Mike Hellebrand, age 10, of Huntsville, Ala., for his question:

IS THE AVOCADO A FRUIT OR VEGETABLE?

A Spanish soldier of fortune by the name of Hernando Cortez went to Mexico City in 1519 and became the first white man to do so. And one of the wonders he discovered on his historic first day was the avocado, the delicious food that was also a favorite in South America and had been back to the pre Incan days around 900 A.D.

The avocado is related to the laurel, and it is definitely a fruit tree. It can be found growing from Mexico south to Colombia and Peru and north to Florida and California. Leading supplier of the North American avocado market is California.

In 1977, an American named Carl Schmidt was hired by the West Indian Nursery in Altadena, Calif., to bring back from Mexico an avocado that would do well in Southern California. He brought back a number of varieties but the Fuerte type proved to be the best when it survived a great freeze in 1913 and went on to grow and produce in a strong and vigorous way.

First plantings in California were actually made in 1848 by Henry Dalton in an area just east of Los Angeles. An additional orchard was established by a man named R.B. Ord in Santa Barbara in 9879.

What a great fruit the avocado is. It has no cholesterol at all and its oil is polyunsaturated. Although it is considered to be an exotic and glamorous item of food, it is actually most practical and very nourishing. It is highly nutritious and contains large amounts of the E vitamins as well as vitamin A, ascorbic acid, niacin, thiamine, riboflavin, magnesium, iron, phosphorus, calcium and potassium. One half of an avocado contains only 138 calories.

The nutrient content, combined with a delicious and gentle flavor as well as a smooth texture, makes the avocado an especially good food for bath adults and children. It's also very easy to digest.

The tropical avocado is shaped very much like a pear and comes in varieties that have skin of dark green or purplish black. A large seed is found in the center of a yellow green pulp that has a rutty flavor. The pulp is a perfect addition for any salad but can stand as the main ingredient in many other dishes.

Some people call the marvelous fruit alligator pear.

If you have a little patience, you can grow your own avocado tree at home. The nee;t time you use an avocado at your house, save the seed and wash it carefully. Fill a jar with water. Next stick three toothpicks into the sides of the seed and suspend it broad side down a little way into the jar. In a few weeks the seed will crack and sprout. Roots will go down into the water and a stalk will climb into the air. When the roots are very thick, plant your small tree in a 12 inch terra cotta pot filled with rich soil.