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Edible Products 



The next point to be considered is the probable life of the tree. Ramon de la 

 Sagra gives this as about 80 years. This is probably not a high estimate, for very old 

 trees are common in most tropical countries, [n the opinion of Mr. Henry Davis trees 

 are still growing in the northern part of Peru which antedate the advent of the 

 Spanish settlers. Some of these trees are fully three feet in diameter. Neither 

 do old trees appear to become less productive. 



YIELD AND HARVESTING. 



The yield of an avocado tree when in full bearing is quoted as ranging 

 from 50 to 500 fruits. In Hawaii the yield is said to be from 50 to 250 fruits, 

 being larger in alternate years. There is an actual record of a tree in California 

 that yielded 500 fruits in its eighteenth year. In Porto Rico, Avhile none were 

 actually counted, the average yield of a full-grown tree would surely seem to be 

 about 100. Rolfs states that the yield is usually over-estimated owing to the fact 

 that trees with few or no fruit are overlooked. An orchard of 110 trees of bearing 

 age. near Buenavista, Pla., was found in 1903 to yield an average of only ten fruits 

 per tree. The most prolific tree bore 385 fruits. 



Time to Pick. — The degree of maturity which the fruit should attain before 

 it is picked depends, of course, on the length of time it must be kept. There is, 

 however, no evidence that the quality is improved by fully ripening on the trees, 

 and in countries where the fruit is gathered for local consumption it is customary 

 to pick and store it several days before eating. In most varieties when the fruit 

 is fully ripe the seed does not entirely fill the central cavity, but whether it should 

 reach this stage before picking has not been definitely determined. This failure 

 of the seed to fill the cavity is probably due to a slight shrinking of the flesh, the 

 result, possibly, of evaporation after the fruit has ceased to receive nourishment 

 from the tree. The beginning of this process would seem to indicate the maturity 

 of the fruit. In the absence of definite information it seems probable that the 

 best results will be obtained with fruit picked when fully grown, but before it has 

 begun to ripen. Dybowski recommends that the red varieties be picked as soon as 

 they begin to colour, and the green ones when the colour begins to become lighter. 

 Many of the green varieties, however, do not change colour appreciably on ripening. 



Method of Gathering.— The picking of the fruit, although a matter of 

 prime importance, is one that has been given no consideration. In Florida, where 

 the avocado has received the most careful attention, the trees seldom reach a height 

 at which it is impracticable to use step-ladders, but in the Tropics, if the trees are 

 at all luxuriant, they place most of the fruit beyond this method of access. In these 

 countries the fruit is usually knocked from the trees with long poles, or the tree 

 is climbed and the fruit shaken to the ground, which, of course, ruins its keeping 

 qualities and causes it to ripen unevenly. Until some satisfactory method is devised 

 for gathering the fruit without bruising and with the stems attached, the shipping 

 qualities of the fruit from tall trees are likely to prove unsatisfactory. The wood 

 of the avocado tree is so brittle as to make the use of ladders impracticable, and 

 this, together with the fact that the fruit is borne far out on the end of the 

 branches, also makes it impossible to gather the fruit by climbing the trees. 



It would seem that the most feasible method of gathering avocados would 

 be the using of some form of mechanical fruit picker, mounted on a slender pole. 

 Numerous styles of this implement are to be found on the market, but perhaps 

 none will answer the purpose without alteration. The fruit picker that seems best 

 adapted is one that has a cloth tube along the side of the pole, into the upper end 

 of which the fruit drops and down which it slides into a basket attached to the 

 waist of the operator. Most of the pickers of this type, however, have merely 

 claws to pull the fruit from the trees, and it may be necessary to combine this 



