20 BULLETIN 1073, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
double samples, the storage fruit had 11.2 per cent of skin and the 
fresh fruit 13. S per cent. As the moisture in the pulp was about the 
same between the two sets, this shows that any loss in weight on 
standing is largely due to loss of water from the skins. 
The proportion of seed is somewhat higher in the storage samples 
than in the fresh, about 0.8 per cent, being 15.2 for the fresh and 16. 
for the storage. The loss of water from the skin, which increases 
the relative proportion of the seed, probably is the cause. 
The percentage of water in the pulp varies but little. The 40 
double samples show about 0.7 per cent more water in the storage 
than in the fresh samples, a quantity which is probably negligible, 
as it amounts to only 1 per cent of the moisture content. The per- 
centage of ash is higher by approximately 10 per cent in the storage 
samples than in the fresh. The only way to explain this discrepancy, 
which is too large to be accounted for by variation in the samples, 
is by the difficulty of separating the pulp and skin of the very imma- 
ture fresh samples. The greater portion of ash in the pulp of the 
avocado lies next to the skin. If more of the pulp of the fresh samples 
were left adhering to the skin, less ash would be apparent in the 
remaining pulp. This difficulty is not encountered in the soft sam- 
ples, as the pulp is more readily separated. The fact that the greater 
ash content is nearer the skin, found true in many fruits, has been 
confirmed in the case of the avocado by analyses made in the labo- 
ratory, which showed the outer half of the pulp next to the skin to 
have 1.54 per cent of ash, as compared with 1.36 per cent of ash in 
the inner half next the seed, the same avocado being used for each 
determination. 
The protein content shows a somewhat similar change, the average 
content for the storage samples being approximately 1.8 per cent, 
while the fresh samples contain but 1.6 per cent. Calculation to the 
water-free basis does not alter the general ratio between the protein 
contents of the samples. Another peculiarity of the data is the uni- 
form increase in the protein content of the storage samples of imma- 
ture fruits over that of the fresh samples. This is particularly notice- 
able in the case of the Lyon, where the average increase in protein of the 
storage samples over the fresh is more than 0.4 per cent. With some 
of the other varieties, this increase is more marked in the case of the 
immature fruits: after maturity there is in many cases little change, 
and in some a reverse condition is true. Taking it all in all, the results 
are inconclusive. It is hard to conceive of a condition where the 
actual nitrogen content of the fruit could be increased after removal 
from the tree. 
There also seems to be a decided increase in fat content in the 
storage samples when the fruit is immature, an increase which is not 
maintained after maturity has been reached. At present it is not 
