103 
You may "be interested in knowing something 
of the success of Wilson Popenoe's avocado work. 
All of his material has "been sent here and prac- 
tically all of his "budv/ood has "been handled by 
Mr. Goucher in our detention house here in ¥/ash- 
ington. Mr. Popenoe has collected altogether 
about thirty different types from sea level to as 
high as 8,500 feet elevation. He has finally 
sifted out the collection to about sixteen to 
eighteen fine types. Of these we now have from 
twelve to fourteen hundred good plants growing 
in our detention houses. At first v/e had con- 
siderable difficulty in handling the buds, but 
later, by improved methods of packing, they came 
through in better shape, with the result that 
early in the next year a systematic plan will 
be inaugurated for fruiting out the desirable 
types. Half a dozen or more reliable men will be 
selected in Florida and the same number in Cali- 
fornia, and they will be furnished with sufficient 
material for the thorough fruiting out of the 
varieties, and until this is accomplished no 
further distribution v/ill be made. 
In all these new industries there iq__the 
danger of exploitation by the professional nur- 
serymen and others. Where there is a demand for 
certain types of fruit or other plant materials 
the more socalled varieties a nursei'yman can 
develop the- more opportunities there are, of 
course, for money making. The avocado is a good 
example of one fruit that has been exploited in 
this respect. There are probably a hundred to a 
hundred and fifty socalled varieties being grown 
by nurserymen and others, while as a matter of 
fact all of the desirable varieties could probably 
be sifted dovm to eight or ten good types. The 
California Avocado- Association is taking steT)s in 
this direction and has named eight varieties as 
standards. 
I am not sure whether Mr. Pairchild has written 
you regarding the interest aroused in this country 
in the castor bean. The remarkable development in 
aviation and the manufacture of thousands of areo- 
planes have created a demand for a lubricant which 
it is thought can best be met by the use of castor- 
oil. You probably know of the enormous sums of 
money that have been appropriated for aviation v?ork 
in this country, aggregating v?ithin th? last year 
December 31, l^l?. 
