58 



1917 ANNUAL REPORT 



supply of good commercial fruit throughout the year, the biggest problem 

 confronting the industry today will have been solved. 



The California avocado nurserymen have been severely criticized for 

 carrying so many varieties. I think this criticism is unjust. I have talked 

 with every important nurseryman in the state, and they have all said that 

 just as soon as this Association takes definite action on the matter of varie- 

 ties, they will fall in line and carry only the five or six which the Associa- 

 tion will recommend. So the solution of the problem rests with you. Un- 

 til the nurserymen can be given definite assurance that certain avocados 

 will be developed as standard products, they will continue to list forty or 

 fifty varieties. 



When I returned to California last fall I had had some experience 

 with avocados in Florida as well as in the Eastern markets, and my ob- 

 servations there had led me to believe that the ideal fruit for commercial 

 purposes was one weighing a pound or a pound and a half, preferably 

 pear-shaped, with a small seed, free from fiber, and last and probably 

 most important of all, a fruit that would be served in the half shell. 



At the San Diego meeting I heard some discussion of the small Mex- 

 ican thin-skinned varieties and the place they would fill as commercial 

 fruits. I wondered whether I was mistaken and whether the fruit men in 

 the large Eastern markets and the hotel men in the East did not know the 

 kind of fruit their trade wanted. I therefore was very glad to hear the 

 excellent paper presented by Mr. Thos. H. Shedden of Monrovia, entitled 

 **The Hotel and the Avocado," and to find my views confirmed by a 

 practical hotel man. Further investigations in this state have convinced 

 me that the ideal avocado for California and the Western markets will be 

 the same as that demanded in the East. The tree should be hardy, a 

 vigorous grower, and relatively immune to fungus and insect troubles; the 

 fruit should weigh a pound, a pound and a half or possibly larger, have 

 a small seed, be free from fiber, rich in oil, and one which can be served 

 in the half shell. (See frontispiece.) 



I wish at this time to express my appreciation to Dr. Webber and 

 the members of this Association who have co-operated with us in our avo- 

 cado studies. I have visited all the original trees of the important com- 

 mercial varieties and whenever the grower was willing that we should, we 

 have secured performance records of the amount of fruit produced by the 

 original tree and budded trees of the different varieties. The record of the 

 original tree is important, but of far greater importance is a knowledge of 

 what the budded trees are doing. 



I also wish to express my hearty appreciation to the growers and 

 nurserymen who have co-operated in this work, especially Mr. Nusbickel, 

 Mr. Whedon, Mr. Beck, Mr. Spinks, Mr. Taft, Mr. Sharpless, Mr. 

 Wagner, Mr. Popenoe, and many others. I have tried to visit all the 

 trees under observation a number of times, and through our co-operators 

 have kept track and am keeping track of the amount of fruit produced by 

 each tree. In many cases we have not only a record of the total crop 

 produced by each tree, but also the fruit secured from each pick from 

 the tree. 



In addition to our field of work we have co-operated with Mr. E. M. 

 Chace, of the Bureau of Chemistry, United States Department of Agri- 



