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PREFACE

The history of fruit growing in tropical America commenced with
the second voyage of Columbus. Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo tells us
(1526) that the first Spanish colonists brought oranges, grapes and
other fruits to Hispaniola, while the great Cortés, in his fourth
letter to the King, begs that no ship be allowed to sail for Mexico
without bringing plants and seeds of those crops to which the Spaniards
were accustomed in the Maire Patria but did not find in Mexico.

At the same time Oviedo, who was the first chronicler to write
at length on the natural history of the American tropics, described
many of the excellent fruits which had never before been seen by
Europeans. Among these were the pineapple, the avocado, the anonas,
the papaya and the guava, a galaxy sufficient to form the basis of
a fruit economy, in marked contrast to the paucity of good fruits
which Europeans found in more northern latitudes.

In spite of climatic conditions which, because of the wide range
in altitudes, made possible the cultivation of native fruits as well
as many of those from the North, the development of fruit culture in
tropical America has been slow. It was only toward the end of the
last century that things began to happen. Commercial production of
bananas came first. If measured in tons placed upon the market,
fifty years ago the Gros Michel banana was one of the most important
fruit varieties in the world.

It was not until 1900 that tropical fruits began to be propagated
by grafting on a commercial scale. Preliminary work had been done