CALIFORNIA AVOCADO ASSOCIATION 



181 



the avocado has been introduced both in Java and the Malacca peninsula 

 for years it is not yet cultivated by the natives and is never found in 

 the markets. 



Sincerely yours, 



P. J. WESTER, 



Horticulturists in Charge 



THE AVOCADO IN VENEZUELA 

 (Letter from Homer Brett, American Consul to Venezuela.) 

 AMERICAN CONSULATE 



La Guaira, Venezuela, August 5, 1916. 



California Avocado Association, 

 Gentlemen: 



I have to acknowledge, with thanks, receipt of your letter of 

 July 25 and of the invitation to prepare a paper on the growing of 

 avocados in Venezuela. I regret exceedlingly that my knowledge of the 

 subject is too small to permit me to write anything worth while on the 

 subject and I know of no one to whom I can go in search of authorita- 

 tive information. 



A great many avocados are produced here but growing them is no- 

 where reduced to a science or even to a business; the fruit that appears 

 in the market is the product of scattered trees that are planted by twos 

 or threes near every cabin in the country. 



Some of these avocados nearly approach perfection and others are 

 of poor quality but there appears to be no local distinction of varieties. 

 There is no export market and, in the season, the fruit is so abundant 

 as to be almost worthless. After being transported seven or eight miles 

 on burro back a perfect avocado sells for two cents at retail and the 

 inferior ones six for five cents. 



Regretting that I know of no way to obtain more valuable informa- 

 tion, I am. Gentlemen, 



Very respectfully yours, 



HOMER BRETT, 



American Consul. 



THE AVOCADO IN EGYPT 

 (Letter from Thos. W. Brown. 



Minister of Agriculture, Horticultural Division. 



Giza Branch, 24th. August, 1916. 

 Cairo, Egypt. 

 The President, California Avocado Association, 

 Dear Sir: 



I am in receipt of your letter of July, 20th., and beg to inform you 

 that the cultivation of avocados is entirely in its infancy in Egypt. The 



