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1916 ANNUAL REPORT 



of the fruit, the size of the fruit, thick-skinned or thin-skinned, but 

 have not considered the most important, primary thing, — that is, the 

 tree itself. Some varieties of avocado trees will grow fifty times as 

 fast as others. Some varieties grow very fine large fruit. Every nursery- 

 man who has had experience with the Murrieta and some of the other 

 varieties will admit that it is almost impossible to grow them as nur- 

 sery trees. I can show you an instance at my place of a Trapp that 

 was budded the same day as a Harman, and the Harman is fully fifty 

 times as big as the Trapp, and both are healthy trees. You must first 

 get a tree to grow strong, straight, and vigorous. The important thing 

 to consider first is the tree. 



Dr. Coit: Every variety has a characteristic growth just as much 

 as it has a definite color of fruit. You may buy a tree that is small, 

 crooked, and gnarly, but it may be entirely typical of the variety. There 

 are going to be many hundreds of seedlings grown in people's yards. 

 Every one is going to have a favorite son. Don't forget that before 

 any variety has a chance to become established as a commercial sort, 

 it must be demonstrated that it can be propagated readily and that it 

 produces a good growth. 



Question: What insect enemies infest the avocado? 



Mr. Chidester: I have found the black scale and the brown scale 

 to a slight extent, and also the green scale, but I don't think any of 

 them are likely to be serious, except the green scale, and this seems 

 to be more abundant on the thin-skinned than on the thick-skinned 

 types. There are also one or two other things, such as a bark liner, 

 but this is not very bad. Nothing along this line that I have seen is 

 very serious. I haven't noticed the red spider on the avocado. 



Question: Is it your experience that the black scale will grow on 

 the avocado, but not by choice? 



Mr. Chidester: It will grow on the avocado, but does not thrive on 

 it. The black scale thrives on the citrus tree, but on the avocado it is 

 scattered and not abundant. 



Some one in the audience said: In connection with the remarks as to 

 the eflPect of the black scale on the avocado, I wish to state that three 

 or four days ago I saw a large tree with one limb, which was covered 

 with a mass of black scale. That particular limb was more completely 

 covered with black scales than I have ever seen in the case of an orange 

 tree. To me it shows that we have this scale to fight in the future. 



Mr. Martin Fessler: Is there any one who knows about the avocado 

 weevil that gets into the seed in Mexico ? We would like to know about 

 it so we can be prepared. 



Dr. Coit: There is very little information available on the avocado 

 weevil, except that it is a bad pest and we don't want to get it here. 

 It has never been introduced into California. So far as I know, this pest 

 is the only reason that the Mexican fruit has been kept out. I have 

 never seen it and I don't know of any publication on it yet. We would 

 have to get this information from the United States Department of 

 Agriculture. 



Mr. Knight: There is only one fruit in five thousand affected by 



