OLEIN.E. 
old; in 6 years it begins to repay the expense of cultivation, 
even if the ground is not otherwise cropped; after that period, 
in good years, the produce is the surest source of wealth to the 
farmer, as the tree rivals the oak in longevity; so that the 
common proverb here is, that if you want to leave a lasting 
inheritance to your children, plant an Olive. There is an 
old Olive tree near Gerecomio, which last year yielded 240 
English quarts of oil ; yet its trunk is quite hollow, and its empty 
shell seems to have barely enough hold in the ground to secure 
it against mountain storms. Maria Graham’s Three Months 
near Rome, p. 49. ‘The culture of the Olive abroad may be 
said to resemble that of grass orchards in Britain. It is pro- 
pagated by suckers, large cuttings, or truncheons, planted in 
trenches, four feet deep, into which it is still the custom to 
deposit stones for encouraging moisture about the roots, as 
described by Virgil (Georg. ii. 346.) It is also propagated by 
.chips of the root, in the following manner. An old tree is cut 
down, and the stock is cut into pieces of nearly the size and 
shape of a mushroom, and which, from that circumstance, are 
called novoli. Care is taken that each novolo shall have a 
small portion of bark. After being dipped in manure, the 
novoli are planted thick in a bed, and covered with earth to the 
depth of three inches; they soon throw up shoots, and are trans- 
planted at the end of one year, and in three more are fit to be 
finally removed to the Olive plantation. With protection 
against frost, it may be maintained against a wall in the latitude 
of London. In Devonshire some trees have stood many winters 
as standards, though without ripening their fruit. 
Olive oil is drawn from the Olives in Provence and Italy, 
by presses or mills. The fruit is gathered, when at the utmost 
maturity, in November, when it begins to redden. They are 
put under the mill as soon as gathered ; and care is taken that 
the mill-stones are set at such a distance, that they do not crush 
the nut of the olives. The pulp covering the stone, and con- 
taining the oil in its cells, being thus prepared, is put into bags 
made of rushes, and moderately pressed ; and thus is obtained, in 
considerable quantity, a greenish, semi-transparent oil, which, 
from its superior excellence, is called Virgin oil. The marc 
remaining after the first pressure is broken to pieces, is mois- 
tened with water, and returned to the press, upon which there 
flows out a mixture of oil and water, which spontaneously sepa- 
rates from the rest. This oil, though inferior to the former, is 
of good quality, and fit for the table. The marc is again 
broken to pieces, soaked in water, and fermented in large cis- 
terns, and is again submitted to the press, by which is obtained a 
third oil, that is valuable to the soap-boiler and other manufac- 
turers. The Spanish Olives, instead of being gathered, are 
beaten down, so that the ripe and unripe ones are mixed ; and 
to these are added such as have fallen of themselves, and are, 
therefore, more or less decayed. All these are thrown together 
in a heap, and soon ferment. The olives in this state are ground 
and pressed, and thus is produced, with little trouble, a large 
quantity of oil, of a rank and disagreeable flavour. It is possible 
that the Spaniards derive the process from the Moors. We 
find the same method described in Jackson’s History of Morocco. 
The best oil comes from Provence; but that which we have in 
this country is generally from Lucca and Florence. When 
recently drawn, virgin oil has a bland, almost mucilaginous 
taste, with a slight, but agreeable flavour; it freezes at about 
36 or 38° Fahr., and this disposition to freeze, renders it im- 
proper for lamps. The oil is sometimes adulterated with the oil 
of poppy-seed, and soon becomes rancid. 
Pickled Olives are prepared from unripe fruit, by repeatedly 
steeping them in water, to which quicklime, or any alkaline 
substance, is sometimes added, to shorten the operation. After- 
wards they are soaked in pure water, and then taken out and 
III. Orza. 47 
bottled in salt and water, with or without an aromatic. They 
are eaten abroad as a whet before, and during the principal 
meals, and in this country chiefly as a dessert. They are sup- 
posed to excite appetite, and promote digestion. The finest 
kind of the prepared fruit is called by the merchants Picholini, 
after one Picholino, an Italian, who first discovered the art of 
pickling Olives. . 
