62 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
ceived by the grower from the time first 
shipments were made to this date are evi¬ 
dence of its popularity, and the demand 
for this fruit has made it the highest 
priced fruit on the American market to¬ 
day. Our budded varieties of Avocados 
have made records of sales, in individual 
cases, which, used as a basis for comput¬ 
ing grove returns would run into figures 
to stagger the imagination. 
The fruit from a grove in Southern 
Dade County consisting of 200 budded 
trees returned over $800.00 to the grower 
three and one-half years after trees were 
planted. The next season the fruit was 
sold for $1,200.00 on the trees. Then 
followed two lean years on account of 
frost injury to the tips and bloom buds. 
Last season the fruit from this same 
grove netted the grower over $4,000.00. 
It is not uncommon to sell budded va¬ 
rieties of Avocados at from $10.00 to 
$20.00 per crate of about three dozen 
fruits, and the usual range of prices of 
the later budded varieties, on the tree, is 
from $2.00 to $3.00 per dozen. The 
question that arises in the mind of the 
investor is, “Will the markets continue to 
pay the prices paid in past years ?” 
The prices of Avocados or of any other 
fruit are governed by the law of supply 
and demand, and the answer to the ques¬ 
tion of future prices resolves itself nec¬ 
essarily into a prediction. If demand 
keeps pace with supply or vice versa, if 
supply falls short of demand, if the pres¬ 
ent ratio of supply to demand is main¬ 
tained, then we may expect no reduction 
in prices of Avocados. 
We have in this country a very limited 
area in which this fruit may be grown 
under practical conditions. We have, so 
to speak, a monopoly on the growing of 
this fruit commercially south of the line 
passing somewhere through the peninsula 
of Florida, a limited area at best, and an 
important factor in limiting the supply 
and maintaining the past ratio of supply 
to demand. 
True! The fruit may be grown com¬ 
mercially in the nearby tropical islands, 
but it is also true that the fruits of these 
islands will not carry satisfactorily be¬ 
yond our seaport cities, and even there 
does not generally arrive in satisfactory 
condition. Furthermore, this fruit is 
from seedling trees and does not come 
into season with our best varieties. The 
grower of Avocados here does not recog¬ 
nize competition of foreign Avocados. 
But a few years ago the Avocado was 
practically unknown in the markets of 
our large cities. Its sterling qualities 
won for it immediate recognition of the 
public, and by a flavor all its own and 
its characteristic as a salad fruit, it has 
held its popularity. To some the first 
taste may be insipid, but a taste usually 
invites another, which grows into a desire 
for more. The Avocado with a favorite 
dressing is pronounced the most delicious 
of all salads. Once the taste for the fruit 
is acquired, the desire to satisfy the palate 
becomes almost a craving, accompanied 
by a readiness to pay almost any price for 
the fruit. 
In the tropics where the Avocado is 
well known it is eaten and relished by all; 
there is no substitute for the Avocado. 
It is and will be in competition only with 
itself. It is unique in character and fla- 
