FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
157 
such increase ? The answer is simple 
enough, the development of the fruit in¬ 
dustry in the tropics will depend on 
people. The soil is there and the climate 
is there but there are not yet enough 
people with the knowledge and tempera¬ 
ment which seems to be necessary for suc¬ 
cessful fruit growing. It is no easier to 
grow fruit in the tropics than it is in 
Florida. The problems are not exactly 
the same as those you have, but anyone 
who would grow fruit in the tropics must 
be awake and ready to solve problems. 
Perhaps some one may say, it is well 
enough that fruit can be grown, hut what 
kind of fruit is it, can it compete with 
ours? Yes, it can. You may hear the 
statement at your meeting that Florida 
produces the finest fruit in the world. But 
that is merely a patriotic remark, you 
will hear the same kind of remarks at the 
Cuba and Porto Rico Florticultural So¬ 
ciety meetings. There is no such thing 
as the best fruit or the best fruit section. 
You have good oranges, mangoes and 
avocadoes in Florida and they differ ac¬ 
cording to the variety, the locality in 
which they were grown and the man who 
grew them. Exactly the same is true in 
the tropics. It may be possible that some 
Island has an avocado, for instance, that 
is absolutely superior to the best one of 
some other Island, but the reverse may 
readily he the case next season. 
The situation of quality may be sum¬ 
med up in the one word “development.’’ 
Compared with Florida we know very lit¬ 
tle about varieties in the tropics, and it 
is very difficult to find out. One fre¬ 
quently finds magnificent fruit in the mar¬ 
ket but it is very difficult to find the tree 
on which it grew. I once heard a rumor 
about a seedless orange in Porto Rieo, 
and I finally obtained some of the fruit. 
It was said to come from a certain dis¬ 
trict in the mountains and I went there. 
Hired horses, and guide and hunted for 
the tree for two days. I finally gave it up 
and I never did succeed in finding the tree 
although I offered a good price for the 
information. A year later I did find one 
in another district which was seedless and 
a perfect naval but that was just a chance. 
In Cuba I found an avocado in the Ha¬ 
vana market which had but a rudiment of 
a seed but I never could find the tree. Mr. 
Van Herman, a nursery man there, has 
searched for that tree for several years 
but has not found it yet. I11 Guadeloupe 
I found fine avocadoes in January, but in 
trying to find where they came from I 
was given vague information about some 
mountain district away off. This I think 
will show you that there is good fruit 
but the development is liable to be slow. 
I do not think that it will be interesting 
to you to hear about the various tropical 
fruits of economic value. You are al¬ 
ready familiar with the most important 
ones and none of those in which you are, 
or might be interested are commercially 
developed in the tropics. You of course 
know of the development of the banana 
industry as well as the cocoanut, but are 
not much interested in either. Of the 
various tropical fruits which are seldom 
very plentiful in the markets in the tropics 
I find specimens occasionally in the New 
York market. There is, however, no 
regular supply and possibly there will not 
be before you stimulate the demand. Pos¬ 
sibly the opening of the Panama Canal 
