OLIVE 



OLIVE 



2335 



at 1,530,000 which corresponds to something under 

 30,000 acres. The same authority credits Florida with 

 8,000 trees, Arizona with 1,600 and all other states with 

 200. The State Board of Equalization, however, placed 

 the number of trees in California in 1912 at only 700,000, 

 or about 14,000 acres. 



It is estimated that California produced in 1910 about 

 800,000 gallons of olive oil and 1,000,000 of pickled 

 olives. For 1911, the oil output is placed at 920,000 



k 



.! 2571. Arab family gather- 



ing fruit of grafted wild olive 

 in Algeria. 



gallons and the pickles at 1,150,000 gallons. If one 

 ton of olives is reckoned to yield thirty-five gallons of 

 oil and that it requires six pounds of olives to make one 

 gallon of pickles, the crop of 1911 represents about 

 31,000 tons of fruit, of which 85 per cent were used for 

 oil and only 15 per cent for pickles. If the average of 

 the estimates of total acreage given above is taken, the 

 crop is equivalent to 1.4 tons to the acre. When it is 

 considered that many orchards are planted with poor 

 bearing varieties and in unfavorable situations, this 

 average is satisfactory. 



According to the state statistician, six counties of the 

 San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys produced in 1900 

 nearly 75 per cent of the crop of the whole state, though 

 having but 25 per cent of the trees. This indicates a 

 variation of crop of less than half a ton to over four 

 tons to the acre, according to locality. In the south 

 of France 2.7 tons to the acre is considered a maximum 

 yield and good well-cultivated orchards are not expected 

 to average more than 1.3 tons. 



Using the estimates given above, it will be seen that 

 pickles were made from only about 15 per cent of the 

 crop, the remainder being used for oU. The reason 

 for this is that while pickled olives of suitable qual- 

 ity are more profitable than oil, only the large olives 

 are acceptable to the market. During the first period 

 of heavy planting, a large number of the trees used were 

 of varieties suitable for oil, which are all of small or 

 medium size. Even when large-fruited varieties are 

 planted, there will always be a large proportion of the 

 fruit undersized, especially in poor soil and in unfa- 

 vorable localities. At present the tendency is to plant 

 only those varieties which are capable of producing 

 large fruit but which at the same tune are rich in oil of 

 good quality. The pickled olive is thus considered the 



main crop and the oil a kind of supplementary or by- 

 product. From this point of view, the Mission olive, 

 when propagated from selected trees in favorable local- 

 ities, is perhaps the best variety. Pickling and oil- 

 making tend to concentrate in large central establish- 

 ments in each olive-growing center. This makes it 

 possible to employ the best methods and machinery 

 in the hands of trained men. The results are great 

 improvement in quality of the product and economy of 

 operation. 



The price paid for olives fell at one tune to $15 a 

 ton which, with the average crop, represents gross 

 returns of $25 or $30 an acre, which in most cases would 

 not pay the cost of cultivation and harvesting. It has 

 risen gradually until during the last few years $100 a 

 ton has been paid for olives suitable for pickling and 

 even $150 to $200 a ton for very large fruit. This 

 represents average gross returns of about $150 or more 

 to the acre and is very profitable, as the large olives are 

 gathered much more cheaply than the small. When 

 turned into pickles, a ton of olives represents $250 at 

 the low retail price of 75 cents a gallon, but a ton of 

 olives will yield oil of a value of only about $87.50 at 

 the ordinary price of $2.50 a gallon. As olives are 

 usually bought ungraded, the buyer of pickling olives 

 at present prices incurs a loss on all the small olives he 

 uses for oil. The price paid for oil olives too small for 

 pickling is less than half that paid for the large fruit. 



Propagation. 



Olives in California are usually grown from cuttings 

 taken from the tree when it is most dormant, that is, 

 in January and February. These cuttings may be of 

 any size and taken from any part of the tree. Most 

 nurserymen prefer to use "tips." These are the mature 

 ends of shoots 4 to 5 inches long. Two or three of the 

 upper leaves are left or trimmed back a little and the 

 remainder removed entirely. They are then planted in 

 boxes of sand under glass with artificial heat and, after 

 rooting, transplanted to the nursery where they remain 

 for one, two or three years before being planted in 

 place. When a greenhouse is not available, larger cut- 

 tings of older wood are preferable. These cuttings are 

 usually made about 14 inches long and may be from 

 94 to \Yi inches in diameter. Their rooting may be 

 facilitated by splitting or scratching the bottom 2 or 3 

 inches with a knife. In Spain, large branches of old 

 trees are used to produce young plants. These branches 

 (truncheons) are cut into convenient lengths and incis- 

 ions reaching half way to the center made every 3 or 

 4 inches. The sections are then placed horizontally in 

 trenches about 10 inches deep, where they are covered 

 with soil, and watered. Shoots arise near the saw-cuts 

 and when sufficiently developed they are removed with 

 the roots which have formed, and planted in the 

 nursery. This method, formerly employed in Cali- 

 fornia, is now little used there. Suckers taken from 

 the base of the trunk with a plate of the old wood 

 attached to the base are sometimes used and root more 

 easily than ordinary cuttings. 



Olives may also be propagated by seeds, which are 

 supposed to give a stronger root-system and more 

 fruitful trees. The seedlings, however, must be grafted 

 and it takes a little longer to obtain a tree by this means. 



The Mission and many other cultivated varieties 

 have large seeds which are hard to germinate. Small- 

 fruited varieties, such as the Redding and Chemlali, 

 which resemble the wild olive, are the best. The com- 

 pletely ripe olives are placed in a heap until the pulp 

 becomes soft enough to be removed easily. Usually the 

 stones are then treated for twelve to twenty-four hours 

 in a 10 per cent solution of caustic soda. The process 

 must be carefully watched by breaking a stone occa- 

 sionally and the lye removed before it penetrates to the 

 kernel. The treated pits are kept in moist sand until 

 March or April, when they are planted thickly in close 



