CALIFORXIA AVOCADO ASSOCIATION 



35 



most keys on the south. Its greatest ^^'idth is not OA-er nine miles, 

 and the maximum elevation is about 20 feet. AMien I first went 

 to Florida from California two years ago this country looked rather 

 uninviting to me, but I have become accustomed to it now, and 

 the more I see of it the more I like it. It has its drawbacks, of 

 course, but I am convinced that it is destined to be a great avocado 

 region one of these days. 



The surface of the land is rough, jagged limestone, sometimes 

 overlaid with as much as a foot of sand, sometimes almost bare, 

 with only a little soil in the potholes. A\'here the dense native 

 growth called hammock has been cleared ofi: it is richer, and below 

 ]\Iiami, from Larkin to Plomestead, there is a superficial layer of 

 reddish clay, which is. I believe, the best avocado soil in this region. 

 During- this past spring and summer, it has been impressed on me 

 that the groves south of Miami, on this heaA'ier soil, are doing 

 better than are those north of Miami, where there is nothing but 

 light sand over the rock. The thing resolves itself into this : The 

 avocado likes a deep, heavy loam, with plenty of moisture. We 

 cannot supply this in Florida, but the nearer we can approach it 

 the better, and I l)elieve the reddish soils below ]^Iiami. even though 

 shallow, are the best for the avocado. It does not seem to be at 

 all objectionable to have the rock close to the surface; there is 

 strong evidence, in fact, to indicate that the presence of the rock 

 serves to control the moisture supply, and the trees do not suffer 

 during a period of drought as they do on deep sand. I really think 

 it would surprise you to see the excellent growth made by some 

 of the groves south of Miami. It takes a little fertilizer to turn 

 the trick, but there are a good many trees, especially seedlings, 

 that get A ery little of it indeed, and still they giA'e a pretty good 

 account of themseh'es. 



There are A^ery fcAv diseases or pests Avhich cause the orchard- 

 ists much concern. There is one difficulty, hoAvcA-er, Avhich has 

 been puzzling CA'eryone, and has probably caused more loss than 

 all other factors combined. The young trees, especially of the 

 Trapp A-ariety (Avhich seems to be Aveaker constitutionalh' than 

 Pollock and others), Avill frequently fail to "take hold" Avhen set in 

 the orchard, and after struggling for awhile, and making a fcAV 

 growths with small, ill-shapen leaA-es, Avill die back from the ends 

 of the branches and eventually have to be replaced. This trouble 



