1]6 



<TttE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[October i t 1884. 



.. and whether planted in a close group as a breakwind 

 1 as a hedge 3 the trees were always healthy and often 

 covered with a heavy crop of dark-purple berries. But 

 though so generally grown they have not been hitherto 

 regarded as of much economic value, and it may fairly be 

 estimated that oil to the value of many thousands of pounds 

 has been allowed to run to waste for several years past. 

 At present efforts are being made to utilise this valuable 

 product, and there are already several purchasers of ripe 

 olives in the city of Adelaide, though the rate of wages 

 renders the task of gathering the fruit not a very 

 profitable one. Among the earliest to perceive the value 

 of the olive as an agricultural product was Mr. Samuel 

 Davenport (a gentleman, whose eminent services to the 

 country of his adoption have lately received the well-merited 

 reward of knighthood), who commenced planting olives 

 somewhere about twenty years ago. Hearing that Mr. 

 Davenport could show me the whole process of growing, 

 picking the fruit, crushing and pressing the oil, I gladly 

 accepted an invitation to visit him at his residence, near 

 Burnside, one of the hillside suburbs of Adelaide. The 

 morning was delightfully fine, and the gardens and fields 

 we passed by looked bright and fresh after the ample 

 supply of rain that had fallen the previous fortnight. 

 On the way I passed a very extensive orangery in which 

 the trees had not yet come into bearing. The soil was 

 well cultivated, and the trees were thriving very vigor- 

 ously. Careful preparations had been made to preserve 

 the fruit from marauders, for the ground was enclosed 

 with a high stone wall, having a formidable array of broken 

 bottles 011 the top. 



Beaumont, the residence of Mr. S. Davenport, is a small 

 property of about fifty acres extent. The soil is of a rich 

 dark-brown colour, of greater strength than the chocolate 

 loamy soil I had seen so much of in my journeys to the 

 northward. Only a small portion of the land is occupied 

 by olive trees, and they are so scattered about in chimps 

 and lines that I could not arrive at a definite idea of 

 the area occupied by them. Since he first commenced 

 olive cultivation, Mr. Davenport has seized every opport- 

 unity of securing any new variety of the tree that came 

 in his way, and the result is that he has a greater variety 

 of olive trees growing on his" property than is to be found 

 on any one estate throughout Australia. The Bouquetier 

 and Yerdale appear to grow better and give heavier yields 

 of fruit than any other varieties. The small olive, called 

 the bird's eye, is a heavy bearer, and the oil yielded by 

 it is of excellent quality. Many of the large-fruited 

 varieties of Spanish and Portugese olives grow well, and 

 give good crops. "Which is the best variety of olive to 

 grow in South Australia has not yet been determined, nor 

 are the growers decided as to the best mode of pruning 

 the trees. In very many instances, I believe, the olive- 

 growers avoid the danger of wrongly pruning by not prun- 

 ing at all. Establishing an olive-yard would appear to be 

 a very simple operation, for the trees grow as readily as 

 a plantation of young gum trees. The greatest difficulty 

 in the way oF establishing the industry is the gathering 

 of the fruit, which is a troublesome and costly operation. 

 There being no trained labourers to do the work, the pro- 

 prietor of an olive-yard is obliged to depend upon boys, 

 who idle away their time directly they are left to them- 

 selves, and both men and boys are ppt to injure the trees 

 III picking by destroying the fruit-hearing spurs and thus 

 Lessening the next year's crop. "With the few varieties of 

 olives that separate readily from their stalk the crop may 

 be gathered by shaking the olives on to cloths spread 

 under the tree, or they maybe beaten off with light cane 

 sticks, but unless practised by careful and skilful hands, 

 the latter mode of harvesting the fruit is apt to do much 

 damage to the fruit spurs. 



The plan of gathering the crop at Beaumont is to employ 

 two or three careful men with a few boys as assistants. 

 The former gather the fruit within reach, while the latter, 

 mounted on ladder steps, collect that on the higher branches. 

 AVith quick eyes and nimble hands one can gather 

 from 1 cwt. to 2 cwt. of olives per day, which is paid for 

 at the rate of from 3s. to 4s. per cwt. The olives as 

 they are gathered are put into boxes and carted to the 

 oil mill, which is placed in an open building a. .joining 

 the winepress. Here the olives are freed from leaves and 

 £wi£S and placed in the mill. This is in the ioxm of a 



Chilian mill, the circular receptacle being formed of one 

 block of granite, in which revolve two broad granite wheels, 

 each weighing seven tons. These wheels are worked by 

 a horse-power, in the same way as a pudding-mill is worked. 

