Aug. 3, 1908.] Agricultural Gazette of N.S.TF. 667 



place, where the Department also have a large experiment station. From 

 Madrid I left the following night for Valencia, via Barcelona, arriving there 

 early next morning. At the last named town we found that we could not get 

 a train till evening and were all night in the train but saw all the country 

 returning. 



The whole of the land between the sea and the mountains south of 

 Barcelona is well cultivated, the poorer land growing olives, which apparently 

 grow without any soil as long as they can get their roots into the limestones. 

 Where nothing else will grow the olive tree finds a living. At Tarragona 

 there is a large alluvial plain, well irrigated, where a great number of 

 different kinds of fruit-trees and vines are grown ; then more poor country 

 growing olives. At Castellon the orchards are all oranges between the sea 

 and the mountains right down to Valencia, and the whole of the land is 

 under irrigation. The crop was being gathered, and great piles of low-grade 

 fruit were scattered about the orchards and lying about the railway stations 

 where they were packing. Dr. Marti (director of the station) says that 

 fruit-fly is practically unknown in the Valencia orchards, but further south, 

 at Malaga, in the months of September and November, Halterophora capitata 

 often does a great deal of damage, but no methods are adopted to deal with 

 it, though there is at present a Bill before the House of Parliament to give 

 the Department of Fomento power to destroy all infested fruit in the 

 orchards. Outside Valencia great quantities of vegetables are grown, 

 particularly potatoes, in small fields, all under irrigation from the mountain 

 streams. 



From Valencia I went straight through to Montpellier (France) to the 

 celebrated Viticultural and Horticultural School, and though the Director 

 was away in Paris, through the kindness of the Secretary I went over the 

 Entomological Division under Professor Mayet, and through the experiment 

 grounds. Among some interesting experiments noted were those of growing 

 plots of vines in ground covered with a porous cement made of slag and 

 concrete, and the surface painted in different colours ; under similar conditions, 

 ground covered with a coating of river gravel and flag-stones. From here I 

 went to Marseilles, and was fortunate in catching a boat leaving for Naples 

 next morning. 



I landed at Naples on the 27th March and went out next morning to 

 Portice to the R. Scuola Superiore di Agricoltura, where I met Professor 

 Silvestri and the members of his staff and obtained a great deal of interesting 

 information regarding the destruction of the olive oil industry by the ravages 

 of the olive fruit-fly Dacus olecc. 



To give some idea of the actual damage done, the following figures from 

 their reports may be quoted : — 



hectolitres. 



In 1879-83 the yield of olive oil in Italy was ... 3,390,000 



„ 1884-89 it dropped to 2,354,000 



„ 1890-94 it rose to 2,514,000 



„ 1895-99 it fell to 2,005,000 



(one hectolitre equals 22 gallons), 



