46 



REPORT OF THE FIRST SEMI-ANNUAL MEETING 



it. It is the one cultivated in Cuba and other West Indian Islands, 

 and along the coast of Central and South America. 



2. The GUATEMALAN type. Commercially this is doubt- 

 less the most valuable type cultivated in California, and it is the 

 one which is being at present most extensively planted. It is 

 peculiar in that it carries its fruits through the winter and into 

 the followi'ng summer, thus requiring 12 to 16 months to ripen 

 them. While the Mexican type blooms in winter and ripens its 

 fruits the following summer, and the West Indian type blooms in 

 spring and ripens its fruits in summer, the Guatemalan type blooms 

 in late spring and carries its fruits over the following winter and 

 sometimes as late as September and October of the following 

 year. The varieties of this type at present cultivated in California 

 ripen from February to September. For fall and early winter 

 other types must be grown, unless we obtain, later on, varieties 

 of the Guatemalan type which will extend the season. 



The California representatives of this type have originated 

 in Guatemala and in Southern Mexico, principally in the vicinity 

 of Atlixco, state of Puebla, Mexico, at an altitude of nearly 6000 

 feet. A large proportion of the varieties which have originated 

 here in California came from seeds imported from AtHxco by 

 John Murrieta of Los Angeles about 1900. ^Ir. Murrieta's work 

 has probably had a more profound influence on California avocado 

 culture than that of any one else up to the present time. 



Because of the Mexican origin of several of our Guatemalan 

 varieties, some have thought this name inappropriate. Inasmuch 

 as these thick-skinned Mexican varieties belong to the Guatemalan 

 type, however, they should certainly be called by this name, as it 

 serves to show their relationship to other varieties of the same type. 



The characteristics which distinguish this type from the others 

 are several and as a rule quite dependable, though it is sometimes 

 difficult to distinguish one of the thinner skinned Guatemalan fruits 

 with an almost smooth surface from a fruit of the West Indian 

 type. Wlien the texture of the skin does not serve to identify the 

 fruit to a certainty, the Guatemalan can usually be distinguished 

 by the color of the fruit and by the character of the seed and 

 its coats. 



The tree is easily distinguished from that of the Mexican type 

 by the entire lack of anise-like fragrance in the leaves. The type 



