74 



1916 ANNUAL REPORT 



ing householder w^ll recognize that among the thin-skinned varieties, avail- 

 able chiefly in the fall months, the highest-flavored avocado will always be 

 found. 



Let us look for a moment at this matter of size. At present this 

 fruit is a curiosity. The few people who have heard of it have been as- 

 tonished at the prices paid for single specimens. Astonishment is what 

 they are looking for in this connection, and the growers, who are pretty 

 nearly as green as the public, have to some extent fallen into the erroi- 

 of believing that to astonish is the game we have to play. 



But the permanent market is not made by surprising people. It rests 

 rather on the persistent supplying of things that are good and convenient, 

 and when you have 100,000 people habitually buying avocados in Los 

 Angeles, instead of a few dozen curious or lavish individuals, they will not 

 generally be found looking for fruits that approximate the pumpkin in 

 size, if not in flavor. 



What is a convenient size for the avocado ? I should say that a fruit 

 that furnishes as much as one man will ordinarily eat at a sitting is quite 

 large enough. A 5-ounce fruit will do that with a reasonable ratio of 

 flesh to seed, and it seems to me that the permanently favorite sizes are 

 likely to run from 5 to 10 ounces, and that we shall soon be looking 

 with commendation on those trees of the large type that can be induced to 

 moderate the size of their fruits in favor of greater numbers. Numbers 

 are a pretty good feature and I have sometimes found that the 3-ounce 

 size, though taken less readily in the market than those from 6 to 8 

 or 9 ounces, brought more money by the box. 



Many of us, I presume, c*re or have been orange growers, and those 

 who were here when that industry was beginning in California remember 

 that the very large navels were often at a high premium. It was a new 

 thing that California should be producing oranges, and actually making 

 a commercial matter of it; and the bigger the orange, the more surprising 

 and interesting it was. It was not long, however, that this surprise was 

 marketable, and those who in this recent Valencia season have been for- 

 tunate enough to have great numbers of small oranges have had a lesson 

 which may well be applied to the avocado. 



It has been the habit of our nurserymen to recommend the Mexican 

 seedling for home consumption only, granting its excellent quality, but 

 disclaiming fitness for commercial use. One reason for this is the size 

 question, and it is tme that if one grows seedlings there will be many 

 trees whose fruit is too small for marketing satisfactorily. But trees bud- 

 ded from the varieties that have proved their quality are free from this 

 objection. 



The other point is carrying quality, it having been generally believed 

 that a thick skin is almost necessary for long shipments. My slight ex- 

 perience disputes this and a year ago we had Mr. Boschet's testimony that 

 there seemed to be no difference between the two types in this respect. 

 The skin of the Mexican type is always much tougher and thicker than 

 that of the Bartlett pear, which California ships in such great quantity 

 to distant markets, and on the other hand there seems to be plenty of room 

 i'lside the shell of the palta for unhealthy conditions to produce disaster 



