THE OLIVE. 27 



So great is the vitality of the Olive that it may 

 be propagated by planting the knots from the trunk : 

 these are dormant buds. It is said that a twig stuck 

 carelessly in the ground will strike root. Olive trees 

 are constantly seen growing in groups of three or 

 four. I believe that these result, in almost every 

 case, from the decay of a single large trunk ; to 

 replace this, a few of the innumerable shoots that 

 spring up round the base of the stock have been 

 allowed to remain, and have been grafted. Thus a 

 group is formed. In fact, once an Olive is planted, 

 there is no reason why it should ever disappear from 

 the spot ; to destroy it you must dig out every morsel 

 of the stock.* 



The Olive flowers in May, and the fruits are fully 

 formed in the Autumn ; but they remain, or should 

 remain, on the tree during the Winter. The regular 

 harvest is in March or April, but in some years a 

 large part of the fruit falls in November and 

 December. These windfalls are not wasted, for they 

 will make oil, though inferior in quality to that made 

 in the Spring. The saying is, " When the wine is in 

 the vat, the oil is in the Olive." I have been told 

 that the Olive trees in the Nice district produce a 

 heavier crop each third year. Of course the date of 

 the Olive harvest depends in great measure upon the 

 elevation, that is to say, upon the climate. On the 

 coast it may take place as early as November to 



* This applies especially to the country between Cannes and 

 Marseilles. I have been told that a fearful frost occurred in 1819, 

 killing down to the ground all Olive trees west of the Esterel. But as 

 life remained in the stock, the peasants allowed several small trees to come 

 up in place of each old one, as described above. East of the Esterel the 

 trees were not destroyed by the frost. T. H. 



