82 



The Supplement to the Tropical Agriculturist 



tion should be free and copious ; that the soil 

 should be well drained, deep, and friable ; and 

 that the species is partial to localities in which 

 alterations of wet and dry fceasons prevail. As 

 regards the selection of varieties for cultivation, 

 much success has already attended those known 

 in America as "Trapp" and "Pollock"; and 

 these are likely to also give the best results, for 

 the present, in India ; but, generally, it may be 

 said on the subject, that the most desirable 

 objects to be secured in the cultivation of the 

 Avocado in new localities are the production 

 of fruits which shall combine the following 

 qualities among the rest:— (1) prolificness, (,•?) 

 a thick and leathery skin, (3) good keeping 

 qualities, (4) small seeds which completely fill 

 the pocket in the fruit and do not rattle, to its 

 detriment, when shaken. 



The dietetic value of a fruit depends upon its 

 acid juiciness and flavour. The juicier a fruit, 

 the greater is its value, particularly as an article 

 of food ; actual chemical analyses of the best 

 fruits always revealing the presence in them of, 

 proportionately, large quantities of water ; and 

 as the majority of the finest of edible fruits are 

 either acid or sub acid, their acid juiciness is, 

 in fact, the property for which they are chiefly 

 prized. This acid juiciness is dependent upon 

 the presence, in more or less quantity, of sugars 

 and certain organic acids familiarly known as 

 the free fruity acids. Of this latter class, Citric 

 and Malic acids are said to be highly antiseptic 

 bodies which tend to prevent the germs of disease 

 from finding a place or developing in the body. 

 The flavour of a fruit is due, in part, to the pre- 

 sence in it of the organic acids, but is more 

 largely the result of the occurrence in the pulp 

 of certain volatile oils and aromatic substances 

 (ethers). These three classes of bodies tend to 

 lower the temperature of the blood and to keep 

 the whole digestive tract, together with all the 

 organs of secretion, in a working and thoroughly 

 sanitary condition. Judged in the presence of 

 these criteria, the remarkable fruit called the 

 Avocado Pear is possessed of great dietetic 

 value ; for, though it is not, and never will be, 

 a dessert fruit, like the apple or grape, its whole- 

 some properties and attractive flavour have al- 

 ready helped to make it one of the most highly- 

 prized and justly coveted salad fruits of the 

 tropical world. The proportion of fat which 

 the pulp contains has been estimated at from 8 

 to 18 per cent., and it is to the presence of this 

 estimable property that the fruit owes much of 

 its value as a staple food and its great and in- 

 creasing popularity in all the countries of its 



cultivation. Again, three of its most familiar 



names — "butter fruit," "poor man's butter" 

 "soldier's butter" — are due to the fact that, in 

 the countries of its production, it is used by the 

 natives in lieu of butter fat. The fat is a green 

 aromatic oil with the odour of laurel oil and a 

 peculiar attractive flavour ; it solidifies at a tem- 

 perature of 15 degrees centigrade. It is one of 

 the most delicate of West Indian fruits, being 

 known there as " vegetable marrow," and, from 

 its chemical composition, as determined by 

 Patrault, it will be seen that its claims to 

 recognition as a food-stuff are not based 

 upon mere fancy or caprice, but upon an al- 

 most ideal proportion of the elements which 

 tend to make any fruit with them valuable. 

 These are : — 



Water ... ... 82.1 per cent. 



Protein ... .... 1.2 „ 



Fat ... 8.7 



Sugar .... 2.9 ,, 



Cellulose and undetermined 



material ... ... 46 



Ash ... ... 0.5 



This pulp is so rich and mild that the addition 

 of a spicp or other substance is necessary to 

 give it the requisite piquancy. Accordingly, 

 Port wine, sugar, lime-juice, pepper and salt, 

 vinegar, Worcester sauce are among the adjuncts 

 which help to make the pulp the delectable 

 article of diet which it is. It is also used as an 

 ingredient of other salads, and frequeotly be- 

 comes a favourite even with those who do not 

 like it at first. But the fact remains to be 

 noted, in spite of the glories that have been 

 sung of the fruit, that until varieties combining 

 the qualities which have been already noted as 

 desirable in the Avocados which we would culti- 

 vate commercially for profit can be evolved by 

 budding and grafting, its value as a marketable 

 commodity will be doubtful. At present, and 

 for some time to come, the Avocado is likely to 

 remain among that select class of fruits which, 

 in the quiet leisure of our respite time, we would 

 raise for our own and our children's use in a 

 corner of the garden around our homes. And 

 if it be true that the value of a product which 

 a man grows for his own and his family's benefit 

 is always to him more precious than the riches 

 which he would cull by the sale of what he 

 grows for the world, then it seems to me to be 

 also true that budded stocks of the better varie- 

 ties of this remarkable salad fruit ot the West 

 are worthy a place in the garden in which, for- 

 getting the cares and the worries of work and 

 life, he would raise the products he will not sell. 



A. M. S. 



—Capital, May 2. 



