.Tune, July and August, a full crop ot 

 sound olives may l>e counted on. The 

 annual rainfall in Sicily is 22 inches, 

 where irrigation is not required for full- 

 grown olive trees. The olive zone ex- 

 tends 1,500 feet above the sea level in 

 Central Italy, and 1,800 feet in Sicily. 

 In Italy the approximate area devoted 

 to olive culture is 2,224,668 acres, pro- 

 ducing 89,437,150 gallons of oil. In 

 ISicily the area planted in olives is 

 267.800 acres; production of oil, 19,- 

 285,550 gallons. In Tuscany the 

 average yield to the acre is 64 gallons; 

 in Sicily it is 75 gallons. The olive 

 ibears but every other year. Sandy and 

 low ground are unsuited to the olive. 



VARIETIES GROWN IN SICILlf. 



The best varieties of olives grown in 

 Sicily are the "Paesano" (native) and 

 the "Oglalo;" both are long-lived and 

 prolific bearers. In the neighborhood 

 of Syracuse and Palermo there are many 

 (groves of immense olive trees, hundreds 

 of years old veritable patriarchs. 



PROPAGATION OF OI.IVE TREES. 



All olive trees have a tendency to 

 revert to the wild olive; hence they are 

 always grafted. Propagation by seed is 

 but little practiced, as it takes sixteen 

 years for a seedling to come into bearing. 

 This method, however, presentsthe most 

 perfect root system. Cuttings take root 

 readily. They are set out between 

 Novem her and March . The olive is also 

 propagated by suckers. The best 

 method, however, is by eyes (ovoli). 

 These ovoli are woody excrescences that 

 grow on the foot of the trunk and on the 

 roots of the olive. They are detached 

 from the tree in March, the green wood 

 carefully scraped oft" and their base 

 hollowed out. Should it not be con- 

 venient to plant these ovoli at once, they 

 will keep perfectly in moist earth from 

 fifteen to twenty days. The end of 

 March, or the first week in April, holes 

 are dug three feet apart each way, and 

 ei-ht inches in diameter. These holes 

 are filled in one-third" with dry top soi 

 and scrapings from the manure heap; 

 i the eye is dipped m tresh cow manure 

 (diluted in water), placed in its bed, and 

 covered with three inches of top soil; it 

 is then watered, and the holes filled up 

 with ashes or sand, as otherwise a ems 

 would form which would prevent 

 tender shoots, that begin to put out 

 early in June, from coming up. When 

 these shoots are five or six inches high, 

 all but one the mostyigoroue-are c 

 fully cut away down to the eye itself. 

 The young plants grow rapidly, and 

 soon throw out lateral branches from 

 the axil of each leaf. These branches 

 are pinched off, great care being taken 

 not to mar the trunk or leaf. By the 

 frequent repetition of this operation the 

 young plants grow vigorously, and , 

 winter are seven or eight feet high 

 Thev are then topped; five or six lateral 

 branches are trained to form a head; 

 rSeT- then staked. Such of the 

 young-,,., as have not attained to the 

 requisite ''#* are also *vked. If 

 their tops have been uninjured by the 

 coldduring the winter, they are trimmed 

 and topped in the spring; if they have 

 been affected by the cold, they are cu I 



down below the ground in March, and 

 their eyes send up new shoots. The 

 trunks of the young trees should be 

 straight, smooth and without bumps, 



PLANTING AN OLIVE GROVE. 



Young trees are worked four times a 

 year, and remain in the nursery four 

 years; they are then from one and one- 

 half to two inches in diameter at their 

 base, and aro transplanted to the grove 

 between the 15th of March and the 10th 

 of April. The holes are dug in the 

 autumn and remain open during the 

 winter; they are thus exposed to the 

 fertilizing action of the air, sun and 

 cold. A small quantity of well-rotted 

 manure, mixed with top soil, is used in 

 transplanting. The trees are moved 

 with great care, their heads having pre- 

 viously been well trimmed back. While 

 in the nursery the trees are watered 

 during droughts; fertilizers during this 

 time are rarely used, it being thought 

 'better to accustom the plants to a soil 

 of moderate fertility. When the plants 

 appear to be stunted for lack of nourish- 

 ment beans are sown in the nursery in 

 November and turned under green in 

 April. 



TREATMENT OF BEARING TKEES. 



