CALIFORNIA AVOCADO ASSOCIATION 



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have been much more extensive in the tropics than it is at the 

 present time. Cuba, with all her seedling avocados, probably does 

 not grow one-half the amount that could be consumed, and would 

 be consumed were choice fruits available in quantity at a rea- 

 sonable price. It takes, of course, energy and organization to 

 develop a great avocado industry, just as it has to develop a great 

 banana industry, and so far the recjuisite energy and organization 

 have not been forthcoming in the tropics.. After all these years 

 are California and Florida going to step in and take the matter 

 out of the hands of our tropical neighbors? It appears so. The 

 beginning which has been made in Florida, and which will be 

 spoken of in detail later on, has served to demonstrate the possi- 

 bilities that lie in avocado culture, when it is put upon the same 

 modern and substantial basis as the culture of our important 

 temperate fruits. The beginning which is now being made in 

 California will. I feel sure, further illustrate the splendid future of 

 the avocado in this country, a future for which many of us have 

 the most sanguinary hopes. 



It is somewhat peculiar that the avocado is not more alnindant 

 in Porto Rico. AMiile it is one of the common fruits, it does not 

 seem to be nearly so abundant as it is in Cuba, and I do not believe 

 the seedlings wdll compare well in equality with those of Cuba, 

 though they are all of the same type, i. e., the South American. 

 I have heard of no commercial plantations of budded trees in the 

 island, but some of the American colonists are contemplating the 

 planting of small orchards. Porto Rico probably has several advan- 

 tages over Florida, chiefly in the matter of better soil, but it Avill 

 take experimentation to determine the best varieties for commer- 

 cial cultivation. There seems to be no reason why Porto Rico 

 may not compete with Florida in the markets of the eastern United 

 States at some future time. 



Xext to Alexico, Cuba is certainly one of the greatest avocado 

 regions of tropical America. The superiority of Cul)an seedlings 

 to those of many other regions has been noted by several observers ; 

 Prof. F. S. Earle considers that the best Cuban avocados have no 

 superiors in the tropics. This is, of course, looking at the matter 

 from the Cuban standpoint, for everyone knows by this time that 

 Cuban avocados are not the ones to grow in California. It is from 

 Cul^a, however, that Florida has obtained practical)}- all her 



