January 



American ^^e Jonrnal 



The Olive— Its Cultivation and Commercial Value 



By Col. E. S. WEEDEN 



This emblem of peace and prosperity 

 is one of God's priceless gifts, minis- 

 tering to man's physical, mental and 

 financial advantage. 



It is the poor man's food, and the 

 rich man's luxury. 



It is also the emblem of immortality 



it never dies of old age. There are 



olive trees in Rome now over 2000 

 years old, still flourishing and fruitful. 

 If the identical tree from which the 

 dove plucked a leaf to carry to Noah 

 has not been destroyed by violence, 

 we assume it is still living, and has 

 been bearing fruit all these ages. 



It is a sturdy, vigorous grower, and 

 when planted in stony places (if all else 

 is satisfactory) it will wrestle with the 

 rocks and wring from scanty soil suffi- 

 cient nourishment to insure life, growth 

 and fruitfulness. It will live where all 

 else will die of thirst. Yet such con- 

 ditions are not to its liking, and if neg- 

 lected it will be extremely slow in de- 

 velopment. For example, in the Medi- 

 terranean country — its native land — the 

 grower expects to wait 14 years for a 

 harvest, while in Butte Co., Cal.— its 

 paradise — under kindly conditions it 

 will smile its thanks with a showing of 

 fruit the third year, and the fourth will 

 give a harvest worth gathering. Doubt- 

 less its slow development in the first 

 instance is due partly to a less favor- 

 able location, but largely to less intel- 

 ligent care. 



The olive finds a difference between 

 the culture given by an Italian, and the 

 intelligent industry of a citizen of Cali- 

 fornia. 



1 Mis tree will grow almost anywhere 

 in our State, yet it has a clear-cut pref- 

 erence as to soil and location. 



In the Coast counties and Southern 

 California it suffers greatly from the 

 "black scale," requiring a vigorous, 

 persistent, expensive battle for its life. 

 But in the warm interior valleys, and 

 deep, rich, red soil of the foothills of 

 Butte county, it has no enemies of any 

 kind. 



The " black scale pest " can't survive 

 our summers — too much warm sunshine 

 and absence of humidity. 



It is unwise to plant any fruit where 

 it will not be al I'/x best. 



The sun does not shine on a spot of 

 earth anywhere, that will produce such 

 quantities of olives and of such supe- 

 rior quality as those grown here. 



With tliese great natural advantages, 

 and with intelligent, industrious care 

 (with us), the olive is one of the larg- 

 est and most speedy "money-makers" 

 of the fruits of our wonderful State. 

 When or 10 years old a net return of 

 $200 an acre is easily within the reach 

 of any man, and this return will be 

 steadily increased for many ages. 



Some orchards now 20 vears old give 

 returns of $600 to $800 an acre; and 

 still older groves, a yet larger result. 



Afterthe sixth year the olive requires 

 comparatively small care. An average 

 man of average intelligence and indus- 

 try could care for a grove of 10 acres 

 in Butte county (where there is no 

 "scale" to fight), except at harvest 

 time. But there is one great advantage 



in harvesting, it extends over a period 

 of a month, and if crowded, the " buyer" 

 will take the fruit on the tree, doing his 

 own gathering. This is because we 

 have in Oroville, The Khman Olive 

 Co., the largest and best equipped es- 

 tablishment of its kind in the world, 

 with a well-instructed force ready to 

 gather with great speed all the olives 

 that can be bought "on the trees." 



These people are the " discoverers " 

 of the art of pickling n'pe olives. 

 Formerly olives for pickling were 

 gathered when green. Being hard — 

 because green — they were not so easily 

 bruised — bruising spoils them. To cure 

 ripe olives successfully, great care is 

 required in gathering and in the curing 

 process. It is also necessary that the 

 olives be grown on such soil as insures 

 a firmness of texture, and such soil also 

 insures the highest food-qualities, and 



"Oi,i\K Branch"— WITH Olives. 



the most ex(|uisite flavor. It is because 

 of our soil and climate, and because of 

 the skill and intelligence in handling 

 and curing them, that "Ehman's Oro- 

 ville Ivipe Olives" are famous the world 

 over. 



Not merely in our own country, but 

 also in England, France, Germany and 

 Italy, the high-grade hotels, the high- 

 toned clubs, the rich and the titled, all 

 want Oroville Ripe Olives. 



Our factory people tell us the only 

 reason they do not sell ten times as 

 much of this fruit as they do is because 

 I /ley can I fret the fruit. 



There is (|uite as much difference be- 

 tween ripe and green olives as there is 

 between ripe and green peaches. Don't 

 for a moment imagine you have tasted 

 " the llavor of an olive " until you have 

 eat»n some of Ehman's Ripe Oroville 

 Olives. 



Cull there be an OTer- frochictioii of 

 " pickled ripe olives ?" I strongly sus- 

 pect not. 



We are now importing over $6000 

 worth of olives every year — simply be- 

 cause our people can not grow enough 

 of them. 



We have just discovered the value of 

 olives as food, and as a result the de- 

 mand the past .5 years has increased 

 enormously. Even our natural in- 

 crease in population would exceed all 

 possible increase in growth of this fruit. 



Remember, olives have been grown 

 since the days of Moses, and history 

 does not report a single instance of 

 "over-production." 



Remember, further, that the olive is 

 an " arid fruit." It can not be grown 

 in commercial quantities anywhere in 

 the United States outside of California. 



The only danger that confronts the 

 intending grower is that he ivon't plant 

 enough of them. 



Think of the kind of an income 

 "your successors" would have in 20 

 years, if you would plant 40 acres of 

 olives — say at least twenty-five thou- 

 sand dollars a year. Even 10 acres with 

 an income of $6000 a year zuould look 

 good to some people. 



Oroville, Calif. Col. E. S. Weeden. 



[If the reader is interested to have 

 further information, write to Col. 

 Weeden. He will be glad to reply 

 direct to any questions. 



Col. Weeden kindly sent us a gallon 

 of the Ehman Oroville ripe olives re- 

 cently, and they surely are fine — ever 

 so much better than the green olives, 

 <<■(■ think. — Editor.] 



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