362 OLIVES. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



CULTIVATION OF OLIVES. 

 BY THE EDITOR. 



The Olive tree, as far as we are concerned in the northern 

 and eastern states, cannot be considered as an orchard 

 tree, nor in any other respect than a green-house shrub, 

 which is foreign to our subject. But in the hope of exci- 

 ting attention in our fellow citizens in the southern states, 

 I shall offer some remarks, which I hope may be use- 

 ful to them, more particularly to the cultivators of South 

 Carolina, Georgia, arid Florida. I shall not enumerate all 

 the varieties of the Olive, taking it for granted that the best 

 kinds only will be selected from the countries which produce 

 the best oil. 



Propagation. 



The Olive may be increased, First, By seeds. Let the 

 Olives, when fully ripe, be separated from the pulp and 

 well washed ; then dried a few days in the sun ; when they 

 are perfectly dry, let them be pitted as follows : Dig a hole 

 about a foot deep, and of a size according to the quantity of 

 stones ; then proceed to put in a layer of stones and a layer 

 of sand until the hole is nearly filled up; then lay on 

 sand or mould enough to raise the mound five or six inches 

 above the surface : here they may remain until the follow- 

 ing spring, when they will have cracked the stones, and 

 are just beginning to sprout, will be the proper time to sow 

 them ; and as probably many of them will not be sprouted ; 

 let those be gently cracked with a hammer, being careful not 

 to injure the germ ; let them be sown in drills much in the 

 same manner that peas are sown, and afterwards managed 

 in the same way as directed for apple stocks, which see. 

 Secondly. By grafting. The same process as directed for 

 grafting apples may be observed with Olives. Thirdly. 

 They may be increased by laying. Fourthly. They may 

 be increased by cuttings, either from the young wood, with a 

 small bit of the old wood, or from trimchings, or small knotty 

 five or six year old branches, cut about three feet long. 



The first method is the best to raise them on a large 

 , the most simple, systematic, and expeditious. 



But a word or two to the cultivators of South Carolina, 



