202 SELECT PLANTS FOR INDUSTRIAL CULTURE 



to the sea is favourable to it, and hill-sides are more eligible 

 for its culture than plains. The ground must be deeply 

 trenched. Manuring with well-decayed substances is requisite 

 annually, or every second or third year, according to circum- 

 stances. Irrigation will add to the productiveness of the 

 plant. Mons. Kiordet distinguishes three main varieties, of 

 which he recommends two : 1, The Cayon, a small-sized tree, 

 which comes into bearing after three or four years, but 

 it bears fully only every second year; its oil is fine with 

 some aroma. 2, The Pendulier, a larger tree, with long droop- 

 ing branches, yielding an oil of first-rate . quality. Mons. 

 Reynaud, " Culture de FOliver," separates twelve varieties, 

 as cultivated in France, and recommends among them : 1, 

 The Courniau or Courniale, also called Plante de Salon, bearing 

 most prolifically a small fruit and producing an excellent oil. 

 2, The Picholine, which by pruning its top branches is led to 

 spread over eight yards square or more. It is of weeping 

 habit, yields a good oil in fair quantity, and resists well the 

 attacks of insects. 3, The Mouraou or Mourette, a large tree 

 also furnishing oil of a very fine quality. Olive trees require 

 judicious pruning immediately after the fruit is gathered, 

 when the sap is comparatively at rest. They may be multi- 

 plied from seeds, cuttings, layers, suckers, truncheons, or 

 estacas and old stumps, the latter to be split. They can also 

 be propagated from protuberances at the base of the stem, 

 which can be sent long distances (Boothby) . The germina- 

 tion of the seeds is promoted by soaking the nutlets in a 

 solution of lime and wood ash. The seedlings can be budded 

 or grafted after a few years. Truncheons or estacas may be 

 from one to many feet long and from one inch to many inches 

 thick ; they are placed horizontally into the ground. Olive 

 plantations at Grasse are worth from 200 to 250 per acre. 

 For many details the tract on the " Culture of Olive and its 

 Utilisation," issued in Melbourne by the Rev. Dr. Bleasdale, 

 should be consulted, as it rests largely on its author's observa- 

 tions during a long stay in Portugal. Also the essay of 

 Mr. S. Davenport in Adelaide. 



The following notes are derived from the important " Tratado 

 del Cultivo del Olivo en Espana," by the Chev. Capt. Jose de 

 Hidalgo-Tablada (second edition, Madrid, 1870). The Olive 

 Tree will resist for a short time considerable frost (15 C.), 

 provided that the thawing takes place under fogs or mild rain 

 (or perhaps under a dense smoke) . It requires for ripening 

 its fruit about one-third more annual warmth than the vine. 

 The Olive zones of South Europe and North Africa are between 

 18 and 44 north latitude. An elevation of about 550 feet 



