Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-08-16
The ALLIGATOR Pear

~ FIGURES who delight in the succu-
r. lence of the avocado or alligator pear
will be interested in the prophecy of
David Fairchild, in charge of the department
of agricultures work of introducing new and
useful seeds and plants into this country,
that few years hence the avocado will be
the favorte fruit of America.
We of the south know the avocado some
what better than those above the Mason and
Dixon line, where it is regarded as a rich
mans food. Yet even in Georgia, on the
borderline of tropical Florida, which shares
with California the 1900 acres Of avocado
trees planted in the United States, even in
Atlanta where the fruit stalls are beginning
to glisten with the pears this month, there
are hundreds of people who know it not and
hundreds more who, having tasted once, have
refused further samples of avocado, not
realizing that like the olive, it is delicacy
which, to be thoroughly appreciated must
be eaten frequently, and which, eaten fire.
quently, implants a lasting liking for the
fruit.
Delicacy, however, is hardly the term for
the avocado, since, in the words of Mr.. Fair
child, it is sprinkled with salt and partaken
with few crackers, ga hearty and we'll bal
anced lunch"
unlike an orange or a lemon he con-
tinues, the avocado is a real, complete food.
1t is round or slightly pear-shaped with
meaty flesh that reminds one Of ripe olives
in texture and that has an indescribably deli
cate nutty flavor. 1t has a skin that acts as
a protective for the edible flesh when
the fruit is transported or handled
Mr.. Fairchild might have added, in describ-
ing the lure of the avocado, that one of its
principal virtues is hat it may be eaten al
most in it's entirety. Chicago boasts that its
packing houses make use of Ill the pig but
the sC,g2al. If some one were to invent a
use for the alligator pears skin, it would
come in the same category. One must stop
short of the rind with the watermelon or
the oantalOurc. but the avocado which some
what resembles the latter fruit is good to
the very green flesh scraped from the outer
| covering. In this respect-though one hest
tates to include so many fruits in compari-
son-it is like the banana.
The avocado is a native of Central America
and the West Indies. There it is used as a
daily food throughout more than half OF
the year. In Guatemala the entire crop is
consumed because of the native preference
for them. The Indians usually eat the fruit
as it is without further preparations, but
Guatemalans of European blood are accus-
toned to use it a flavoring in soup and
ovten serve a salad called guacamol composed
of mashed avocado pulp, vinegar, salt, pep
per and finely chopped onion.
! Explorers of the depa ,tment of agriculture
imported the avocado into America only a
few years ago. They found that it was not
| a strictly seasonable fruit; in fact, importa-
| ton from Guatemalan trees ripening at diff
ferent times of the year have provided suffi-
cient varieties to give avocados the year
round. The government also has been most
careful to inspect material from the tropics
to prevent the infiltration of insects and dis
ease germs fatal to the avocado. Mr.. Fair
child predicts that, in time to come, the pear
will be as we'll known and as cheaply and
easily obtalnable as lemons and oranges; and
happy day this will be for gourmands who
have found in it a welcome ard tasty variety
of food.