CALIFORNIA AVOCADO ASSOCIATION 



117 



when grown in a cold climate. This is not the case. There is no rela- 

 tion between altitude and thickness of skin. The thickest skinned varieties 

 were found in the Alta Verapaz at elevations of 3000 to 5000 feet, while 

 the avocados of Momostenango (7500 ft.) and Totonicapan (8500 ft.), 

 the latter at the uppermost limit of avocado culture, had comparatively 

 thin skins. 



The two common colors of Guatemalan avocados, green and purple, 

 are found everywhere; I was not able to notice that one was decidedly 

 more frequent than the other in any particular region. Yellowish greens 

 are sometimes seen, and varying shades of purple; of the latter, maroon is 

 the lightest shade, and a brilliant purplish black the deepest. Bright green 

 and deep purple are the two common colors, however. In some parts of 

 the tropics the natives have a preference for avocados of a certain color, 

 but I was unable to find any well-marked trend in this direction anywhere 

 in Guatemala. 



Comparing the Guatemalan avocados at present grown in California 

 with those of Guatemala itself, I feel that California has been fortunate 

 in having received so many fruits of good quality. For I believe many of 

 the best California varieties, such as Sharpless, Dickinson, and Blakeman, 

 are better than the average fruits sold in the markets of Guatemala City. 

 But in a lottery the man who holds five tickets has a better prospect of 

 winning than the man who holds one. The law of chance is inviolable. 

 So it is that among the many thousands of avocados found in Guatemala, 

 a few very superior ones are bound to occur, and these I believe to sur- 

 pass in quality anything yet known in California. The California varie- 

 ties apparently had good parentage, and they are as a rule of good quality ; 

 but an occasional variety which I have found in Guatemala has impressed 

 me, viewing it as impartially as possible, as far superior to anything which 

 I have ever seen in California. The flesh is of deeper yellow color, 

 smoother, more buttery texture, and richer flavor than in any varieties yet 

 Icnown in the United States. 



In many fruits grown in the Guatemalan highlands, — it might almost 

 be said in the majority of fruits, — the flesh is cream colored. In some it 

 is cream-yellow, and in a few it is deep yellow. Rarely is there any ob- 

 jectionable fiber. Fiber seems to be much more characteristic of the Mex- 

 ican race than it is of the Guatemalan. Even the most primitive forms 

 seen in the Alta Verpaz did not have noticeable fiber in the flesh. 



The flavor of nearly all Guatemalan avocados is pleasant if the 

 fruits are fully ripe, but some greatly exceed others in richness. 



We have thought, from a study of the Guatemalan varieties culti- 

 vated in CaHfornia, that this race of avocados was characterized by a 

 smaller seed, in comparison to the size of the fruit, than either the West 

 Indian or the Mexican race. It has seemed to me, however, that the Cali- 

 fornia varieties are not typical in this respect of the Guatemalan race, most 

 of them having smaller seeds than the average noted in Guatemala. Many 

 of the fruits purchased in the markets of Guatemala City to furnish seed 

 for pleinting in the United States, — and there were about 30,000 of them, 

 from many different trees, — had seeds which were so large as to make 

 the variety of no value horticulturally. It takes much searching to bring 



