THE ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY OF PLANTING TIP GRAFTED AVOCADO TREES

The setting of the problem. For a number of years, avocado growers in Southern California have been trying to find a quicker and cheaper method of bringing an avocado tree into bearing than the five years usually required. Because the initial cost of the nursery tree is one of the largest single costs, nurserymen have been experimenting with different methods of propagation to find a method that will raise the tree faster and cheaper so the initial cost to the grower of nursery stock can be reduced. The question then arises as to whether the trees developed by a new method make as good a showing after three years in the grove as those produced by the conventional method. If this can be demonstrated, then a return on investment in land, trees, irrigation system, taxes, and cultural costs such as planting, fertilizing, irrigating, and mulching can be realized sooner. The conventional method of propagation consists of sprouting the seeds in the seed bed and leaving them there until the top of the seedling has three or four mature leaves on it. They are then lined out in the nursery row, and when they are large enough, they are budded. By the time they are ready to ball out a period of eighteen to twenty-fou