and Magazine of the Ceylon Agricultural Society.— July, 1918. 



81 



THE AVOCADO PEAR. 



The Avocado (sometimes corrupted into 

 "Alligator ") Pear is the fruit of the tree known 

 to Botanists as the Persea gratissina Gaertner — 

 a tropical American Lauraceous species which, 

 together with about twenty-five others, makes 

 up the genus of evergreen trees that flourishes 

 from the cool and balmy sea-coast to the hot 

 and arid regions of the interior. The centre of 

 the natural distribution of the species is the south 

 of Mexico and the east of Peru, where it is a 

 denizen of the dense evergreen forests that instal 

 themselves on the banks of streams. The range 

 of its growth, in a south-easterly direction, is 

 limited by the Amazon and its tributaries in 

 Brazil. The centre of its economic cultivation 

 is Porto Rico. It has been introduced into 

 Morida, California, Jamaica and the West Indies 

 generally, and is widely distributed in the 

 colonies of the old world. The Sunda Islauds, 

 Mauritius, Madagascar, Bourbon, Ceylon, 

 Hawaii, Malaya, Queensland, Natal, the Azores, 

 and the Canaries are, at present, among the 

 regions of its cultivation. In its natural home, 

 the Avocado attains its greatest perfection in 

 localities that are sheltered in the valleys of the 

 Coast Ranges between altitudes of 2,000 and 3,000 

 feet. In Ceylon it is vigorous between 1,000 and 

 2,000 feet, but " fruits well also at lower eleva- 

 tions if the rainfall is not below 60 inches." 

 In India, " it thrives up to an elevation of 4,500 

 feet " above sea-level. This very wide range of 

 distribution of the species is an | index of its 

 great powers of adaptability to a variety of 

 soils and climates in both the tropics and sub- 

 tropics of the world. The Avocado is a small 

 to medium size tree, which attains to heights 

 of 20 to 40 feet. It is of a bushy habit of 

 growth, with elliptical to lanceolate glossy- 

 green leaves that are simple, acute, narrowed 

 near the base, long-petioled, and about six 

 inches in length. The flowers are green, which 

 the pear-shaped fruit, which is pale-green, yel- 

 low, brown, or purple, is sometimes tinged or 

 streaked with red. It is from 4 to 6 inches 

 long and 3 to 4 or 5 iuches across at its thickest 

 part, which is near the free end. It is borne 

 at the tip of a thickened stalk, which termin- 

 ates the slender twig that springs from the 

 top or side of a straggling branch. The edi- 

 ble part of the feuifc consists of an aromatic 

 mass of buttery pulp that lies between the 

 skin and the seed, and is divisible, at maturity, 

 down its length, into two equal parts, from 

 apex to base. The single seed is large and 

 fleshy. It is round or slightly pointed at the 



11 



I 



base. Two classes of the fruit are usually met 

 with the one, of Mexican origin, having a 

 smooth thin skin, is small and green and often 

 tinged with red or purple ; while, the other, of 

 Guatemalan descent, has a thick rough skin and 

 varios much in colour, size, shape, and flavour. 

 The trees bearing the two kinds of fruits are said 

 to also present variation in regard to leaf and 

 habit of growth ; the Guatemalan type being 

 distinguished by more lanceolate leaf and a 

 more open habit than the Mexican, which, in its 

 turn, is hardier. The disadvantage attaching to 

 the thin-skinned fruits is that they are easily 

 bruised and injured in handling, packing, and 

 transport. The seed, too, at maturity, becomes 

 detached from its supporting membranes and, 

 by rattling up against the walls of the pocket in 

 the pulp in which it is placed, tends to injure 

 the fruit when shaken. These features have 

 hitherto stood in the way of the transport of the 

 fruit on a large, commercial, or extensive scale ; 

 and, consequently, the thin-skinned Mexican 

 Avocado, though grown in many localities in the 

 world, is still unknown in most of the countries 

 lying outside the bounds of its cultivation. 

 These circumstances, coupled with the fact that 

 the seed soon loses its power to sprout, account 

 for the scarcity of the fruit in countries removed 

 from the field of its growth. These disadvan- 

 tages do not attach, to the same extent, to the 

 Guatemalan Avocado ; for its tougher skin ad- 

 mits of its being handled with greater freedom 

 and less fear of injury ; consequently, endeav- 

 ours are being made in places, where the fruit 

 is to be grown in quantity, to raise hybrids be- 

 tween the two varieties and to graft or bud the 

 Gautemalan upon stocks of the Mexican Avo- 

 cado. The tree is easily raised from seed, but 

 is seldom " true " to the type sown. Seedling 

 trees, though hardier than grafts, also take 

 longer to go into fruit, bearing, in most places, 

 only from 16 to 25 years after sowing. Bud- 

 ded trees, on the other hand, may be induced, 

 it is said, to fruit in the third year from 

 being set out. Budding has the further ad- 

 vantage of tending to dwarf the trees to some 

 extent ; so that, an orchard of any given ex- 

 tent would hold more grafts than seedling 

 trees. The budding (Shield Budding), planting, 

 irrigation, and treatment of the Avocado tree 

 may be made to follow the same general princi- 

 ples of culture as are adopted in the cultivation 

 of the larger Citrous fruits. But the special 

 facts to be borne in mind in the cultivation of 

 the Avocado are that for young stocks buds 

 from young wood should be used ; that irriga- 



