40 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
ed with them and a market practically un¬ 
limited will be created. 
Turning again to the commercial pro¬ 
duction of sub-tropical fruits the mango 
may be considered next in importance to 
the avocado. There is a ready market for 
the finer varieties of this fruit grown in 
the State at the present time, and the com¬ 
mon seedlings are easily disposed of local¬ 
ly. The uncertainty of the crop has been a 
drawback to the development of the in¬ 
dustry, and if we can overcome this by 
suitable varieties and better cultural prac¬ 
tices, there is a future for the production 
of mangos in Florida. 
In Lee county the common seedling 
mango trees make a rapid, vigorous 
growth, with very little care and practi¬ 
cally no fertilizer. The fruit is generally 
small, full of fibre, but of fairly good fla¬ 
vor. It is not suitable for shipment to the 
northern markets in competition with the 
better varieties. The crop is uncertain al¬ 
though the trees bloom profusely every 
season. 
If we can put a larger and better qual¬ 
ity of fruit on such trees and insure the 
production of an average crop each year, 
there will be large profits for the mango 
growers in this section. These are some 
of the problems to solve in connection 
with the growing of mangos, and I believe 
in time they will be solved. It is an in¬ 
dustry that offers promise and one that 
should command more interest. 
In the guava there are commercial pos¬ 
sibilities that have barely been touched 
upon as yet. This fruit grows well in 
South Florida with very little attention or 
care, and it produces well. If proper va¬ 
rieties were developed, planted in grove 
form and brought under cultivation as any 
other fruit crop, the production of guavas 
could be made to pay well. It is a fruit 
that lends itself to a variety of uses, and 
the products made from it have met with 
favor in many places in the North. Guava 
jelly is a well known commodity and 
easily disposed of, and other products of 
the guava would no doubt find a ready 
market. Except locally, the guava can 
never be marketed as a fresh fruit, but the 
canned guavas, jelly, preserves and other 
products could be put on every market in 
the United States. I believe the canned 
guava would take well. I see no reason 
why it should not easily compete with the 
canned peach, if put up as attractively and 
given a reasonable amount of advertising. 
We consume thousands of cans of 
peaches in Florida each year which come 
from other states in the North. May we 
not substitute canned guavas for some of 
these and in addition send our canned 
guavas into the northern markets. A 
guava industry would necessitate the es¬ 
tablishment of canning factories in the 
State and these could be put to use in car¬ 
ing for other products, that annually go to 
waste. 
A canning factory or enterprise for tak¬ 
ing care of waste products is an important 
adjunct to any fruit industry, and it is 
something sorely needed by the fruit 
growers of this State. We can create a 
ready market for all the guava products 
we can produce and there are acres of land 
in South Florida today producing only 
sand spurs and palmettoes which might be 
devoted to the growing of guavas. 
