FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
107 
chairmen, for instance I might cite the 
chairman of our Citrus Canker Commit¬ 
tee, have an idea that it is their duty to 
do a little more work than all the rest of 
the Committee put together. 
My own ideas in that respect are de¬ 
cidedly different. My idea of the proper 
duties of a chairman of a committee are 
that he should see that the other members 
of the committee do all the work. I have 
tried to carry that out, and I think, since 
the president has favored me with a par¬ 
ticularly strong committee, that you will 
all agree to be satisfied with my judg¬ 
ment. 
During this time of war and prepara¬ 
tion for war, we are very prone to analyze 
the merits of any product from a strictly 
utilitarian standpoint. From such a basis 
I am afraid most of you would not give 
a great deal of consideration to the avo¬ 
cado. I think that most of you would 
agree with a member of the California 
Avocado Association. He said at one of 
their meetings, in speaking of the charac¬ 
teristics that should be embodied in a 
good avocado, that the fruit should have 
a rich and nutty flavor, and that a good 
many people considered that was also the 
qualifications necessary for the consumer 
of it. (Laughter.) 
That is, to some extent, justified, but 
the things we are learning about varie¬ 
ties, about cultivation and the apprecia¬ 
tion that must eventually come to the 
avocado as a food product, must soon 
bring to hand the day when the avocado 
will have a firm place in the horticulture 
of this state, based strictly on its eco^ 
nomic value as a food product; not as a 
luxury, not as a salid fruit, but as a food. 
That day is certainly not at hand right 
now. The fruit is now grown for a re¬ 
stricted market, but with the extensive 
plantings that are bound to come and with 
a fruit that possesses so many high quali¬ 
ties from a nutritive standpoint, I be¬ 
lieve that before many years we will see 
the avocado cultivated as much in Florida 
as the olive is in Italy, strictly as a food 
product. 
MARKETING AVOCADOS BY PARCEL POST 
Mrs. P. H. Rolfs 
Mr. President , Ladies and Gentlemen : 
After two seasons of interesting and 
satisfactory results obtained by marketing 
avocados by parcel post, I believe I have 
the right to recommend it. By timely ad¬ 
vertising, careful picking and packing, 
and prompt attention to all the details of 
mail order service, the grower can de¬ 
velop a satisfactory market for his crop. 
The consumer can place on his table pro¬ 
ducts almost as fresh as can the grower 
himself, by availing himself of the par¬ 
cel post method. 
The paper published on page 216 of 
the Proceedings of the Florida State 
Horticultural Society for 1915, speaks of 
the success of my first trial. The fol¬ 
lowing season the work was necessarily 
