OLIVE 



1127 



Pickling Olives is a simple matter in theory, but even 

 more judgment is needed than in the oil-extracting pro- 

 cess. ' The "bitter" is withdrawn by the use o£ lye, or 

 else by long and daily immersions in fresh water. There 

 is an increasing demand for Californian ripe pickled 

 Olives, the crop invariably being sold before ready for 

 delivery. In quality and flavor they are distinctly supe- 

 rior to the best imported green Olives. The most dis- 

 couraging feature connected with the marketing of 

 Olive oil is the fact that the imported oils are nearly all 

 adulterated more or less either at foreign ports or in the 

 United States, some showing 80 or 90 per cent of cotton- 

 seed. Until some national law is passed by which cot- 

 tonseed oil shall be labeled and sold as such and not 

 under names designed merely to deceive, such as " Pure 

 Lucca Oil," "Pure California Oil," "Sweet Olive Oil," 

 etc., the prospects for the California Olive-grower will 

 not brighten as far as the production of oil is concerned. 

 Given such a law, California can and will produce all 

 the Olive oil that is needed in the United States. 



See report on the Condition of Olive Culture in Cali- 

 fornia by A. P. Hayne, Bull. 129 of Calif. Exp. Sta., 

 issued May, 1900. Leonard Coates. 



Olive Products. — Olives are almost entirely used for 

 making oil and pickles ; some varieties are prepared by 

 simple drying, but the quantity so used in the U. S. is 

 very small and need hardly be considered a market prod- 

 uct as yet. The general use of Olive oil in this coun- 

 try has been somewhat retarded by the introduction 

 and sale of refined (clarified) cottonseed oil under vari- 

 ous names and brands as substitutes for the more ex- 

 pensive genuine oil. In some cases Olive oil is adul- 

 terated, to a greater or less degree, with the cheaper 

 cottonseed oil, and sold as "pure Olive oil." This state 

 of affairs is owing almost entirely to the fact that the 

 general American public does not, as yet, appreciate the 

 delicate flavor of a properly prepared pure Olive oil. At 

 present the market demands that an oil must be clear 

 and brilliant, without reference to its quality or flavor, 

 and consequently even pure Olive oil is "clarified" and 

 filtered until it loses its delicate and characteristic 

 aroma. It is then no better than the cheaper cotton- 

 seed product with which it has to compete. But grad- 

 ually the differences are being appreciated, and the de- 

 mand for the true article is slowly but surely increasing. 



Pickled ripe Olives have steadily grown in favor, and 

 the more their value as a food material is appreciated 

 the greater will be the demand for a properly prepared 

 product. As yet little or no pickled green Olives are 

 prepared in California. These do not serve as food, 

 however, as do the ripe Olives, but merely as a relish, 

 and must be considered as a delicacy rather than as a 

 staple article of diet; hence their preparation can only 

 be undertaken under special conditions, each manufac- 

 turer having his own particular process or recipe. 



The manufacture of Olive oil, though apparently a 

 simple process, requires the most painstaking care, and 

 the closest attention to every detail, for the production 

 of high-grade oil. To begin, the fruit must be carefully 

 picked by hand, avoiding all unsound drupes, and han- 

 dled as little as possible in order to avoid bruising. In 

 some of the orchards in Europe the fruits are dropped 

 into pails half filled with water, thus reducing to a mini- 

 mum the danger of bruising. This is specially im- 

 portant when the Olives have to be kept for any length 

 of time before crushing. It is by far the best plan to 

 crush immediately, but this is not always possible. 

 Then the Olives must be dried, and stored in layers not 

 over three inches in depth, with a free circulation of 

 air between the layers, in order to prevent molding 

 or fermenting. In no case must unsound fruit be 

 used, as even a few slightly moldy or fermented ber- 

 ries will impart a disagreeable odor and flavor to the 

 entire product. When Olives have been frosted they 

 must be picked and crushed immediately ; a delay of 

 twenty-four hours will render them unfit for use. The 

 proper stage of ripeness is an important factor. The 

 tendency is to allow the Olives to overripen. This is a 

 mistake, as the quality of the oil is thereby deteriorated. 

 Just after changing color has been found to be the 

 proper stage for picking, for then the ma.\imum oil-con- 

 tent and keeping qualities of the oil have been reached. 



Various devices have been used for crushing. Fnrnurly 

 it was the practice to crush fruit and pits tofxi-tliir be- 

 tween heavy milLstones; but it has been fuiiml tliat the 

 oil from the kernels not only imparts its cllaract(.'ri^ti^ 

 flavor to the flesh oil, but also impairs its keeping quali- 

 ties. At present crushers are used with the stones stt 

 far enough apart to avoid breaking the pits. Roller 

 crushers are sometimes used, but these are, as a rule, 

 objectionable on account of the lial>ility of chemical 

 action between the acids of the Olive juice and the iron, 

 resulting in an inky color and taste. In Europe the 





1522. California Olives, showing one method of pruning. 



crushed pulp is pressed in special mats made of esparto 

 grass, holding about twenty-five pounds each; but in 

 California these mats have been found to be too expen- 

 sive, and linen or sail-cloth has been successfully used 

 instead. The best form of press is a screw-press, so 

 arranged that the pressure is very gradual, and pro- 

 vided with a perforated steel basket (wood would not 

 do on account of the absorbed oil becoming rancid ) , and 

 all exposed cast-iron carefully covered with tin. The 

 steel basket is filled with pulp in layers of about twenty- 

 five pounds each, each layer being surrounded by cloth, 

 and as much direct screw pressure as possible applied 

 very gradually. After all the juice has run out, the 

 resulting cakes of pulp are taken out, mixed with pure, 

 cool water, and again pressed, this time as much as 

 possible with the screw lever. This operation may be 

 repeated a third and even a fourth time, the resulting 

 oil being each time of inferior quality. In California, as 

 a rule, but two pressings are made, forming first- and 

 second-grade oil ; in some cases the oils from the two 

 pressings are mixed, and but one grade marketed. The 

 oil can be recovered from the juice by simply allowing 

 it to rise and accumulate on the surface, as it will nat- 

 urally, being lighter than the watery juice. But this 

 process is both slow and dangerous, because fermenta- 

 tion is liable to start in the juice, and greatly impair 

 the quality of the oil. It thus becomes important to 

 separate the oil as quickly as possible from the acrid 

 juice. Several means have been devised for accom- 

 plishing this. The most satisfactory (of Italian inven- 

 tion), and one which has been tried at the California 

 Experiment Station, is the washing out of the impurities 

 by means of pure water. The apparatus consists of a 

 tin tank about 4 feet high and 2 feet in diameter, pro- 

 vided with a perforated false bottom, below which a 

 running stream of pure, cool water is admitted. Just 

 above this false bottom a small stream of juice is run 

 in. The water thus washes through the juice, the oil 

 rising at once to the surface, passes through the long 

 4-foot column of water, and is thus freed from most of 

 the vegetable matter, which falls to the bottom, where 

 it is drawn off through an outlet provided for that pur- 

 pose. The oil as it comes from this "separator," or the 

 hand-skimmings from the surface of the juice, has still 

 fine particles of pulp mixed with it, which impart a 

 "prickly" taste, and it must be allowed to stand in a 

 cool (about 50° F. ) room until these impurities settle. 

 It is then "racked " off, and can be sold as "new oil;" or 

 again allowed to stand for further precipitation and 

 racking until no more dregs are visible. This will give 