Medical properties and uses.—The medicinal properties of 
olive oil are those of a demulcent, emollient, and laxative. In 
catarrh, and other pulmonary affections, it has been used as a 
demulcent, in the form of an emulsion; but the oil of almonds is 
more generally employed. It is occasionally recommended to 
be internally administered for worms, and to lubricate and 
sheath the mucous membrane of the stomach from the action 
of acid poisons. Olive oil enters into the composition of 
plasters, liniments, cerates, ointments, and enemas. It is applied 
externally to prevent the contagious influence of the plague. 
Var. B, longif olia (Ait. hort. kew. 1. p. 13.) leaves linear- 
lanceolate, flat, silvery beneath. h. F. Native of the south 
of Europe. Lodd. bot. cab. t. 456. O. Gállica, Mill. dict. 
no. l. The inhabitants of the south of France chiefly cultivate 
this variety, from which they make the best oil. The young 
fruit is also most esteemed when pickled. Of this there are 
several sub-varieties. The long-leaved European Olive. 
Var. y, ferruginea (Ait. hort. kew. 1. p. 13.) leaves lanceo- 
late, acute at both ends, shining and rusty beneath; panicles 
lateral. h. F. Native of the Cape of Good Hope and the 
Mauritius. Perhaps a distinct species. 
Var. 6, latifolia (Ait. hort. kew. 1. p. 13.) leaves oblong, 
flat, hoary beneath. h. F. Native of the south of Europe. 
O. Hispánica, Mill. dict. no. 2. O. sativa, Bauh. pin. 472.— 
Blackw. t. 199. O'lea, Dodon. pempt. 821. This variety is 
chiefly cultivated in Spain. The fruit is almost twice the size 
of the Provence olive, or Var. (), longifólia, but of a strong 
rank flavour ; and the oil is too strong for most English palates. 
Var. e, obliqua (Ait. hort. kew. 1. p. 13.) leaves oblong, bent 
obliquely, pale beneath. h. F. Native of the south of 
Europe. 
Var. £, buxifólia (Ait. l. c.) leaves oblong-ovate ; branches 
spreading, divaricate. h.F. Native of the south of Europe. 
Var. n, Cajetàna (Pentagn. istit. 2. p. 19.) leaves ovate- 
lanceolate ; flowers racemose. h. F. Native of the south of 
Europe. 
* The following are the varieties of olive cultivated in Spain, 
and described in Herrera agricult. gen. 1818. p. 351. by Don 
Rozas Clemente y Rubio. 
Var. 1. ovata (Clem. l. c.)leaves small; fruit small, obovate. 
Var. 2. ovàlis (Clem. l.c.) leaves small; fruit oval, small, 
very black. Ol. Eur. ovata, Gouan. 
Var. 3. ténax (Clem. l. c.) leaves narrow, hardly silvery on 
the back ; fruit tough. 
Var. 4. argéntea (Clem. l. c.) leaves middle-sized, silvery 
beneath, but green and shining above ; fruit globose, middle- 
sized, very black. O. Europ. prae‘cox. Gouan. 
Var. 5. Arolénsis (Clem. l. c.) leaves obtuse, narrow, less 
intensely green and shining above, and narrower than in 
no. 8. Fruit rounder, black, mottled with white and violaceous 
marks. 
Var. 6. pomifórmis (Clem. l. c.) fruit globose, larger than any 
other variety, very black. Leaves broader and smoother than 
in no. 9. O. Europ. sphe'‘rica, Gouan. 
Var. T. regalis (Clem. ]. c.) branches less vertical than in 
no. 9.; leaves larger, having the nerves more prominent. Fruit 
form of a filbert, black, more globose than in no. 9. Ol. 
Europ. Hispánica, Roz. 
