CALIFORNIA AVOCADO ASSOCIATION 



97 



to tell the difference between a thin-skin and a thick-skin. A thin 

 skin will not peel because there is no clearance between the skin and 

 the meat. A thick-skin always peels. A hard-shell never peels. The 



Picture Taken Oct. 1, 1915 Picture Taken Aug. 6, 1916 



Figure 9.— Growth of tree of the Rey Avocado; budded July 6, 1914; trans- 

 planted March 10, 1915. 



meat and skin of a hard-shell are always differentiated but the shell 

 will not bend, it breaks. The hard-shell also has a distinct way of 

 putting out its flowers. 



Soil. — The best fruit I have found in the tropics grows in the 

 coffee fields where the land is only hoed about three times per year, 

 never plowed nor cultivated deeply. The avocado does best on a rich 

 heavy soil with plenty of humus and leaf mold. Some of the best fruit 

 I ever saw were grown on red clay and adobe. The ground should be 

 shaded as much as possible. I believe that there is more danger in over- 

 fertilization than there is in under-fertilization. 



Water and Cultivation. — Most avocado growers use too little water. 

 Some use too much at one time, and still others do not irrigate often 

 enough. Ninety per cent of these fruits in the tropics flower and grow 

 during the wet season and ripen during the dry season. The land should 

 be kept damp, but not wet, where there is no danger of souring the 

 soil. 



Cultivation is bad for several reasons: 



First: The taproot of an avocado tree practically stops growing 

 after the first year, or as soon as the side roots begin to grow, and if 

 the ground is soggy with water, the trees easily lean with the wind. 



Second: Root pruning is harmful to the tree. 



Third: I have never seen an avocado tree attacked by pests when 

 the ground was hard around it. 



