MAKING OLIVE OIL 355 



the scope of a treatise on fruit growing. Information must be had 

 by visiting oil-making establishments and from the manufacturers 

 of the appliances used in them. For the use of the grower who 

 desires to make oil for home use, a few suggestions will be given. 



Drying. Extraction of oil from fresh olives gives the best oil, 

 but it is somewhat troublesome, and it is customary to partially dry 

 them. This partial drying is also useful to keep the fruit for some 

 time or for shipment before crushing. Place the olives in layers 

 not more than three inches deep, on trays that are stacked in a dry, 

 well-aired room, protected from the wind and the direct rays of 

 the sun. Turn daily until the fruit becomes well wrinkled. This 

 requires about eight or ten days, according to the degree of tem- 

 perature. To hasten the drying process, artificial driers, constructed 

 on the same principle as fruit driers, are sometimes used. The 

 olives are placed in a single layer upon trays, and the drier is kept 

 at a temperature of about one hundred and twenty degrees Fahren- 

 heit. The drying takes about forty-eight hours more or less 

 according to the nature of the fruit. 



Crushing. The olives are crushed in a way to break up the 

 flesh and pits very thoroughly. 



Pressing. When the crusher has reduced the olives to a mass, 

 a certain amount of the pulp is put in each of several coarse linen 

 cloths and when the cloth is folded back it makes a cheese about 

 three inches thick. Several of these cheeses are placed one above 

 the other, with slats between, in a screw or lever press and the pres- 

 sure applied gently at first. From the liquid which runs out first 

 is made the very finest oil, known as "virgin oil." The pressure 

 is then increased very gradually until the full power of the machine 

 is reached. 



Settling and Clarifying. The liquid from the press is dark col- 

 ored, and it is conducted into a receptable for settling. The first 

 settling is conveniently made by means of a funnel-shaped appa- 

 ratus, which by its conical shape facilitates the rapid deposition of 

 sediment. After standing for twenty-four hours in this apparatus 

 the major part of the sediment is deposited and can be drawn off 

 at the bottom. It is well before running the oil into the settling 

 tanks to pass it through two or three inches of cotton wool. This 

 is accomplished by means of a funnel with a perforated, horizontal 

 cross partition, upon which the cotton is placed. It takes, generally, 

 about one month for the oil to settle sufficiently in the first tank, 

 after which it should be drawn off carefully into the second, and so 

 on until it is sufficiently bright. Three rackings are usually suf- 

 ficient. 



Olives are sometimes ground and pressed in portable cider mills 

 or ground in barley crushers for oil manufacture on a small scale. 

 As the above description shows, oil making is a simple process, and 

 may be carried on at home with rude devices. It is, however, a 

 process requiring care and cleanliness, and intelligent personal at- 

 tention. 



