ORCHARD CROPS 



223 



is a native of Greece, Asia, and Africa. The world's supply of 

 olives is grown in Algeria, Tunis, Italy, France, Spain, Greece, 

 Asia Minor, Mexico, Peru, California, Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, 

 and South Carolina. 



Olive trees are propagated from sprouts or cuttings, which, 

 after being placed in beds of moist sand and roots have developed, 

 are set out thirty to forty feet apart each way. They do not begin 

 to bear profitable crops until they are six to eight years old, 

 when the yield is about six gallons of oil to the tree ; and this 

 gradually increases from year to year, until the maximum yield 

 of fifty gallons is reached. 



The profitable bearing term covers a period varying from 

 thirty to fifty years, but olive trees usually live to be several 

 hundred years old. The ripe or black olives are used for making 

 olive oil, and the green olives are sorted, graded, and pickled for 

 table use. They are put up in bottles, tubs, and barrels, and 

 shipped to all parts of the world. 



Olive oil is used in making salads and dressings, also in manu- 

 facturing soap. In some of the countries bordering on the 

 Mediterranean Sea 

 it is used in place of 

 butter in cooking. 



The Orange. - 

 The orange tree is 

 a native of Asia, 

 but it is now ex- 

 tensively grown in 

 Florida, and the 

 Gulf Coast country 

 of Louisiana, Ala- 

 bama, Mississippi, 

 Georgia, Texas, 

 California, and in 

 the Salt River 



Orange tree, Florida. 



Valley of Arizona. 



Portugal, Spain, Sicily, Asia Minor, Porto Rico, Hawaii, the 

 Philippines, South America, China, and Japan also furnish large 

 quantities. The tree grows to a height of some twenty or thirty 



