Pomona College Journal of Economic Botany 



115 



that a large proportion of the seedling trees either never bear any fruit at all or 

 else bear a worthless product, and almost none possess the fertility and fruiting 

 capacity which budded stock does if rightly handled. With proper experimenta- 

 tion under thoroughly scientific control the avocado could be made a source of tre- 

 mendous profit and benefit. The fruit is so universally a part of the people's diet 

 and at the same time so delicious and nutritious that no expense should be spared 

 to produce the best trees possible by selecting and budding the best varieties. 

 Wealth and great benefit to the nation can be derived from its production not only 

 for home consumption, which would necessarily be great, but also for export. 

 With present methods of railroad shipment it would scarcely be possible to export 

 the large, soft, thin-skinned varieties grown in Chiapas and Vera Cruz states, but 

 beyond all question there is a ready possibility of shipping some of the harder and 

 thicker-skinned varieties such as, for instance, those produced in San Luis Potosi, 

 Coahuila, and in the vicinity of Torreon. These varieties even in their present 

 state are very delicious and with improvement in stock and with best methods em- 

 ployed in handling, packing and shipping surely will find a ready market any- 

 where in the United States, even after Florida and Southern California become 

 heavy producers, as they will. Rightly managed, the avocado industry can and 

 surely will become a source of great wealth to the country, and the time when this 

 shall come merely depends on the readiness of the people to adopt the best that 

 science has to offer. What better investment could be made than a large and 

 scientifically managed avocado plantation, with only the best and most approved 

 stock planted therein, to produce fruit that would easily take preference over the 

 inferior seedling fruit now offered in the market, and some of which could be 

 shipped with great profit into the United States ? 



In addition to improving the quality of the fruit and increasing the average 

 yield by budding, another great field lies open to scientific effort, namely, that of 

 reducing the avocado seed to the minimum and increasing the quality of the meat. 

 This can be done by selection and budding. There is no possible reason for doubt- 

 ing that this improvement can and will be brought about not only in the avocado 

 and not only in Mexico, but in all fruits and in all countries. For this experimenta- 

 tion Mexico possesses unequaled opportunities and should easily be the teacher of 

 other countries in tropical and subtropical horticulture. 



The mango, likewise, is surely subject to very great improvement by the 

 same methods as outlined for the avocado. The seed, or bone as it is called by the 

 native, is needlessly large and fibrous, and might easily be reduced by selection. 

 Just how much improvement can be effected in this fruit is largely conjectural 

 since almost nothing has been attempted in that line We are safely within the 

 bounds of truth, however, when we declare that a very great improvement in qual- 

 ity and quantity of fruit can be made, with a greater or less reduction of fibre. 

 The "manila" mango grown at its best in the state of Vera Cruz in the vicinities 

 of Cordoba and Medias Aguas, is certainly a most profitable fruit, and yet it can 

 undoubtedly be made more valuable by applying modern science to its culture. 

 This variety of mango, too, seems to be entirely free from the ravages of the 

 orange maggot, so devastating to the native variety. While the "manila" is larger 



