AGRICULTURE. 261 



d'ete*, Dearborn's Seedling, Seckel, and Bartlett, for summer 

 pears ; and the Winter Nelis, Glout Morceau, and Easter 

 Beurre, for winter. 



187. Apricots and Plums. The apricot thrives well and 

 bears abundantly, especially in the warmer parts of the State. 

 The fruit, however, in some places, is much eaten by bugs and 

 bees. The bugs some of them of the kind commonly called 

 " Lady-bug," and others similar in appearance and size eat 

 holes in the apricots before they are ripe ; and the bees, which 

 never break the skin, eat at the holes which the bugs have 

 commenced. The apricot-tree is more healthy than the peach, 

 and produces more abundantly ; and its fruit supplies the place 

 of the peach in many districts. 



188. Olives. For the cultivation of the olive, California 

 has great advantages. The tree is very healthy, and always 

 bears abundantly ; whereas in Italy and Greece, whence most 

 of our olive oil comes, the crop is frequently destroyed by 

 summer rains, blight, and insects, all of which causes of trou- 

 ble are unknown here. There, it is expected that the crop will 

 fail one year in three, whereas here no failure has ever been 

 known. The number of our olive-trees is small, many of 

 those in full bearing having been planted half a century ago. 

 Nor is it likely that there will be a rapid increase. The tree 

 does not come into bearing uutil ten years of age, at least not 

 in Europe ; but it will live and continue in bearing for five or 

 six centuries. Most of the bearing olive-trees are at Los An- 

 geles, San Fernando, San Gabriel, Santa Barbara, San Diego, 

 and San Juan Capistrano. The olive-tree resembles a willow in 

 the form and color of its bark, the shape and proportions of 

 its trunk and branches, and the size, color, and distribution of 

 its leaves. The trees are grown from cuttings or shoots, which 

 latter frequently sprout from the large trees near the surface 

 of the ground. A large olive orchard in full bearing will 

 prove an excellent income, for the fruit and the oil are in de- 

 mand. One cause of the unwillingness of many persons to 



