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POMONA COLLEGE JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC BOTANY 11
good wax is made by boiling together two pounds beeswax, two pounds rosin, and half a pound of good lard; when in boiling state put in the rolls of cloth and let them remain for fifteen minutes, when they are taken out and cooled before being stored away. The iron wire is more desirable than sticks of wood, as the weight of the wire will keep the roll below the surface of the boiling mass. Another advantage in using the wire is that if the sticks are not quite dry the water, as it is converted into steam, will cause the contents to boil over."
INarching has never been practiced in California, but J. L. Hickson, of Miami, Florida, a large and successful grower of the avocado, states that he propagates entirely by this method, as he considers it produces a stronger and better growth than budding. However this may be, the method is slow and laborious, and trees cannot be produced in sufficient quantities to make it commercially practicable here.
GRAFTING has been performed successfully in a few instances, but has not been attempted to any great extent as yet.
CUTTINGS have been very successfully rooted by being placed in clear sand in a lath house, but it is doubtful if this method of propagation produces as strong a plant as the others.
ORCHARD PLANTINGS
It is only within the last year or two that orchard plantings of the avocado have been made in Southern California, and then only in very small acreages, but the next few years will see the territory devoted to the culture of this fruit on a commercial scale greatly increased.
The trees may be planted at the same distance apart as orange trees, or if space is available at a somewhat greater distance. Budding seems to dwarf the tree, and budded trees will require much less room than seedlings. In either event the trees should not be allowed to grow to an unlimited size, but should be pruned like deciduous fruits, allowing only the strongest branches to develop and form the head of the tree, and all weak and undesirable growths cut out each year. The top should be kept cut back to facilitate picking the fruit, and not allowed to grow to an unlimited height as has been done with all the seedlings grown here.
Transplanting should be done in early spring, before the trees have started into new growth.
During the first year or two of its growth, the tree is more tender than when larger, and in locations subject to heavy frosts should be protected during the winter by some covering. Palm leaves are used for this purpose if they can be obtained in sufficient quantities, or a frame can be constructed of lath and covered with burlap or cheesecloth. The danger from frost, however, lies not so much in the possibility of injury to the trees themselves, as in the destruction of the crop through freezing of blossoms of early flowering varieties. To avoid this, late blooming varieties may be planted, such as those of the Guatemalan type, which bloom so late in the spring as practically to eliminate all danger from this source. It is only occasionally
POMONA COLLEGE JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC BOTANY
that the Mexican varieties are caught, but as the crop is practically certain to be lost, if a very heavy frost occurs during the blooming season, the only safe way will be to plant late blooming varieties.
The tree requires about the same irrigation as the orange. Insufficient irrigation will result in small fruit.
In selecting varieties for planting on a commercial scale, there are a number of points which should be kept in mind. Fruits which ripen during midwinter will command the highest prices in the markets, and there will probably be the greatest demand for avocados at this season of the year. As
Figure 5. At left a Mexican seedling Avocado, eighteen months from seed; at right a budded tree of the South American type, three years from the bud and grown in California.
to size of fruit, there is no advantage in having the very largest. While a two pound avocado is a regal fruit, for practical purposes one of half that size is better. Quality should be one of the most important factors in choosing a commercial fruit, and other desirable points are prolificness, a smooth, thick and leathery skin which will stand shipment, good keeping qualities, and a small seed, completely filling the cavity, as a loose seed pounds the walls in transit, causing early decay. We must, however, have still smaller varieties for cheaper trade, and summer varieties for local consumption, and we already have a good assortment of varieties to choose from for these purposes.
