OKLAHOMA 



protected from the fire. Wild fruit plants are abundant 

 in nearly all parts of the territory, and usually bear 

 moderately well. The plum, persimmon, grape, black- 

 berry and dewberry are most common. With a reason- 

 able amount of cultivation, most orchard fruits do well. 

 Young orchards are beginning to bear in nearly all 

 parts of the territory. These orchards contain only a 

 short list of varieties, but most of these seem well 

 adapted to the country. Most varieties show a strong 

 tendency to early bearing. The fruit is of good form, 

 size and quality, and promises to become one of the 

 leading crops. See Indian Territory. Q. M. MORRIS. 



OKRA, or GUMBO (Hibiscus esculentus). Introduced 

 into United States and West Indies from Africa, and 

 cultivated for its fruit pods, which are used in soups, 

 stews, catsups, etc. In soups and catsup, it gives body 

 to the dish; stewed, it is mucilaginous, and while at 

 first not agreeable to many people, a taste for it is easily 

 acquired. It is also dried and canned for winter use. 

 Sow in spring after the ground is thoroughly warmed, 

 in good vegetable land. Make the rows 3 to 5 feet apart, 

 according to variety, and drop seeds about 2 inches 

 apart in the row; cover 1 or 2 inches deep. After plants 

 are six inches high, thin to 1 foot apart for dwarf varie- 

 ties and to about 3 feet for the largest varieties. The 

 seedlings transplant with considerable difficulty, so they 

 need to be started in flower-pots if an extra-early crop 

 is desired. The pods must be gathered before the fiber 

 develops in them: the size will vary with the variety, 

 but if it is too " stringy " to cut with a dull case-knife it 

 is too old. Keep all old pods cut off. The dwarf varie- 

 ties are in greater favor in the South because of their 

 habit of bearing early. A plant, constantly cropped, re- 

 mains in bearing condition until frost kills it, but al- 

 lowed to retain pods it suspends growth until the seeds 

 have matured, when a second growth may take place. 

 Okra will grow for years if not killed by frost or other 

 adverse conditions, i. e., it makes an indeterminate 

 growth like cotton, malva, hibiscus, etc. For shipping, 

 cut the stems (peduncles) an inch or so long as to pre- 

 vent wilting in transit. Pack firmly in vegetable crates. 

 The demand for this vegetable is increasing, especially 

 in New York City. Seed is easily grown and saved. 

 The plant is subject to several diseases to such an ex- 

 tent that it is impracticable to raise a crop on certain 

 pieces of land. Rotation is the best remedy. 



P. H. ROLFS. 



Okra is a half-hardy annual in the North, originally 

 from Africa, introduced into the United States from the 

 West Indies. It is cultivated for its young green pods, 

 which are used in soups, stews and 

 catsups, to impart a thick, viscous 

 consistency, like tapioca or sago. 

 When ripe, the black or brown 

 white -eyed, globular seeds are 

 sometimes roasted and used as a 

 coffee substitute. Okra should be 

 sown in a dry, warm soil, of me- 

 dium fertility and texture, after 

 danger of frost has passed. For an 

 early crop the plants may be started 

 in a hotbed four weeks earlier than 

 sowings in the open ground. The 

 seeds should be covered about an 

 inch deep, 1-2 ft. asunder, and in 

 rows 2-3% ft. apart, according to 

 the variety, whether dwarf or tall. 

 In the South Okra is very generally cultivated; in the 

 North it is almost unknown and only the dwarf varieties 

 (Fig. 1520) succeed. M . G. KAINS. 



OLD MAN. Another name for the Southernwood, 

 Artemisia Abrotamim ; also for the Rosemary, Ros- 

 marinus officinalis. 



OLD-MAN-AND-WOMAN, or common Houseleek. 

 Sempervivum tectorum. 



OLD MAN CACTUS. Pilocereus senilis. 



OLD MAN'S BEARD. In Europe, Clematis Vitalba; 

 in America our common Wild Clematis, C. Viryiniana; 

 also Saxifraga sarmentosa ; rarely the Fringe Tree, 

 Chionanthus. 



OLIVE 



1125 



1520. 



Dwarf Density Okra. 

 A small variety valu- 

 able for the North. 



OLE A (classical name for Olive). Oleacece. OLIVE. 

 Between 30 and 40 trees or shrubs of the tropical and 

 warm-temperate parts of the Old World to New Zealand. 

