157 



Edible Products. 



With labour at a reasonable price the seed and planting ought to cost 

 not more than 10 cents per tree, and this with trees 20 feet each way, making 

 109 to the acre, would aggregate to $10"90 an acre. The cost of culture would 

 also vary greatly in different localities, but this again can in each locality be 

 reckoned with considerable accuracy, together with the rebate to be allowed 

 for catch crops. Where orchards are started from choice varieties by asexual 

 method of propagation an additional allowance will have to be made for budding 

 or grafting. Trees may be expected to come into bearing about the fourth or 

 fifth year, and may yield crops for fifty or seventy-five years. The average yield per 

 tree may be reckoned at one hundred fruits, and should come nearer five hundred. 

 With a crop of great value like the avocado the cost of gathering and marketing is 

 relatively small, although the fruit must be handled with considerable care, 

 especially the thinner skinned forms. In the present state of the market, the small 

 shipments of avocados that are received usually retail at from 25 to 50 cents apiece. 



SUMMARY. 



The avocado is a tropical fruit little known in the United States but rapidly 

 growing in popularity. Its appreciation by the northern public is doubtless retarded 

 by a misunderstanding of its true character as a food, since it is in reality a salad, 

 being very generally eaten with condiments, This usual role, however, removes it 

 from direct competition with other fruits and tends to make its popularity permanent. 



This fruit is undoubtedly of American origin, but appears to have been 

 introduced into the West Indies after their discovery. It was an important article 

 of food among the Indians of the continent from Mexico to Peru. It is not yet 

 certain whether the cultivated trees belong to one or more species, botanical writers 

 have given little attention to the many cultivated sorts. There are many wild 

 species of Persea in this region. 



Though few varieties have been described, the diversity of form is very great. 

 In general this diversity seems to follow geographical lines, the forms of any parti- 

 cular region being more or less closely related. A very distinct type, with thick, 

 hard skin, was found in Guatemala, which promises to surpass in shipping qualities 

 the better known forms. 



The avocados now found in the markets come largely from Cuba, and the 

 chief commercial difficulty is occasioned by the poor shipping qualities of the fruit 

 and the failures to distinguish the different varieties, the whole industry having 

 suffered from the shortcomings of the poorer forms. Efforts to ship the delicate- 

 skinned Porto Rican fruits have thus far failed. For this island it is recommended 

 that the hard-skinned sorts of Guatemala be introduced. These, it is believed, will 

 stand shipping even better than those from Cuba. Experiments have demonstrated 

 that avocados can be successfully shipped in cold storage. 



At present the season for avocados in the markets of the United States is the 

 late summer and early autumn. By importing from different countries, however, 

 the season could be extended throughout the entire year. 



The plant requires a strictly tropical climate, with the possible exception of 

 some of the hardy varieties of the Mexican table-lands, and to be prolific there 

 should be a distinct dry season. 



Young plants are readily propagated from seed, and budding and grafting can 

 be accomplished, the former method being in common use in Florida. 



As far as can be judged from the limited and irregular supply, the market is 

 good, especially in the latter part of the season. Prices range from 10 to 60 cents 

 apiece. Uniformity as regards both quantity and quality is the prime requisite for 

 sustaining the market. 



If anything like the present prices can be maintained, the growing of avoca- 

 dos of good shipping varieties ought to become a very remunerative industry.— U. S. 

 Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Plant Industry.— Bulletin No. 77, pp. 9/49. 



