CULTIVATION OF THE OLIVE. 



197 



of the olive. " Sous le regne de Tarqain 

 I'ancien, cet arbi'e u'existoit point encore en 

 Italic, en Espague, et en Afrique. Sous le 

 cousulat d'Appius Claudius I'huile etoit en- 

 core tros rare a Rome; mais du temps de 

 Pline Tolivier deja passe en France et en Es- 

 pague,"* Humboldt, Essai sur le Geographie 

 des Plantes, t. 4, 1807, p. 26. 



The suitableness of the soil of our southern 

 coast to the olive tree admits of no doubt. It 

 thrives in every soil which is not wet. " Toute 

 espece de terre, pom-vu qu'elle ne soit pas 

 marccageuse, couvicnt a I'olivier, cependant 

 comme il donue souvent plus de bois que de 

 fiiiits dans les terrains fertiles, et que ces ter- 

 rains sont toujours precieux poiu: la culture 

 du blc, etc., ou le plante plus generalement 

 dans des lieux caillouteux, sablonneiix, sur 

 ies coteaux les plus arides, pourvu q6 ils 

 soient exposes au midi ou levant."t (Nou- 

 veaux Cours d'Agricultui'e, t. 9, p. 174). — 

 That the sandy lands of our seaboard are 

 adapted to the olive, needs no other proof 

 than the luxuriant gi-owth of the trees on St. 

 Simon's and Cumberland Islands. 



Should the olive become acclimated to the 

 interior of the States of South Carolina and 

 Georgia, it will find, in the open and gravelly 

 soil of the tertiary slope, between the granite 

 ridge and the tide-water, its most congenial 

 soil. " Aptissunum genus ten-® est oleis cui 

 glarea subest, si superposita creta sabulo ad- 

 mista est."t (Columella de re rustica, lib. 5. 

 cap. 7. Aldus Venetiis, 1514.) And in his 

 Liber de Arboribus, cap. 17, he says, " Olea 

 maxime collibus siccis, et argillosis gaudet, at 

 humidis carapis, et pinguibus, leetas froudes 

 sine fructu atfert." || i§ 



Admitting the suitableness of the climate 

 and soil of the sea-coast of Georgia and South 

 Carolina, and that portion of the temtory of 

 the United States which lies south of latitude 

 31°, to the cultivation of the olive, the question 



[* Translation. — Under the reign of Tarquin the 

 Elder this tree did not exist in Italy, in Spain, or in 

 Africa. Under the Consulate of Appius Claudius, 

 the oil was still very rare at Rome ; but at the time 

 of Pliny, the olive had already passed into France 

 and Spain. Ed. Farm. Lib.] 



[ t Translation. — Every species of soil, provided 

 that it is not marshy, is suitable for the olive ; hut 

 yet, as in fertile land it is often rather productive of 

 wood, and as such land is always precious for the 

 culture of grain, etc., it is more generally planted in 

 stony and sandy places, and on the most arid hills, 

 if only they are exposed to the south or east. 



Ed. Farm. Lib.] 



[X Translation. — That sort of land is best suited to 

 olives which has a gravelly subsoil if there is a mix- 

 ture of sand in the upper layer of loam. 



Ed. Farm. Lib.\ 



[II Translation. — The olive best likes drj- and sandy 

 hills ; in moist and rich plains it produces abundant 

 foliage without fi-uit.§ Ed. Farm. Lib.] 



§ " Sed ncque depressa loca, nequc ardua, magis- 

 quo modicos clivos amot."'1I — Id. Re Rustica. 



^ ** Nor tiiglita, nor vales, but penile hillocks loves." I 



'^437) 



next presents itself, is the introduction of that 

 tree likely to prove such a source of profit to 

 the agriculturist as to be worthy of his atten- 

 tion ? A calm examination of this part of the 

 subject, will probably disappoint those whose 

 standard of profit has been the exaggerated 

 hopes of the cotton culture, and who tolerate 

 no delay in reaping the reward of their labor ; 

 but it may present a sufficient mducement to 

 devote some time and expense to the subject, 

 to a class of persons less impatient of growing 

 rich, and who believe that the. direction of a 

 part of the agricultural labor of the Southeris 

 States to new objects, is called for by the ex 

 cessive production of a few staples, and that 

 the introduction of a plant affording a whole 

 some and nutritious article of food, and which 

 is important to many valuable manufactures, 

 will add very materially to the wealth, happi- 

 ness and independence of the coimtry. 



The distance at which the olive trees are 

 planted, is regulated by the circumstance 

 whether the ground is to be devoted solely to 

 them, or is to be cultivated at the same time 

 in grain. In the first case they are placed 

 nearer, and in the latter farther apart. 



Bosc, in the article quoted above, observes 

 that generally where the soil is fit for cultiva- 

 tion, the trees are placed far apart, in order to 

 grow some other crop in the interval between 

 them ; and says that this practice should be 

 approved of, both because the olive being 

 subject to fail in its fruit, the whole revenue 

 from the land is not lost, and because it is 

 benefited by the annual cultivation which 

 the other crops require, and because the 

 greater the distance between the trees the 

 greater their size, and the more abimdant and 

 the better the fi-uit. He adds that the 

 average distance of the trees apart should in 

 rich soils be fi.xed at 43 feet, and in poor at 36. 

 Arthur Young mentions that in Languedoc 

 " many fields are planted in rows at 12 yards 

 by 10." (Travels, vol. ii., p. 72.) At Pin- 

 gean, " In planting, if they mean to crop the 

 land with corn, in the common maimer, that 

 is, one yeai- m two, the otJier fallow, they put 

 100 trees to 8 seterees of land ; but if they 

 intend to have no corn at all, the same num- 

 ber on 4 seterees. (Id. p. 73.) As thesete- 

 rce is equal to half an acre, this is at the rate 

 of 2-5 trees to the acre in the former, and .50 

 in the latter case. 



The distance varies much in other locah- 

 ties, but it may be assumed as a safe ground 

 of calculation, that 25 trees may be planted 

 to the acre when the land is cropped, and 50 

 if devoted exclusively to the olive. 



The product of oil-varies very much with 

 the size of the trees, the character of the soil, 

 and the fruitfulness of the season. 



In France, Young informs us that at Tou- 

 lon " they have great trees, that are known 

 to yield 20 livres to 30 livres a tree (40 lbs. 

 to 60 lbs., or from 5^ to 8^ gallons of oil) 

 when they give a crop, wliich is once in two 

 years, and sometimes once in three — small 

 trees yield 3 hvres (G lbs.), 5 livres (10 lbs.) 



