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tropical plants. And I sat up late, reading free catalogs and seed lists from
nurseries and botanic gardens in the tropics. And then, in spite of the fact
that the little mango tree from Florida was gradually fading away, and the
frangipani had only put out two new leaves since its arrival, I boldly stuck
up a sign at the end of my plot, "WEST INDIA GARDENS", wondering what the
family would say.

My father had moved us west from Kansas in 1904. He too had heard the call
of the tropics some years previously, and it had cost him not only his fortune,
but for the time being, his health. He gained steadily after our arrival at
Altadena, and by 1907 was able to work again. He was as fond of plants as I.
The "West India Gardens" sign set him thinking. Why not organize a nursery
company, for the propagation and sale of tropical and subtropical plants? The
avocado was just then beginning to attract attention in California, as were
several other tropical fruits. David Fairchild's office in the U. S. Department
of Agriculture was active in bringing into the country interesting plants from a
all parts of the world, and in southern California there was no dearth of
enthusiastic amateurs.

So the West India Gardens, under that name, became a nursery business, and
in the succeeding years did its part in advancing the cause of subtropical
horticulture in California. The citrus fruits were already receiving adequate
attention; we were out for new and rare things, such as the feijoa, the cherimoya,
the white sapote, and above all the avocado. California was just commencing to
grow this last-named fruit; there were a few seedling trees scattered here and
there from Santa Barbara southward, and nurserymen were beginning to propagate
them by grafting and to offer them for commercial cultivation.

Some of these avocados were good varieties - or so they seemed to their
sponsors. I secured the countryside, looking for the best ones, and arranging
with their owners to give us propagating rights.