OIL-SEEDS AND OILS 137 



probably we shall greatly increase our supplies. Our imports 

 at present (1917) come mainly from British India, though 

 Nigeria has supplied us with a certain amount. 



Of foreign countries China sends the largest quantity. 



OLIVES, the fruit of the Olea europaea. The olive is a beauti- 

 ful evergreen tree which usually grows to about twenty or thirty 

 feet high, though some trees are very much taller than this. 

 It grows very slowly, and lives to a great age. It has a smooth 

 pale-grey bark, and small, oval, leathery leaves, covered with 

 tiny hairs ; on the top side the leaves are of a greenish-grey 

 colour, but underneath they are silvery white. The flowers are 

 pure white set in a calyx of pale green, 

 and the fruits, or olives, when ripe are 

 rather like small long purple plums. 



Asia Minor and Syria are considered to 

 be the original home of the olive-tree, 

 and in these countries great woods of the 

 wild tree still abound. But from very 

 early days olives have been cultivated in 

 all Mediterranean countries, and in Italy, 

 and France, and Spain, whole districts 



OXLiJiiJ-) 



several miles in extent are planted with 



them, while in Greece the tree was considered to be under the 



special protection of the goddess Athene. 



According to the old story, Neptune and Athene both desired 

 the possession of Athens, and the gods decided that whichever 

 produced a gift the most useful to man should have his desire. 

 Neptune thereupon struck the ground with his trident, and 

 a horse appeared ; but Athene planted the olive, and the gods 

 gave her the city, rightly judging that hers was the more 

 valuable gift. An olive branch was regarded as a symbol of 

 peace, and a crown of wild olive was considered the highest 

 reward of bravery. 



Unripe green olives are pickled and eaten either before 

 meals or as dessert. The wood of the tree takes a high polish 

 and makes beautiful furniture. But it is for its oil that the 



