HORTICULTURE 293 



is fairly well hardened, but not too late in the season; and all the 

 leaves should be removed, except two or three at the top. They 

 should be planted immediately in shallow boxes of sand, placed in a 

 greenhouse or a warm shady place and kept moderately moist. In 

 three or four months most of them will be well rooted, and should 

 be transplanted to pots or to a nursery where they will receive more 

 sun. Here they should remain for three or four months longer, and 

 are then ready to be planted in place. It is best not to plant them 

 too early in the spring, before the soil has been well warmed; and 

 care must be taken during the first year that they do not dry out. 



An olive orchard may be brought into bearing a year earlier by 

 using larger cuttings of old wood, but the trees are seldom so strong 

 and are much more uneven than by the foregoing method. The 

 cuttings or truncheons in this case, in California, are taken in 

 December or January, from branches two or three inches thick, and 

 are cut about twenty to thirty inches long. They should be made 

 only from strong healthy wood with sound bark. They should be 

 cut so that they have knots at the base, as this favors the production 

 of roots. Great care should be taken not to bruise them, and all the 

 shoots should be removed except a few at the top. They should then 

 be planted in a nursery of very light sandy soil, being buried about 

 two-thirds of their length and the soil tightly packed around them. 

 The top ends of the cuttings should be coated with piteh, and if the 

 weather is hot or dry, the nursery should be shaded until the cut- 

 tings begin to throw out shoots. A very thorough watering should 

 be given the ground immediately after planting, and the soil must 

 never be allowed to get dry until the cuttings are well rooted. A cer- 

 tain portion of the cuttings will fail to grow with the best of care, 

 and many will remain dormant for one or two years. Those which 

 grow well, however, are ready for planting-out in the orchard the 

 following season. 



Another method commonly practiced is to cut sections of large 

 branches one or two feet long, split them in two and then to bury the 

 halves horizontally, with the bark up, about three inches deep in the 

 nursery. If the soil of the nursery is warm, light, and well drained, 

 and kept rather moist, a large number of shoots w r ill in a few months 

 start from the buried sections and come through the soil. When 

 these shoots have become firm, but are still growing, they are cut off, 

 with a sharp knife, as close as possible to the old wood and planted 

 in the same manner as described above for the young shoots taken 

 directly from the trees. 



One of the commonest methods of propagation, used especially 

 in Italy, is by means of "uovoli." This is the name given to the 

 knot-like swellings that occur very plentifully on the trunk of many 

 varieties, especially near the base, and on the exposed parts of the 

 main roots. They are masses of dormant buds, and receive their 

 name from their resemblance in shape, after removal, to eggs. They 

 should be cut out carefully, and the places from which they are 

 removed painted over with pitch. They are generally removed in 

 November, and in frostless localities may be planted immediately. 



