THE OLIVE TREE ] 107 



new foliage, when the operation is necessarily attended 

 by the risk of an irregular growth and of a poor crop. 

 The ordinary roughly hemispherical shape is that 

 usually given to the tree, and this shape being the natural 

 one is always easy to obtain, and answers well from the 

 point of view of productiveness, but as the foliage of the 

 olive tree is not so thick as to be an obstacle to the 

 production of fruit on the twigs situated more or less 

 within the tree,' the vase shape is found to be more 

 productive, as it affords a greater surface and a better 

 opportunity for the formation of sprays of the loose fruit- 

 bearing twigs above mentioned. This shape is best 

 obtained by training four or more branches of the young 

 tree, and afterwards regulating their growth in a manner 

 so as to prevent any of them from unduly developing and 

 becoming a leader to the detriment of the others. Trees 

 which are carefully trained to the hemispherical or 

 umbrella shape or to the vase shape are found to be more 

 productive, and their shape is best retained by pruning 

 every year, the use of the knife being limited to the 

 thinning of the twigs, avoiding as much as possible the 

 removal of big branches and the formation of large 

 wounds which exhaust the tree and are difficult to heal, 

 ultimately becoming the starting point of canker. The 

 production of the olive tree is known to have a three- 

 year rotation, the first year yielding an abundant crop, 

 a fair crop in the second year, and a poor crop in the 

 third year ; but by moderate and careful pruning, along 

 with proper attention to other cultural details, the tree 

 can be made to give a regularly sustained production 

 every year. 



The large-fruited varieties of the olive tree are often 

 sterile or partly sterile, and besides the presence of a 

 considerable proportion of undersized fruit, there is 

 almost always a large number of very small fruits, not 

 larger than a pea or a hemp-seed, which either have a 

 diminutive aborted stone or no stone at all. These 



