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as well as close planting, poor pruning, poor cultivation, and poor drainage, 

 will be readily seen. 



Climate. Olive trees will grow wherever the temperature does not go below 

 15 F in winter, but for fruit the latest killing frost in spring should be in 

 April and the earliest. killing frost in the fall late in November. From blossom- 

 ing time to frost or for at least six and one-half months the mean daily 

 temperature should not be less than 66 F. A higher mean would be better. 



Soil. A deep, rich, well-drained, sandy loam with a high lime content and 

 enough ferric oxide to give it a good red color is the ideal soil for olives. They 

 will do fairly well, however, on any well drained soil. Very heavy or poorly 

 drained soils, as well as those too coarse or gravelly to hold moisture, should 

 be avoided. 



Irrigation. No olive orchard should be planted without making provision 

 for irrigation. The trees may do well and an occasional crop may be obtained, 

 but an unirrigated olive orchard will prove of little commercial value. An 

 olive orchard should be irrigated from three to twelve times per year, accord- 

 ing to the character and depth of the soil. An equivalent of one miner's inch 

 continuous flow during the growing season should be provided for each five 

 acres of orchard as a minimum. 



Cultivation. Olive orchards should be plowed deeply at least once a year 

 and thoroughly cultivated after each irrigation. 



Pruning. Annual pruning is necessary if annual crops are to be expected. 



If the pruning is neglected the tree will produce crops biennially or less 

 frequently. Pruning should keep the head of the tree low and open and 

 should regulate the amount of fruiting brush left from year to year. 



Harvesting. All olives should be hand-picked. The degree of ripeness 

 depends on the use to which the fruit is intended. If for green pickles, fruit 

 should be full grown but still green in color. For ripe pickles and oil, fruit 

 should be well colored, color varying according to variety. Varieties grown 

 should be confined to those that grow large enough fruit for pickling. Mission, 

 Manzanillo, Sevillano, and Ascalano are the most favored at present. 



Labor. Price of labor will vary from $2 to $3 per day, according to the 

 work done, expert growers and grafters getting the higher price. The picking 

 of the fruit by hand will cost about $20 per ton. One man may care for from 

 ten to forty acres. In any case he will need help at picking and pruning time. 



Lands Still Available. The lower foothills, bench lands, and alluvial fans 

 and, in the warmer sections, the well-drained bottom lands of situations men- 

 tioned under "Regions." 



Commercial Value of Developed and Undeveloped Land. Developed land is 

 valued at from $300 to $600 per acre; undeveloped land at from $25 to $300 

 per acre, price depending on location, character of the land, cost of levelling, etc. 



Marketing. For the most part olives are sold directly to the canners and 

 oil makers. Some growers have their own plants for pickling, but oil making 

 requires such expensive machinery that very few individuals have them. There 

 is little money in oil, so that the present tendency is to grow only such 

 varieties as are good for pickling. Oil is a by-product. Only the undersized 

 and frosted olives are now turned into oil. 



