Edible Products. 



314 



[October, 1911. 



of little more value commercially than 

 the purple ones, although the quality is 

 all that cculd be desired in some cases. 

 To be profitable commercially, the fruit 

 will have to be thick and tough skinned, 

 so as to stand shipment, and as yet no 

 Mexican variety which has fruited here 

 has this quality. 



Outside of the Mexican varieties the 

 only other type known to have success- 

 fully fruited here is the Guatemalan. 

 The trees of this type are probably all 

 descendants of the old Miller tree, the 

 seed of which was brought from Guate- 

 mala and planted at Hollywood over 

 twenty-five years ago. Numerous seed- 

 lings have been grown from this tree, 

 several of which are now bearing. The 

 Walker tree is the best known of these, 

 and is the most prolific tree known heie, 

 its crop every year running into the 

 thousands. Prom the behaviour of 

 these trees it seems certain that this 

 type is admirably adapted to this cli- 

 mate, a fact of the greatest importance 

 to the future of the industry here. 



In his bulletin on the avocado, Collins 

 speaks of the avocados of Guatemala as 

 forming a very distinct group, the most 

 peculiar characteristic of which is the 

 unusual thickness and toughness of the 

 skin, and he considers them the most 

 promising of all the types from a com- 

 mercial standpoint. It is particularly 

 fortunate, then, that this type has been 

 tested here and its adaptability proved, 

 for the way has been paved for the intro- 

 duction of numerous forms of the type 

 with practical assurance of success. 

 Another noteworthy point in regard to 

 this type is the fact that all of the local 

 trees are spring bearers, this point alone 

 making them of great value. Being 

 spring bearers their blooming season is 

 considerably later than thf> fall bearing 

 Mexican sorts, so that the danger of the 

 crop being destroyed by late frosts is 

 almost eliminated. Already we have 

 several varieties of this type that are 

 well worth growing, of which the Lyon 

 is the most promising, it being the finest 

 avocado yet produced in California, of 

 good size and excellent quality. This 

 variety has just come into bearing, and 

 therefore is little known as yet, but its 

 prolificacy and good qualities promise to 

 place it in the lead of the local varieties. 

 The trees of the Guatemalan type are 

 easily distinguished from those of the 

 Mexican type, because more spreading, 

 particularly when young, and the leaves 

 are more lanceolate. 



It has been the general impression 

 that the South American type which is 

 grown in Florida would not succeed 

 here, but this remains to be proved. 



Budded trees or many Florida varieties 

 are being tested in Southern California, 

 and the Bureau of Plant Industry ex- 

 pects to send out a large number for this 

 spring for trial. One large tree at 

 Sherman which was worked over to the 

 Trapp variety flowered this year for the 

 first time, and numerous other trees are 

 becoming old enough to bear, and will be 

 watched with interest for the next few 

 years. This type is certainly more 

 tender than the Mexican, but the past 

 few winters have shown that some 

 varieties at least will stand our average 

 winter temperature without injury. 

 Future experience will likely coufirm 

 the present belief that this type will 

 succeed in many locations here. 



Numerous seedlings of Hawaiian, 

 Cuban, and West Indian varieties 

 have been grown, but as yet these have 

 not come into bearing. Budded trees 

 will have to be tested before anything 

 definite can be said of their adaptability. 



It has been stated that the avocado 

 would not succeed in the hot and dry 

 interior parts of California, Trees are 

 known to have grown without injury as 

 far into the interior as Redlands and 

 Riverside, and have fruited heavily at 

 Pomona and San Fernando, and should 

 be tried at Imperial. 



Propagation. 

 By Seed. This is the simplest method, 

 and the one most practised in California 

 up to the present time. The seeds of 

 most varieties are obtainable during late 

 summer and autumn, and should be 

 planted as soon after removal from the 

 fruit as possible. It has been found to 

 hasten germination greatly if the seeds 

 are buried in moist sand or sawdust for 

 a period of two to four weeks before 

 planting. During this time they should 

 be occasionally examined, and when 

 they show signs of germinating they 

 can be taken out and planted in pots. 

 After this treatment they will 9tart to 

 grow very promptly, and it has the added 

 advantage that only seeds, that are sure 

 to grow are planted, and no labour is 

 wasted. For most seeds a four inch pot 

 is large enough. The seeds should be 

 placed in the pot pointed end up, or in 

 the case of the round seeded varieties, 

 the end toward the stem of the fruit, 

 and about one-fourth of the seed left 

 exposed above the surface of the soil. 

 A good rich soil is essential to the best 

 development of the young plant, and 

 should be kept thoroughly moist, but 

 care should be exercised to avoid stand- 

 ing water in the pots, as this is fatal to 

 either the seed or the young tree. While 

 the young trees should be grown in a 



