THE AVOCADO IF GUATEMALA. 55 
45 feet high, with a straight trunk 18 inches thick at the base, giving 
off its first branch 18 feet from the ground. The crown is not very 
broad, but open and sparsely branched, some of the limbs showing a 
tendency to droop. The age of the tree is not definitely known, but 
is probably 15 to 20 years. The character of the bud wood pro- 
duced by the tree is fairly satisfactory; the growths are short, but 
the buds are well formed and show no tendency to drop. 
Lacking a definite test in the United States, it must be assumed 
that the variety is about average in hardiness. The climate of Anti- 
gua is not sufficiently cold to demonstrate the hardiness of a variety. 
The flowering season is February and March. The fruits ripen 
rather early for this region, the first ones commencing to drop in 
February, while a few hang on until April or May. The season may 
be called January to April. This rather early season of ripening is 
of especial importance to California, where the variety should have a 
careful trial. Its productiveness is satisfactory. The crop ripened 
in the spring of 1917 was good, but few fruits were set from the 
blooms of 1917. This is nothing unusual, since trees of the Guate- 
malan race do not as a rule bear heavily every year. 
The fruit is broadly obovoid, 1 pound in weight, rough and yel- 
lowish green on the surface, with a skin almost as thick as a coconut 
shell, but easily cut. The flesh is almost as yellow as butter, clean 
and free from discoloration, and of very rich flavor, while the seed is 
comparatively small and tight in the cavity. The variety has every 
appearance of being an excellent one. 
The fruit may be formally described as follows : 
Form obovoid, slightly oblique at the apex; size above medium to large, 
weight 15 to 18 ounces, length 4£ inches, greatest breadth 3£ inches; base 
rounded or obscurely pointed ; stem stout, 4 inches long, inserted obliquely with- 
out depression ; apex obliquely flattened, depressed around the stigmatic point ; 
surface heavily pebbled to rough, green to yellowish green in color, with 
numerous small rounded yellowish dots ; skin thick, about one-eighth of an inch 
throughout, not thicker toward the apex than near the base, as in many 
avocados, woody, very brittle; flesh firm, smooth, rich yellow in color, tinged 
with green near the skin, fiber or discoloration entirely lacking, the flavor very 
rich and pleasant; quality excellent; seed medium sized or rather small, 
roundish conic in form, weighing 2 ounces, tight in the cavity, with both seed 
coats adhering closely. 
TUMIN. (No. 20.) S. P. I. No. 44627. 
The Tumin variety is remarkable for its unusual productiveness, 
the fruits often being borne in clusters of two to five, a characteristic 
which is quite rare in the Guatemalan race. The fruit is almost iden- 
tical in form with the Trapp as grown in Florida; it weighs about 
a pound, and is of handsome appearance, with a smooth, glossy skin 
of purple-black color. The flesh is of excellent appearance and 
flavor. The seed is medium sized. Taken all around, this seems a 
