OLIVES FROM SEEDS AND CUTTINGS 337 



of one-half pound of concentrated lye to the gallon of water. Most 

 of the seeds sprout the first year. Planting the naked kernels gives 

 the quickest result. Without using this artificial means some of the 

 seeds may remain dormant at least for two years. Clipping the tip 

 of the shell, so as to open a small aperture so that moisture can enter 

 readily, will often cause nine-tenths of the seed to grow within three 

 months. 



G. P. Hall, of San Diego, gives the following hints for those who 

 desire to experiment with seedling olives : 



After the pulp has all been taken off with lye water (in order to remove all 

 the oil and to roughen the shell), the seed is washed in clean water and then 

 kept in moist sand till planting time, which is in February and March. They 

 will not all germinate the first year, so it is best to preserve the seed-bed. 

 Some assist the germination by cracking the pits in an iron vise ; one turn of 

 the screw generally splits the shell. Leave the pit in the cracked shell when 

 you plant in the prepared seed-bed. Some use boxes perforated to insure drain- 

 age ; the boxes are filled to within three inches of the top with good sandy loam, 

 then the kernels, cracked or otherwise, are spread over the top and an inch or 

 more of sand covers the whole, which must be kept constantly moist. The 

 cracking of the kernels greatly accelerates the germination, and a person can 

 prepare 600 or more seed in a day. Take seed from best trees and avoid 

 dwarfs of any kind. Use any good kinds of either pickling or oil olives as you 

 may desire. 



Large Cuttings. There are two chief methods of propagating 

 the olive from cuttings now practised in California. One uses well- 

 matured wood, and the other young wood which has just passed out 

 of the herbaceous state. Practice with hard wood proceeds by taking 

 cuttings of sound wood about a foot long and one-half to one inch 

 in diameter, and rooting them as already described for vine cuttings, 

 in Chapter XXVI. A fresh cut should be made at the bottom of the 

 cutting and if the bark has shriveled at all the cuttings should be 

 put in water for a time before planting. These large cuttings sometimes 

 remain dormant for a year or more, and recent propagation has been 

 largely by the small-cutting method. 



Small Cuttings. Propagating by small cuttings serves an 

 excellent purpose in rapid multiplication of varieties; it enables the 

 grower to handle a large number of plants in a small space, and the 

 plants from small cuttings have a symmetrical root system quite 

 resembling that from a seed. These cuttings are made from very 

 small shoots and both the tips and the lower cuts are used. In the 

 engraving the figure on the left is a tip cutting; the next, a cutting 

 lower down the shoot. These figures are about natural size, and show 

 clearly how the cuttings are made. They are placed closely in boxes 

 of sand about four inches deep, rooted under glass or in a lath house, 

 and after a few months are potted in small pots, or may be reset farther 

 apart in boxes of soil or in the open ground. In January or February, 

 the wood seems to be in the best condition in Berkeley, but such condi- ' 

 tion, may come at other times in other parts of the State. From such 

 cuttings the trees will be of good size for planting in permanent place 

 the next year. It is very important to take the small cuttings just , 

 when the wood is in the right condition, not too soft nor too hard. 



