CALIFORNIA AVOCADO ASSOCIATION 



59 



owning the original trees, and naturally each introducer of a variety 

 believes it to be the best variety yet named. I would have scant patience 

 with an introducer of a variety, if he did not believe his variety a su- 

 perior one. These men, as a whole, honestly believe in their varieties. 

 There can be no question of this. Yet we all know that we already have 

 too many varieties and that some of them must be superior to others. 

 The most important work of the next few years will be to determine 

 which of these numerous varieties are the superior ones, worthy of 

 general propagation. In the meantime much of the planting that will 

 be put out must be determined largely on imperfect evidence and faith. 

 I do not wish to draw this picture too dismal. There are a few varieties 

 that seem to have been sufficiently tested so that we know them to be 

 good. No one can say, however, that these will not be superseded in a 

 few years by much superior sorts. 



It is highly interesting and gratifying to note the continuous ad- 

 vance that is being made through the introduction of new sorts in ex- 

 tending the season of ripening of the fruit. The great desideratum is 

 to find satisfactory varieties maturing their fruits in the winter during 

 the period from December to March, inclusive. The general concensus of 

 opinion seems to favor the so-called Guatemalan or thick-skinned varieties. 

 The spring and summer is covered by a number of fairly good varieties of 

 this type, but there are only a few early and late sorts from which to se- 

 lect. The Fuerte and Puebla, both imported varieties, are apparently 

 among the most promising winter sorts, yet introduced, ripening their 

 fruits apparently from December to February. The fruiting habits of 

 these varieties as judged by several budded trees in each case are appar- 

 ently very satisfactory, the trees being of good shape and prolific. Little 

 is yet known in either case, however, about the peculiarities of the fruit 

 and its quality. Of the better known early sorts, we have such varieties 

 as the Challenge, season February to May, Solano, season March to May, 

 and the Spinks, season February to August, and Surprise, season Febru- 

 ary and March. Of these varieties the Challenge has a very large seed, 

 the Solano is very low in oil content, and the Spinks and the Surprise 

 have not yet been sufficiently tested to justify their general acceptance as 

 standard sorts. 



For early summer and mid-summer fruits, the two varieties that now 

 seem to be in the lead are the Blakeman and the Lyon, with especial em- 

 phasis on the former. The Lyon while a good fruit seems inclined to 

 overbear when young, which tends to weaken the trees, and again the 

 tree is a tall, upright grower of a shape not now recognized to be par- 

 ticularly desirable. The Spinks variety mentioned above also extends 

 into this season. The Dickey, the Miller, and the Monroe are other 

 varieties of this period that are highly recommended by some growers. 

 The Miller is one of the best flavored fruits we have and is rich in oil 

 content, but its productiveness still remains doubtful. The Bartley, a new 



