44 



1917 ANNUAL REPORT 



for he has as much practical and paid-for knowledge of the quality and 

 consumption of the avocado as anyone in the United States. I have 

 quoted him once before as to his expressed love for the California avocado 

 and approval of its name, and will say of his discernment regarding the 

 name, that when a diner at the St. Francis orders an alligator pear, he 

 is served a pear-shaped fruit. If the order calls for an avocado, he gets 

 a round one. 



The alligator line of defense does seem to be wavering. I have had 

 inquiries from different parts of the country as to the comparison of the two 

 names, their relative value, the proper pronunciation of avocado, etc. 1 

 was surprised at getting two of the latter queries from Florida. One earn- 

 est inquirer from that state submitted three different pronunciations, asking 

 me to check the one which was correct. None of them were right. Sev- 

 eral have asked: "Should the word a-v-o-c-a-d-o be pronounced 'avo-car- 

 do'?" I have heard it distorted that way. One inquired: "Is the new 

 name of the alligator pear pronounced, 'alavacardo' 



No, dear seekers after the truth, the pronunciation is simplicity itself: 

 a(ah)vo-ca(cah)do. It is a beautiful word, — not a whit more logical as 

 a name than alligator, but far more pleasing, and sponsored by authorities 

 vastly greater than those aforementioned jolly sailors on shore leave. 



Just here, as I was about to begin on a peroration, an avocado man 

 came, like one of Job's comforters, to tell me that he thought the alligator 

 pears were entrenched and couldn't be dislodged. I admitted the truth 

 of the first part of his statement, and congratulated him upon the up-to-date 

 and warlike idea of the trenches, but expressed unbelief in the latter half 

 of what he said. 



TTie producer of a new, exclusive, or uncommon article surely, in 

 reason, has a right to say what his product shall be called. The avocado 

 growers of Florida and California are in accord upon the new name. It 

 would seem an easy matter to have these earnest men and women of both 

 states combine in an effort to familiarize the public with that gentle and 

 euphonious word, avocado. A suggestion of this nature has the approval 

 of President Webber, and a move in that direction will probably be m.ade. 



Printers' ink and personal attack will disentrench the alligators. They 

 have been entrenched in the public mind, in dictionaries, encyclopedias and 

 other forms of cold type, but with a fairly well financed campaign, in the 

 words of Henry Ford, "We'll have the boys out of the trenches by Christ- 

 mas." May be. 



INTERPLANTING AND CHANGING VARIETIES 

 By Wm. a. Spinks, Duarte, Cal. 



I am offering for your consideration a plan for the planting and inter- 

 planting of orchards, which so far as I know, is new and which seems espe- 

 cially suited to the needs of the avocado grower at this time. Its adoption 

 would solve to a very considerable extent the vexed question of varieties, 

 while at the same time offering the grower better prospects for early profit. 

 Those who have planted orchards so far have been compelled to make de- 

 cisions as to varieties, and while they have proceeded to plant rather than 

 remain inactive, no one has felt quite certain that he was not making a mis- 

 take. Those who have planted strong trees have made no mistake, but on 



