pleasure, through all his wanderings ana 

 journeys westward, to even our own fair 

 land upon the shores of ^e western sea. 

 The olive and its pro- '-ict, oil, figure 

 most prominently In the sacred writings. 

 The tree is frequently referred to as/ 



AN EMBLEM OF BEAUTl'J/^^W/ 



Whether clothed in its profusion of Vv-he 

 flowers in springtime, or in its evergreen 

 foliage in winter. Again it is presented 

 as an emblem of profusion and gladness 

 when its branches are bending with fruit 

 ready for the harvest. By Divine direc- 

 tion olive-wood was used in constructing 

 certain parts of the temple at Jerusalem, 

 while its oil was made a constituent part 

 of the offerings of the Mosaic ritual, and 

 was also used in consecrating Hebrew 

 kings and priests to their high offices. 

 In the literature of the Eastern empire, 

 c >ecially Mythology, we also find the 

 f 16 frequently mentioned. Sacred tc 

 Minerva, it was to the polished Greek ol 

 that early day an emblem of peace and 

 chastity. In reading Plutarch's lives ol 

 the great men whose names have been 

 preserved, we find that when the people 

 wished to bestow the highest honor upon 

 their favorite, the investiture was made 

 by publicly placing upon the brow of the 

 candidate a crown wrouf,nt of the sprays 

 of the olive. And ill the celebrated 

 Olympic games, amidst the acclamation 

 of the multitudes of spectators, this was 

 bestowed as the highest prize with which 

 to crown the victor with glory and rev- 

 erence. And in time of war, when the 

 vanquished wished to approach his 

 powerful opponent, he carried an olive 

 branch as a token symbol of a peaceful 

 disposition. When we make 



A CRITICAL STUDY OP THE OLIVK 



We find it distinguished for its great long- 

 evity and its wonderful usefulness to men. 

 In respect to longevity it ranks with the 

 orange, although the famous tree in the 

 garden of the Vatican in Rome is said, 

 upon good authority, to be a thousand 

 years old. A high degree of reverence is 

 awakened when we see the photographs 

 of those noted olive trees of Syria and 

 Palestine, still standing as monuments of 

 Ihe dead past, spreading their green 

 branches to the summer sun, and invit- 

 ing the weary traveler now, as they did 

 Titus and his Roman legions, to rest in 

 their grateful shade. 



It is reasonable to suppose that a tree, 

 living on in a healthy condition from age 

 to age, should, under favorable conditions, 

 attain a great size, hence we are not sur- 

 prised to read the statement of travelers 

 giving the measurement of some of these 

 grand old giants of the East. Some are 

 mentioned as having a diameter of fifteen 

 feet at the ground. This 



GREAT TENACITY OF I/IFE 



Permits a treatment which would kill an 

 ordinary fruit tree. If its leaves and 

 branches have become infested with smut 

 or insects, the entire head can be cut away, 

 leaving only the main stem, which will 

 send out new branches, forming a new 

 head with renewed fruitfulness. Olive- 

 wood is used extensively in Europe for 

 cabinet work. At the Cape of Good Hope, 

 on account of its hardness and strength, it 

 is called iron-wood. In China the flowers 

 of the fragrant olive are used for flavoring 

 tea. 



THE OLIVE BELT OF THE WORLD 



Is quite extensive. Beginning with its 

 home in Asia it extends westward, Includ- 

 ing parts of the northern coast of Africa, 

 Southern Europe, a part of the coast of 

 Australia and the southern coast of Cali- 

 fornia. 



Its true home is a semi-tropical climate, 

 and go where you will along this belt you 

 find it within nailing distance of the sea. 

 From three to ten miles covering the foot- 

 hills, and sometimes along the Mediter- 

 ranean Sea it is planted near the water 

 edge. There are exceptions to this rule; 

 at Damascus it is in a flourishing condition 

 fifty miles from the sea. The extreme 

 heat of the interior valleys is unfavorable, 

 also a tropical climate with its accompa- 

 nying heat and dampness. It is also quite 

 as sensitive to cold. It will not bear well 

 where severe frosts occur at midwinter, 

 as the leaves and branches are killed when 

 the mercury reaches fourteen degrees 

 above zero. 



In southern Europe, where the condi- 

 tions are favorable, olive culture is a 

 marked feature of industry among their 

 dense population. 



In Italy, Spain and the southern part 

 of France eight million acres are devoted 

 to this industry, prodrtcinp: one hundred 



and sixty million gallons or OTrueBuJcH a 

 large amount of olives in barrels for ex- 

 port.. This business in southern France 

 is considered very lucretive. The well-to- 

 do farmer makes oil or prepares the fruit 

 for domestic or foreign market, while in 

 many parts of Spain and Italy the poor 

 are largely dependent upon their olive 

 trees fc their support. When compelled 

 to sell their homesteads, whenever it is 

 possible,'they reserve their olive trees. 



