CALIFORNIA AVOCADO ASSOCIATION 



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Oak (Grevillea robusta) is largely used, often in conjunction with a native 

 species of Inga, a leguminous tree of medium size and spreading habit. 

 Avocados spring up in these coffee plantations, from seeds dropped by the 

 laborers. When one of these seedlings occurs in a spot where it can de- 

 velop and become a part of the shade tree system, it is usually left; if its 

 situation is unfavorable it may be pulled up or crowded out by other trees 

 which it happens to be near. In most of the coffee plantations of this val- 

 ley there are numerous avocado trees scattered here and there. Two hun- 

 dred was the largest number I counted in any one plantation, and rarely 

 are there more than fifty, but the presence of even fifty avocados in a single 

 plantation of ten or twenty acres is rare in the tropics, for fruit trees are 

 usually scattered and almost never cultivated in regular orchards as they 

 are in the North. Some of the best avocados in all Guatemala are to be 

 found in these coffee fincas of Antigua, and I shall always look back on 

 that delightful little valley as one of the pleasantest spots it has ever been 

 my privilege to visit. Its climate is equable and not excelled by that of 

 Southern California; its setting is indescribably beautiful; its historic back- 

 ground is fascinating, with its memories of Alvarado and Bartolome de las 

 Casas, Protector of the Indians; and its appearance is exceedingly pic- 

 turesque. 



Next to Antigua, I believe the most important avocado region is San 

 Cristobal Verapaz, far to the north of Guatemala City, and reached only 

 by riding three days across the mountains, or by going down to the coast, 

 taking a boat up the Polochic River to Panzos, the train twenty-eight 

 miles further to Pancajehe, and a horse or mule from there for a long day's 

 ride. I was fortunate in making the acquaintance of an American coffee 

 planter in this region, a man of the type which Guatemalans would de- 

 scribe as mup s^mpatlco. Without the assistance of R. W. Hempstead, 

 in fact, I doubt if it would have been possible to obtain the excellent avo- 

 cados from San Cristobal which we finally succeeded in shipping to Wash- 

 ington. Twice did I cut budwood from the trees, pack it carefully, and 

 forward it with all haste, only to receive a cablegram that it was dead 

 upon arrival. With Mr. Hempstead's assistance, however, it was finally 

 possible to land budwood of three splendid avocados from San Cristobal, 

 together with two from nearby Purula, safely in Washington. 



San Cristobal Verapaz lies at an elevation of about 4500 feet. Con- 

 sequently it is not subjected to low temperatures. It has a rainfall prob- 

 ably twice that of Antigua, and the soil is a heavy, tenacious clay. The 

 town is filled with little patches of coffee, owned principally by the In- 

 dians, and many avocado trees are scattered here and there among the 

 coffee bushes. 



The village of Purula lies southeasterly from San Cristobal, just 

 about a day's ride. Its elevation is 5 1 00 feet, its climate much cooler 

 than that of San Cristobal, yet not cold enough to experience severe frosts. 

 One can tell by the character of the cultivated vegetation approximately 

 how much frost these mountain villages experience. In Antigua, for ex- 

 ample, the presence of the royal palm (Roy^stonea regia) indicates very 

 definitely that severe frosts are not experienced, though there may be occa- 

 sional Hght frosts which scorch the leaves of the coffee bushes. Purula 

 does not grow royal palms, but has other plants characteristic of mild situa- 



