Avocado Varieties for Florida 
E. D. Vosbury, U. S. 
That the avocado shows great promise 
of becoming an important fruit crop of 
Florida is well indicated by the interest 
which so many of our foremost horticul¬ 
turists are taking in its culture. Where 
only a few years ago our entire crop was 
harvested from a few scattered seedling 
trees, there are now over 500 acres of 
budded groves in Florida and plantings 
are rapidly increasing. Of the many 
problems which must be solved before 
this new fruit industry becomes fully 
established, none is more important than 
that of the selection of standard varieties. 
While it is true that our present data on 
avocado varieties for Florida are still 
scanty and incomplete, it might be well 
worth while at the very start of the game 
to sum up our experience to date and to 
consider the merits and limitations of a 
few of the many varieties already avail¬ 
able. 
More than 140 varieties are described 
in recent publications. In order to more 
conveniently study this large number of 
avocado varieties several attempts have 
been made to group together those varie¬ 
ties having common characteristics. Per¬ 
haps the most convenient plan of classi¬ 
fication is that which divides them into 
the West Indian, Guatemalan, and Mexi¬ 
can races. 
Dept, of Agriculture 
THE WEST INDIAN RACE 
Most of the common avocado trees in 
Florida, seedling as well as budded, be¬ 
long to the West Indian race. The fruits 
of this race are variable in size, with thin 
skins, and ripen in Florida from July to 
December. The origin of this race is 
held to have been in the warm, moist 
lowlands of tropical America and this 
origin is reflected in the tenderness of the 
trees, which, as illustrated in the recent 
freeze, are considerably less hardy than 
the Key lime and somewhat more tender 
than the common guava. Mature trees be¬ 
gin to show pronounced injury at about 28 
degrees, while at 25 degrees all of the 
largest trees will be killed to the main 
trunk or to the ground. Young trees, 1 
to 4 years old, are much more tender and 
may be injured at any temperature below 
30 degrees. While the avocados of the 
West Indian race are really tropical in 
nature, there is a considerable area in Flor¬ 
ida where they may be commercially 
planted with reasonable safety. This 
area is perhaps best indicated by the 
presence of numerous old avocado trees 
which have grown for years without 
special attention. It includes much of the 
East Coast, from the vicinity of Ft. Pierce 
south; the best protected localities south 
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