CHAPTER XXXI 



THE OLIVE AND ITS GROWTH IN CALIFORNIA 



The olive is another of the old mission fruits and though the 

 tree and its products have been constantly under discussion since 

 the American occupation, and though experimentation has been 

 constant, it was not until 1885 that the tide of popular favor turned 

 strongly toward the olive. For twelve years thereafter planting 

 proceeded with enthusiasm amounting almost to infatuation, until 

 the acreage in olives ten years ago reached such a figure that even 

 the most enthusiastic ceased from further planting, because the 

 future of the products of the olive was by no means clear. The 

 competition of olive oil with cheaper salad oils worked greatly to 

 the disadvantage of the higher-priced article, but as deception is 

 now ruled out by recent pure-food legislation, cheaper oils can 

 no longer be sold under the name of the olive, and legitimate pro- 

 ducers will henceforth be protected. 



The difficulty of producing pickled ripe olives with good keep- 

 ing qualities is also vastly greater than anticipated. In addition 

 to these troubles the sterility of the trees in some situations, 

 through frost or other agencies, discouraged many growers. It 

 is probable that during the last decade the uprooting of trees far 

 exceeded the planting and the olive acreage decreased consider- 

 ably. At the same time there has been much progress attained 

 in the building and equipment of oil mills and pickling estab- 

 lishments, and in mastery of processes which yield acceptable 

 products all of which have favorably influenced the demand and 

 price of the fresh fruit. The fact is, the olive was boomed in Cali- 

 fornia along spectacular and speculative lines, and the industry 

 must outlive the mistakes which were made. California will pro- 

 duce profitably, good olives and olive products in suitable places 

 and through the efforts of masterful men and women who can rise 

 to the requirements of production and of protection against imi- 

 tation articles in the trade. 



The olive tree has survived a temperature of 14 degrees Fah- 

 renheit in California, but the fruit is injured by a slight fall below 

 the freezing point. This may render unprofitable the late varieties 

 which carry their fruit-ripening into the winter months. 



The olive tree will thrive throughout the larger part of Cali- 

 fornia, and it has been shown that it will grow in a soil too dry 

 even for the grape-vine, and too rocky for any other fruit tree, 



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