FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
83 
tion, and I will class them as to season 
of maturity and race: 
Pollock .—This is our summer fruit, 
maturing during the months of August 
and September, and is of very good qual¬ 
ity. It is a large fruit weighing from two 
to three pounds, and is as a rule a shy 
bearer. This characteristic seems to ap¬ 
ply pretty much to all varieties bearing 
large fruits. The tree is a vigorous 
grower, and of West Indian race. It has 
netted the grower some very good returns 
during the last two years. 
Trapp .—This variety has been grown 
extensively in Dade County, for a good 
many years, and has been a profitable in¬ 
vestment for the grower. Trapp is of 
West Indian race and is a fair grower 
and fruiter. We have found that this 
variety is not an even fruiter, being in¬ 
clined to put on more fruit than it is able 
to take care of, and at the same time put 
on new wood for the next season’s crop. 
This is indeed an objectionable feature, 
as the tree is very often completely defo¬ 
liated, leaving no protection to the 
branches from the direct rays of the sun, 
and the result is a stunted tree, which 
takes as a rule a year or more to over¬ 
come, and of course the loss of the crop 
on such trees for that year. I have seen 
Trapps bear themselves to death during 
the first two or three years after planting. 
This can be overcome by thinning out the 
fruit each season until the tree is strong 
enough to carry its crop. But you will 
find that the average grower will not 
carry this out, as it is like pulling teeth to 
throw good Avocados on the ground. 
This variety is also very much affected 
by Avocado scab. I will not take up time 
on this subject, as I think this will be 
brought out by other members on the 
program, but would like to say that if 
you insist on planting Trapps in South 
Dade County, I would advise that you 
place your order for a power sprayer at 
the same time, as you will find it impos¬ 
sible to produce marketable fruit without 
a system of spraying. I have also found 
that this variety has a small per cent of 
loose seeded fruit, the extent of which 
varies from year to year. This feature 
is not a desirable one, because the con¬ 
stant shifting of the seed in its cavity is 
no doubt responsible for the large per¬ 
centage of decay which occurs while en- 
route to extreme northern markets. 
Waldin .—The Waldin is a variety of 
the West Indian race, which was orig¬ 
inated in Homestead, Fla., by Mr. B. A. 
Waldin and has a very promising future. 
This is a holiday fruit coming to maturity 
in November to January. It is a very 
good grower, and of good quality. The 
shape is oval, and is of good marketable 
size, having a tight seed and a tough skin. 
The tree seems to be more hardy than 
most of the West Indian race. During 
the cold winter of 1917 and 1918 this 
variety did not show any bad effects from 
the cold, while other trees of the same 
race (West Indian) adjoining the Wal¬ 
din were badly frosted. Waldin is a good 
fruiter, coming into bearing at an early 
age. I consider this variety as one of 
our future leaders. 
Taft .—The Taft belongs to the Guate¬ 
malan race, and it has been very much of 
a surprise to the growers of this section. 
It is a vigorous grower, making a very 
symmetrical tree. It is inclined to bush 
8 
