294 HORTICULTURE, FORESTRY, FLORICULTURE 



If necessary, they may be kept for three or four months in a dark 

 cool place, buried in sand and planted in the nursery when danger 

 of frost is past. The "uovoli" are planted three or four inches deep 

 in a sandy soil, and of the many shoots which start from each, only 

 the strongest is allowed to grow. They are ready to plant out in 

 place in two or three years. This method of propagation, at one 

 time common, is being gradually abandoned as, besides injuring 

 the trees from which the "uovoli" are taken, it results in poorly 

 rooted, short-lived trees, which are inordinately prone to produce 

 suckers. 



The strongest, heaviest-bearing, and longest-lived trees are those 

 grown from seed. Seedlings have a stronger and more deep-seated 

 root-system, and grow into more regular and more hardy trees than 

 those grown from cuttings. The only objection to their use is that 

 they require several years longer time before commencing to bear. 

 With care and intelligent cultivation, however, this delay can be 

 reduced to one or two years, and the larger crops and healthier trees 

 resulting, will more than compensate ultimately for the loss of time. 



The flesh of the olive should be removed before planting the 

 pits. This is commonly done by piling the fruit in heaps and allow- 

 ing it to decay, after which the pits can be easily removed by wash- 

 ing. Many of the seeds of most varieties will not germinate. These 

 are separated by placing all the pits in water and rejecting those 

 which float. The pits may be planted immediately, or if there is 

 danger of frost, kept in dry sand until spring. The pits must be 

 cracked before sowing, or they will remain two years in the ground 

 before germinating. This must be done very carefully, in order 

 not to injure the kernel; special instruments have been made for 

 this purpose, which work well. Instead of cracking the pits they 

 may be placed for twenty-four hours in a lye solution containing 

 half a pound of caustic soda to one gallon of water. This softens the 

 shell so that it soon decays in the soil and allows the young seedling 

 to push through. The pits, after cracking or softening, should 

 then be sown in a sandy bed heavily fertilized with thoroughly rotted 

 manure. They are placed every three inches in little drills which are 

 made six inches apart. Enough well-rotted manure should be placed 

 in the drills to cover and surround the pits, and the whole covered 

 with soil to the depth of one inch. The beds should be well watered 

 until the seedlings start ; after which less water should be used. When 

 the seedlings have developed five or six leaves they should be trans- 

 planted to the nursery, the roots at the same time being cut back 

 to about half their length. The olive, like all evergreen trees, is 

 likely to suffer from transplanting, unless care is taken to remove the 

 young plant with an adhering ball of earth. This is facilitated by 

 the manure which is placed around the seed when planted. 



The seedling always revert more or less to the wild plant or type, 

 so that it is necessary to graft or bud them with the variety which 

 it is desired to propagate. This may, in very favorable cases, be 

 done the spring after planting, but usually they are not large enough 

 until after the second spring. Two-year-old wood should be used 



