STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 415 



original single trunk. Why the inner portion of the tree should be so prone 

 to decay is not very apparent, but it may be caused in some cases by the 

 admission of moisture through the numerous fissures and holes in the bark ; 

 these extend some distance into the substance of the tree, and from their 

 number one would be led to suspect that many of them are the work of 

 some boring moth. 



This splitting up of the tree into smaller trunks and the forms thus 

 assumed are often very singular. The roots are very large and massive, 

 and some of them penetrate deeply in search of the nourishment which is 

 contained but sparingly in the soil in which the olive trees grow. Now 

 this breaking up of the original trunk is probably materially aided by the 

 extension outwards of the roots, which draw the lower portion of the trunk 

 with them and so help to split it up. But there is still another way in 

 which the trunks are multiplied, and which contributes in many cases to 

 their singular appearance. From the roots which lie so thickly spread 

 round the trunk, and which are partly above the surface Of the ground, 

 spring up numerous shoots, some of which being suffered to grow attain at 

 length the size of secondary trees; and thus one olive tree, in time, often 

 possesses several trunks. The leaves of the olive tree are long and narrow, 

 dark green on the upper and silver gray on the under surface, the young 

 shoots presenting also a silvery appearance. The leaves resemble closely 

 those of the willow, to which, indeed, the whole tree bears some resem- 

 blance. 



It puts forth its small axillary and pretty clusters of yellowish white 

 blossoms usually in April; it begins to ripen its fruit about October: The 

 berries are at first green, afterwards of a plum color, and finally almost 

 black, with a rich bloom. When ripe they begin to fall off the trees, and 

 great numbers of women and children are employed in picking them up, 

 carrying the baskets filled with them, at the end of the day, to the olive 

 mills. The picking up of the olives at San Remo sometimes extends far 

 into the Spring, the period varying in different years according to the 

 weather, the greater or less abundance of the crops, and the freedom of 

 the olives from the attacks of an insect which lays its eggs in them and to 

 which they are particularly liable. When once the olives have fallen 

 from the trees, the sooner they are picked up the better, for if they are 

 allowed to remain on the ground, and especially if it rains on them, they 

 acquire a taste of earth and grass, and the quality of the oil is thereby 

 injured. In good olive years men climb up into the trees and beat the 

 branches with long poles, the olives falling on to cloths spread beneath the 

 trees. The oil extracted from these olives is of the best quality, being free 

 from all extraneous taste. The olive crop is very uncertain, and it is 

 reckoned that a good one is only obtained, on an average, once in three 

 years, and in order even to insure this, it is necessary that the trees should 

 be regularly pruned and well manured. 



Every year the earth is dug up about them, and once in three years a 

 trench is made running partly round the tree, but at a little distance from 

 it; into this the manure is put. This consists of almost any description of 

 animal and vegetable refuse, but old woolen rags are considered to be the 

 best, and the fouler and dirtier they are the more suitable they are deemed 

 for the purpose. The collection of these rags and their importation into 

 the olive districts constitute a regular trade. The trees appear at their 

 worst after they have been beaten to obtain the berries, and when they 

 have been pruned; it is in Winter that they are seen to most advantage, 

 when their foliage is thickest and freshest; but they also look particularly 

 well in the Spring, after they have put forth their new shoots and are in 



