Avocado Culture in South Dade County 
E. R. Goldberg, Redlands 
A great deal has been said about the 
Avocado and its culture in different parts 
of the State, as to climatic and soil con¬ 
ditions, and as to type and-variety of this 
fruit. 
Avocado culture has been growing in 
leaps and bounds for the past four years 
in Dade County, and has been retarded 
only through the shortage of nursery 
stock available for planting. Hundreds 
of acres of Avocados would have been 
planted if trees had been obtainable. I 
know of cases where trees were ordered 
one year in advance in order to get the 
desired variety. The reason for this, I 
believe, is a shortage of bud-wood for 
nursery work. Fruiting of different types 
and varieties of the Avocado has been 
carried on by the nurseryman only, so 
that when a certain variety was found 
worthy of propagation, the source of 
bud-wood was very much limited. I hope 
the time is not far distant when the in¬ 
dividual grower will take it upon himself 
to be of some help along this line, and 
plant a few seeds of the different races 
and varieties. In this way he is not only 
helping the industry in which he is actu¬ 
ally engaged, but will be helping himself 
financially. 
Avocado growing in Dade County, 
from the growers point of view, is indeed 
a promising one. In making this state¬ 
ment, I do not wish to infer, that we do 
not have our troubles in propagating this 
:fruit. This, however, is only a natural 
condition and is one that confronts the 
grower of all fruits and vegetables. 
I am going to give you a few facts 
taken from experience and observation 
during the past six years as a grower of 
this fruit. In doing this I shall confine 
myself to the district with which I am 
familiar—South Dade County. 
The first question for the Avocado 
grower to solve is the land on which to 
make his planting. I would consider any 
land that is not subject to overflow, or 
land upon which water does not stand 
for more than two or three days at a time, 
as good Avocado ground. The Avocado 
is a gross consumer of this liquid, but 
also appreciates a happy medium. I have 
seen many Avocados destroyed in a very 
short time from stagnant water around 
the crown roots of the tree, and I would 
therefore regard land of this type with 
suspicion. 
The type of land with which we have 
to deal in South Dade County, is of cor- 
aline origin, the rock coming to the sur¬ 
face and intermingling with a red clay 
soil. This soil is very shallow, which 
necessitates a preparation of the land 
prior to planting, for good results. This 
can best be done by scarifying to a depth 
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