 Lvs. evergreen and thick, opposite, usually entire, and 

 often rusty-tomentose beneath: fls. small, usually im- 

 perfect, white or whitish, in forking panicles or fascicles, 

 the short calyx 4-toothed (corolla sometimes none), the 

 short-tubed corolla with 4 valvate lobes, the stamens 2: 

 ovary 2-loculed, bearing a short style and capitate 

 stigma: fr. an oblong or ovoid drupe. The best known 

 species is 0. Europaea, Linn, (see Olive). It is a small 

 tree, rarely exceeding 20 or 25 ft. in height, and bearing 

 small lanceolate Ivs. and axillary forking racemes of 

 yellowish white fragrant fls. It is probably native to the 

 Mediterranean region. It has been in cultivation from 

 the earliest times. 0. chrysophylla, Lam., from tropical 

 Africa, has been introduced by F. Franceschi, Santa 

 Barbara. It is a small tree, noteworthy because of the 

 golden color of the under surface of the Ivs. The drupe 

 is large and blackish : Ivs. lanceolate, acute, entire, 

 shining above. For O. fragrans, illicifolia, Aquifol- 

 lum, and for garden treatment of the true Oleas, see 

 Osmanthus. ^ jj g 



OLEANDER. See Nerium Oleander. 



OLEARIA (derivation uncertain). Compdsitce. O. 

 Haastii in New Zealand forms a small bushy tree of 

 rounded form, with very stout branches densely clothed 

 with deep green foliage and covered with numerous 

 small white flowers. The genus is a very large one, and 

 is confined to Australia and New Zealand, where many 

 of the species are known as Daisy trees. O. Haastii, 

 however, is far removed from our common idea of 

 either a daisy or a composite. The heads are about 

 three-eighths of an inch across, and look like an ordi- 

 nary small 4-petaled white flower. They are borne in 

 flattish branched clusters of a dozen or so. The rays 

 vary from 3 to 5 in number, and the disk is reduced to 

 4-6 yellow fls. This rare plant is said to be hardy in 

 eastern England. It was offered in America in 1899. 



Olearia is a genus of 85 or more species. Shrubs, 

 sometimes arborescent or suffrutescent, rarely branch- 

 ing herbs: Ivs. alternate, rarely opposite, feather-veined 

 or 1-nerved, entire or dentate: heads large, medium or 

 small, solitary, corymbose or panicled : rays white or 

 blue: disk yellow or rarely purplish blue. For generic 

 characters, see Flora Australiensis 3:463, where the 

 genus is split into 5 sections. 



Haastii, Hook. Lvs. %-l in. long, elliptic or ovate- 

 oblong, obtuse, short - petioled, very leathery, dark 

 green above, white, but not shiny below. B.M. 6592. 

 G.C. III. 20:533. Gn. 38, p. 149. F. 1874, p. 198. w.M. 



OLEASTER. Popular name of Elceagnus hortensis. 

 OLERICULTURE. See Vegetable Gardening. 



OLIVE. Figs. 1521, 1522. California is the principal 

 state in the Union in which the Olive is grown, although 

 there are portions of Arizona and New Mexico in which 

 the climatic conditions are such that it is probable that 

 the industry will in time become permanently estab- 

 lished on a rather large scale. 



The history of the Olive is of peculiar interest, not 

 alone because it is so closely interwoven with the eco- 

 nomics of the ancients, as well as with the daily life of 

 the people in Asia Minor and in southern Europe, but 

 because of the vicissitudes of cultivation, the difficulties 

 to confront-not yet overcome- and the great possi- 

 bilities for the culture of the fruit commercially. Bo- 

 tanically, the Olive is known as Olea Europcea (which 

 see), belonging to the natural family Oleacete. Olea 

 is a genus of trees and shrubs "having opposite, ever- 

 green, leathery Ivs., which are generally entire, smooth, 

 and minutely scaly; small fls. in compound axillary ra- 

 cemes, or in thyrsi at the end of the twigs ; a small 

 4-toothed calyx, a 4-cleft corolla, 2 stamens, a 2-cleft 

 stigma: the fr. a drupe." It is a native of Syria and 

 other Asiatic countries, and has for many centuries be- 

 come naturalized in the south of Europe. 



In the Mission San Diego, in the far southern part of 

 California, were planted the first Olives, according to 



