at 

 the Grelck place were the cherimoya, mango, tamarind, plumaria, coffee, papaya, 

 rose apple and other rare tropical fruits. 



The following is an expression of Mrs. Theresa Burdette, a daughter of 

 Mr. Miller: 



*'In the early days the old tree which is now known as the "Miller" was 

 crowded into a garden of a great variety of plants, and under those conditions 

 it bore very sparsely. A young pine which was planted on the side of the 

 morning sun shut out the light and sunshine and the avocado soon showed signs 

 of its influence. 



"About 1 896 it was found necessary to transplant the avocado to its present 

 location about a city block north of its original location. It revived and in two 

 years was again bearing fruit. It is this year bearing the heaviest crop in its 

 history some of the branches being very heavily laden with fruit and the entire 

 tree ranking as very prolific. 



"In the early days the seeds of the fruits were planted by my father and 

 little by little quite a collection of trees was gathered. These trees were sold 

 or given to numerous persons who had eaten the fruit at our home and wanted 

 to take a tree with them. In this manner seedling trees from the Miller were 

 quite widely distributed. Later budded trees were also given out. 



"If it had not been for the tender care given these first trees they probably 

 would have been lost to California for many years. To my mind it was my 

 father's natural love for all plants that made it possible for California to begin 

 at such an early date to figure in the history of the avocado industry." 



