458 TRANSACTIONS OP THE 



middle of April, a rainfall of over fourteen inches, and in 1880 over eight- 

 een inches, being more than our yearly average. 



The fruit should be gathered as soon as it turns purple, and before fully 

 ripe, as the oil will be lighter in color and more fragrant, but somewhat 

 less in quantity. 



In Europe the common method of gathering the berries is to knock them 

 from the trees with poles; they are then picked from the ground by old 

 men, women, children, and cripples. This plan has serious objections, the 

 fruit being more or less bruised, causing decomposition, and the contact 

 with the earth is liable to give the oil an unpleasant taste and odor. The 

 more economical plan of gathering, is to pick from the trees by hand; and 

 by the aid of intelligent contrivances, an active man can pick four hun- 

 dred pounds each day. 



I have arranged on a ranch wagon, platforms with ladders securely fast- 

 ened, so that the fruit from the different heights of even large trees can be 

 gathered from the wagon, which is driven along the rows, and one half of 

 the trees picked from each side. This plan obviates the necessity of mov- 

 ing ladders, climbing, etc., and relieves the pickers from the labor of carry- 

 ing the fruit, as the sacks containing the same are always at hand onthe 

 platform. The leaves and imperfect berries are separated by passing the 

 whole through a winnowing mill. This process leaves the fruit in the best 

 possible condition, preparatory to manufacturing the oil. 



Article V. — Making Oil. 



The berries are dried before crushing, as it is necessary to evaporate a 

 portion of the water. If, however, they are left out on the trees until shriv- 

 elled, which is proof that necessary evaporation has already taken place, 

 no drying is needed after picking. This late picking is not best, as men- 

 tioned in a previous article. If dried by the sun it requires about fourteen 

 days. This plan cannot be depended upon, excepting years when the fruit 

 is early ripe, and we have continuous sunlight, with moderately warm 

 weather. By artificial heat ranging from 110° to 130°, the drying can be 

 done in less than forty-eight hours. The crushing and pressing should 

 follow without delay — that is, the fruit taken from the drier in the morning 

 should be crushed and pressed the same day. Long intervals or delays in 

 the process from picking the fruit to expressing the oil tends to rancidity. 

 To make perfect oil requires a perfect system in the whole management. 

 The capacity of the press, the crusher, the drier, and the number of pickers 

 should correspond or be about equal; all fruit picked during the day should 

 be in at night, cleaned the following morning, and go into the drier imme- 

 diately after the previous day's drying is taken out. The heat or tempera- 

 ture of the drier ought to be so graded as to complete the work in forty-eight 

 hours, and it is better that it should be under 130° rather than above. 

 Economy will necessitate in the business a system in the different branches 

 of the process admitting of no delays from the beginning to the end. 



My drier has a capacity of five hundred square feet of surface, and will 

 contain at one time over two thousand pounds of olives, equal to five pickers 

 of four hundred pounds each per day, and as much as the crusher and press 

 I am now using can work. 



The almost universal method of crushing the berries is by a heavy stone, 

 similar to a millstone, which is rolled around on the edge in a deep circu- 

 lar groove or trough, and by its weight does the crushing. A beam passing 

 through the eye of the stone, and working on a journal in the center of the 

 circle with a horse attached to the outer end of the beam, is the simplest 



