CALIFORNIA AVOCADO ASSOCIATION 



55 



THE TAFT AVOCADO AND ITS HISTORY 

 By C. p. Taft, Orange, Cal. 



I have been requested to prepare a paper on the Taft avocado, its 

 origin and prospects, this variety being one of the oldest and most widely- 

 planted of any of the thick-skin varieties of California origin and one 

 which has probably a permanent place in commercial horticulture. 



In the spring of 1 899 I bought from Ludwig & Matthews Mott 

 Market, Los Angeles, then one of the largest fruit firms in that city, a very 

 much decayed specimen of the avocado. I think I paid 35 cents. It was 

 not large and would weigh about three-quarters of a pound, and it was 

 so far gone that it was impossible to judge of its quality. I remember 

 that there was a spot or two inside which was not quick black and was of 

 not unpleasing taste, which gave me a bare suggestion of what an avocado 

 might be, but I had to depend very largely upon imagination and deter- 

 mination to be pleased if such a thing was possible. The skin was very 

 hard and thick, and unquestionably it was by no means as good a fruit as 

 afterward developed from its seed. Ludwig & Matthews were at that 

 time importing avocados in a small way from Mexico, but handled also 

 a few from. Mrs. Buddington's tree on Alpine street, Los Angeles. If my 

 fruit had been one of this latter kind, it would assuredly not have been 

 decayed, so I have always assumed that it was one of the Mexican im- 

 portations that I secured. Even if it were not, the trees on Mrs. Budding- 

 ton's place came from Mexican seed, so I am quite certain that the fruit 

 was of Mexican origin. In the spring of 1900, I planted the small tree, 

 thus obtained. It grew rapidly, and today, just about eighteen years 

 from seed, it has a spread of 25 feet and is equally high. 



The first fruits, six in number, came in 1 909. The next season 

 there was none, but every year since that the tree has borne good crops, 

 culminating in 1916 when it set about 700 fruits. This year there is a 

 falling off; while the upper branches are fuller than at any previous time, 

 the lower ones, comprising two-thirds of the tree, are practically bare. I 

 estimate this year's crop at from 300 to 400. Every large limb, except 

 one, has taken its turn in bearing, most of them every year. The excep- 

 tion is a large limb on the west side which has never even bloomed to any 

 great extent until this spring. It is at present very full, and, I hope, mak- 

 ing an effort to atone for lost time. The tree as a whole appears to be 

 striving to net a record crop for 1918. 



An instructive feature, and one more or less characteristic of all trees 

 that I have fruited, is that at first the fruits come singly, one here and 

 there scattered over the tree. In 1914 there was one cluster of 5 ; in 1 9 1 5, 

 two clusters, one of 5 and one of 7. In 1 9 1 6, there were several clus- 

 ters, and this season there are at least ten clusters with from 5 to 7 fruits, 

 and one which I have in the exhibit has 1 6. This tendency to grow in 

 masses increases with age, and will be found true of most varieties. It is 

 similar to, but not exactly the same as, that found in apples and grape- 

 fruit. By this, I mean that owing to the long stems, the Lunches will be 

 loose, not tightly compacted, giving each fruit a better chance for devel- 

 opment. 



There is about all growth, a certain vitality which inheres to a greater 