 Under these heavy rollers the olives are soon crushed to 

 a pulp, the seeds being ground to powder. About lewt. 

 of olives are put into the mill at a time, and in a quarter 

 of an hour they are sufficiently macerated for the next 

 process. This consists in putting the purple-coloured pulp 

 into bags made of a material similar to that used for 

 making woolpacks. These bags are strongly but loosely 

 made, so as to facilitate the escape of any liquid when under 

 the press. AVhen about a dozen of these bags are filled 

 they are placed one above another in a press of rather 

 peculiar construction. The bags are enclosed in a strong 

 iron-bound frame, resting on a cemented bottom with a 

 false bottom grooved, so as to allow any liquid to run away. 

 Pressure is applied by a piece of wood called a tongue, 

 which is attached to a heavy beam or lever, weighing about 

 two tons. This tongue is jointed at its junction with the 

 lever, so as to preserve a perpendicular pressure as the 

 lever descends. It appears that the kind of pressure ob- 

 tained by this lever has been found by experience best 

 suited to extract the oil. The strong power of a screw- 

 press would, it is said, confine the oil in the pulp, while the 

 slow, steady pressure of the lever causes it to trickle 

 through the bags. As the oil exudes it runs along channels 

 formed in cement to large slate receivers, which are filled 

 to within 18 in. of the top with pure water. The delivery 

 pipe is about a foot below the surface of the water, so 

 that the fleshy portion of the fruit remains iu the water 

 while the oil rises to the top and is taken off with small 

 tin skimmers, something like cream-skimmers imperforated 

 It is then in what is called the honey state, and is placed 

 iu large tin receivers from which the light is carefully ex- 

 cluded. Here it deposits stearine, and is then removed to 

 other tin receivers, -where it fines itself, and after being 

 passed through filters is ready for delivery. This oil of 

 the first pressure is called virgin oil. The pulp is then 

 taken from the press and thrown into a heap, hot water 

 being mixed with it. It is then again bagged, and placed 

 under a press reserved for this purpose, in which none 

 of the first quality of oil is ever pressed. The oil of the 

 second pressure is of an inferior quality, and is run into 

 a cistern kept for this quality of oil. It is used by manu- 

 facturers, and is sold at a price considerably below that 

 of the virgin oil. The most critical cleanliness is practised 

 in making the oil, the mill and presses being washed every 

 evening with hot water and soda. About 500 gallons of 

 olive oil are made per annum, which is sold at 10s. per 

 gallon. The oil made at Beaumont has received the highest 

 commendations from some of the best judges in the colonies 

 and in Europe. Some time ago Mr. Davenport sent a 

 sample of his oil to experts in Italy, and the report he 

 received on it was very gratifying. It has a fine flavour, 

 and resembles the "Sublime" oil more than the olive oil 

 of commerce. Most of those who taste it unhesitatingly 

 pronounce it to be superior to the Lucca oil one gets in 

 the grocers' shops. 



That olive oil of the finest description can be grown in 

 the neighbourhood of Adelaide does not now admit of a 

 doubt. There remains, then, the question of the yield per 

 acre to solve before one can have a clear idea of the pay- 

 ing character of the enterprise. But though olive-growing 

 was commenced several years ago, it is very difficult to 

 give an estimate of the return that may be fairly expected 

 from an acre of olive trees in full bearing. The original 

 trees were generally planted in small groups or iu lines 

 along a boundary fence, and never in large numbers. 

 Even the oldest trees in the colony, with such a long-lived 

 plant as the olive, can scarcely be said to have yet come 

 into full hearing. When a group of olives was planted 

 the trees were invariably placed too close together. Mr. 

 Davenport is of opinion that they should be planted 30 ft. 

 apart, which would give 4S trees to the acre. The olive, 

 like many other fruit trees, bears heavier crops on altern- 

 ate years. At Beaumont there are some trees that will 

 on alternate years give 1 cwt. of fruit, the produce of 

 which may be given at If gal. of oil, which, at 10s. per 

 gallon would make the maximum yield a little over £41 

 per acre. AVith well-matured trees and a proper system 

 jd| pruning t&ere is no doubt .that excellent returns can 



