292 HORTICULTURE, FORESTRY, FLORICULTURE 



are the honest, responsible houses and which are not. Select a good 

 house and stick to it. 



In shipping to commission merchants, the best policy is to se- 

 lect one reliable man in each market to which shipments are to be 

 made and ship to him alone. Do not split a shipment in any one 

 market, sending part of it to one man, part to another. It is not 

 fair to the merchant and will result in loss to the shipper. Try to 

 work with the commission man. If he wants riper fruit, send it to 

 him ; if not so ripe, let him have it. He knows the market as the 

 grower cannot. Try to give him what he wants. 



OLIVE CULTURE. 



Cultivation. The olive is a native of southern Europe, and has 

 been cultivated in nearly all the countries surrounding the Mediter- 

 ranean from time immemorial. From there it has spread to various 

 countries which offer, like California and the arid Southwest, sim- 

 ilar climatic conditions. It requires an average yearly temperature 

 somewhat higher than is required by the vine, and will not with- 

 stand so low a temperature as the latter. It is dangerous to plant 

 olive trees in any region where the temperature often falls below 

 20 F. Some varieties will withstand 15 F., but only for a short 

 time ; and the young wood of many varieties is injured even above 

 this temperature. At 10 F. the whole tree is destroyed. In spring, 

 after the new growth has started, much less cold than the above is 

 harmful. On account of its need of an even climate the olive is 

 seldom cultivated successfully more than one hundred miles from 

 the sea, and succeeds best where the mean temperature of the coldest 

 month does not fall below 43 F. 



The olive needs a light, well-drained soil, and either does not 

 succeed, or gives fruit of poor quality, on heavy, clayey, or ill- 

 drained soils. It is especially suited to sandy or loam soils rich in 

 lime, and will grow in soils so rocky that nothing else but a vine 

 could succeed in them. It is a mistake, however, to suppose that the 

 olive will give profitable crops in poor soils ; such soils must be well 

 fertilized to insure good growth of the young trees and good crops 

 on the old. 



The olive requires less water than many cultivated trees, on 

 account of its light foliage, and of its strong root-system, which 

 penetrates to a great depth even in very rocky subsoils, if well 

 drained. It is a great mistake, however, to suppose that an olive tree 

 will produce profitable crops in a dry soil. Failure to give sufficient 

 water and cultivation to both young and old trees is responsible for 

 the lack of success in many thousands of acres of olives. Where the 

 rainfall is very light, however, irrigation is necessary. It must not 

 be excessive, and the water level must be kept low, otherwise the 

 quality of the crop will be inferior and the trees more subject to 

 disease. 



Olives are generally propagated by cuttings. There are several 

 different methods, but the following probably gives the best results : 

 Young shoots, several inches long, are cut from strong, vigorous 

 trees with a sharp knife. They should be cut as soon as their wood 



