500 EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE. 



olive in France is stated to be about 303,000 acres. The cul 

 ture is limited to the southern portions of France, as the tree 

 does not endure any considerable degree of cold. The money 

 value of the product in France is estimated at 22,776,398 francs, 

 or 4,555,279 dollars, for sale ; and the value of that which is 

 consumed is reckoned at 23,102,841 francs, or 4,620,568 dollars, 

 or 924,113 sterling. This .is a great product for a perma 

 nent article. The oil-cakes left after the expression of the oil 

 are considered as very valuable for cattle, and their value defrays 

 some portion of the expense of expressing the oil. 



The olive groves or orchards in Southern Italy are very exten 

 sive. Looking out from the high grounds in the neighborhood 

 of Florence upon the enchanting valley of the Arno, it appears 

 like an almost uninterrupted grove of olives as far as the eye can 

 reach. It is difficult to conceive of a richer, more beautiful, or 

 more picturesque landscape than is here spread before the eye ; 

 combining a charmingly varied surface, with cities crowning the 

 summits, and white palaces glittering among the richest foliage, 

 the river winding its gentle and silver stream through the whole 

 length of the valley, amidst forests and fields of the deepest and 

 most luxuriant vegetation. 



The olive-trees are of long endurance. Some orchards were 

 shown me to which tradition ascribes an age of eight hundred 

 years : the condition, however, either from age or neglect, was 

 not flourishing. More than a hundred different kinds of olive- 

 trees are mentioned in France, differing in the quality of their 

 product, and in their adaptation to different soils and tempera 

 ture. New varieties are occasionally produced by sowing the 

 seed in nurseries. The trees are planted in squares in the fields, 

 at the distance of five or six yards apart, more or less, according 

 as the soil is dry or humid, nearer to each other in the former 

 case than in the latter. The trees should be well manured either 

 with stable manure or compost ; it is advised to dig round the 

 trees every spring and autumn. The field should be cultivated, 

 taking care to guard against injury to the roots, with the plough ; 

 and, if grain is sown, that portion of the plant near the roots of the 

 trees should be dug in while green, and before the grain is formed. 



The great enemies of the olive-trees are the cold, and certain 

 insects. The severe cold in 1820 and 1836 destroyed a great 

 many trees in France. Many insects infest the trees, which 