After the trees come into bearing (at 

 10 years from suckers, cuttings and eyes) 

 they should be manured every other v 

 winter and fertilizers of slow assimila- \ 

 tion, such as bones, and horn scrapings ? 

 preferred, and trimmed every other ) 

 spring, after all danger from frost is 

 over, the trimming to follow the manur- 

 ing. Olive trees reach_ maturity at 

 forty. The distance between trees on 

 good soil isyfrom 42 to 48 feet and fjoni 

 27 to 33 feet on poor soil. In trimining 

 it is desirabWto open out the*headyf the 

 tree that themiit-bearing branch may 

 have plenty o\ light, sun and a,jt. On 

 an average four gallons of olives yield 

 one gallon of oft^ An olive jrove yields 

 about 3} per celt on he investment. 



COLLECTING AM PUIsSING THE FRUIT. 



While the sotf the location and the 

 variety of the *ve affect the quality of 

 the oil, the hsresting and pressing of 

 the fruit affeclt much more. Greater 

 care is takenl this matter in Central 

 Italy than inlcily. It is much to be 

 regretted thafeicilians are so wedded to 

 their ancienjustoms. Here, as a rule, 

 the olives ven gathered are thrown 

 into heaps if allowed to ferment. The 

 natives labqmder the impression that 

 they thus gft larger yield of oil. The 

 oil extractefrom fermented olives has 

 (to us) a pst disagreeable smell and 

 taste; it is |ng and often rank. The 

 frequently gathered be- 

 ripe, which prevents the 



olives are 

 fore they 

 yield from 

 ity as good 



allowed t 



ng as large, and the qual- 

 they would be were they 



nature. The excuse for 

 early gath ig is that the rainy season 

 gets in ibecember, and should the 

 olives be a>sed to inclement weather, 

 the loss wfl be great. 



TIOLIVE OIL MARKET. 



In conlence of competition from 

 cotton scjoil and oils from sesame 

 nuts, etfthe price of olive oil has 

 fallen oflfcte years. The demand for 



first qtlality table oil is, however, as 

 large as ever, and the price for this 

 article keeps up. The introduction of 

 kerosene for lighting purposes has 

 lessened the demand for inferior oil, hut 

 large quantities of Sicilian oil are still 

 shipped to Russia, where the inhabi- 

 tants burn lamps in their houses as well 

 as in their churches before the images 

 of their saints. Prof. Basile says, "were 

 the devotion of the Russians to their 

 saints to cease, Sicily would have to pay 

 in hard cash for all the grain she im- 

 ports from Odessa and Fangarog," and 

 adds: "It would be indeed a sad day 

 for us should the heresy of Luther ever 

 ireach the heart of Russia." 



On the Due d'Aumale's estate, near 

 Palermo, a powerful hydraulic machine 

 is used to press the olives, and the oil is 

 filtered, being made to pass through 

 three thicknesses of woolen cloth, by 

 hydraulic pressure. Cor. S. F. ttuttf'' an 



The Ol-'ve In California;. 



This hardy little tree, the, o li ve , is 

 always assigned the ugliest ar.d stoniest 

 and meanest bit of land to be; found on 

 the farm. And the olive takes kindly to 

 any place you choose to put him. He 

 takes roottrom the slip and grows right 

 along, and in due time drops his little 

 black and oily apples down in the tall 

 grass in such abundance that you can 

 sometimes see the oil spreading over the 

 rocks and running down and enriching 

 the soil in the hot sun. 



What a country this will be when the 

 olive becomes established here as in Italy! 

 At present it is not abundant, for the 

 olive is a slower grower as compared 

 with other things here, and so the 

 planters have been slow to cultivate it. 

 Yet I believe that now almost every 

 ranch has more or less olive trees grow- 

 ing, for there is a great demand not 

 only for the oil but also for the olive 

 'itself. 



It begins to look as if olive oil may 

 take the place of butter out here after 

 awhile. Fancy a group of little children 

 on a farmer's porch, with bread in hand, 

 dipping it into a dish of olive oil. The 

 scene is so frequent here that I asked a 

 woman not long ago why she did not 

 give her children butter on their bread 

 instead. 



She answered me that her children 

 would not eat butter if they could get 

 olive oil to sop their bread in. And I 

 think they are about right. I have 

 found myself more than once prefer- 

 ring olive oil to butter here. And the 

 butter is of the best. But any one who 

 has a taste for pickled olives, either 

 natural or acquired, will find himself 

 becoming very partial to the oil of olives. 



Yet never before did I find this taste 

 for olive oil so supreme. Even in Italy 

 and Spain and Palestine, places where 

 there is no butter fit to eat, I did not 

 jare for olive oil. But this here is so 

 superior to that ot all other lands that, 

 xs I said before, I suspect it may drive 

 jut the use of butter to some extent. 

 The people h.fMf"t their pickled olives 

 with great relisn. The plate of little" 

 purple.olives is ever present on the table 

 and is* soon emptied. This purple or 

 blac%live is a now invasion of the old 