A part of this belt on the Mediterranean, 

 between Genoa and Naples, we can dupli- 

 cate on this coast from Point Conception 

 to Shm Diego, Our sea breeze ia inunb 



stronger, carrying its vitalizing power 

 farther inland, penetrating the nearest 

 valleys as at San Fernando and thus 

 making the area of cultivation much more 

 extensive. We cannot of course, now, 

 give a definate estimate of the area of this 

 Belt on the Pacific coast, where olive cul- 

 ture will give profitable returns, but we 

 feel sure, judging from the results of the 

 work done at Santa Barbara, San Diego, 

 San Fernando, and from what we have 

 done here and at other points, that we 

 have here a true olive belt, side by side 

 with that devoted to the orange, the raisin 

 and the fig. 



Now, If the conditions here are favor* 

 able to success, and we know the amount 

 of imports in fruit and oil, have we not 

 the motives for extension in doing some- 

 thing for ourselves, and in providing the 

 means to save the large amount of money 

 sent to Southern Europe for these pro- 

 ducts? 



Many of our own producers thought we 

 could never compete successfully with the 

 Mediterranean oranges in the markets of 

 our eastern cities, but that fallacy has 

 been destroyed by our shipments this 

 year, through the Orange Growers' Union. 

 It has been demonstrated that 



THE BEST KIND OF OLIVE OIL 



Can be produced here, bring a price in 

 market highly satisfactory to the the pro- 

 ducer, and when the plantations are large 

 enough it can be made in abundance to 

 supply the demand in the market of our 

 whole country. 



But again it is said we can not cure 

 olives to supply the demand in market 

 when brought in competition with those 

 from abroad. Our answer is, we have 

 made a good beginning and we can im- 

 prove, as we have in the process of cur- 

 ing raisins. 



There are men still living, who looked 

 on with Incredulity, when the first efforts 

 in raisin industry were made in River- 

 side; but who will go today through the 

 extensive factories there, and not be con- 

 vinced of the ability of the people to cure 

 raisins? So it will be in curing olives, it 

 can be done, and well done too, by the 

 producer who will work carefully and in- 

 telligently until he masters his business. 

 This work can also be done by co-opera- 

 tion in factories, where skilled labor is 

 employed. 



I have been requested to give 



SOME PRACTICAL DETAILS, 



According to my own observation and 

 experience. My first ett'ort in olive cult- 

 was made in 187G, when I planted twenty 

 well-rooted cuttings of the Mission varie- 

 ty, giving them all necessary care and at- 

 tention; they made a very rapid growtl 

 and in 1884 gave the first full crop o 

 fruit. Selecting two of the largest anc 

 finest trees in February, I found th< 

 amount to be seventy-five gallons. Thes( 

 olives after being prepared for the tablt 

 were retailed by two of our merchants it 

 Pomona, for seventy-five dollars. I sole 

 my crop in this way by the barrel, foi 

 seventy-five cents per gallon. For three 

 or four years previous to 1884, 1 had been 

 making experiments and reading every- 

 thing I could find, explaining and giving 

 directipns in the curing process. Being 

 thus prepared, when the full crop came, I 

 was able to handle it without loss, and 

 put it upon tho market at a very satisfac- 

 tory price. This curing process is effected 

 with alkali, water and salt. A thorough 

 knowledge can only be obtained by work- 

 ing with a person who has mastered his 

 business. 



The trees which bore so heavily in 1884, 

 are now bending under the weight of 

 fruit, requiring numerous supports to 

 keep the limbs from breaking. I have 

 been offered 



EIGHTY CENTS A GALLON' 



iFor all that I can prepare for market. 

 Mr. E. T. rainier, of JPomona, in con- 

 nection with his preserving and crystal- 

 izing business, bottles the olives and sends 

 them to the large cities <jn this coast and 



also rnto the t - 



! !<-<-< are planted upon gravelly 

 mesa land, and did not require water un- 

 Jl they bore a full crop, and very little 

 then, applied when the crop began to color. 

 lie it well understood that they havo 

 soil and thorough cultivation. 



Irrigation required by the orange would 

 prove highly injurious to the olive. It 

 does not do well shaded in the least, by 

 other trees, as we know it lives for centu- 

 ries and attains a great size, we should 

 give it ample ?oom for expansion, I should 

 say thirty-tkj Je to forty feet apart would 

 be a prope:- distance on rich hillsides, 

 found alon t .he base of mountains from 

 1 asadena ti. San Bernardino. The olive 

 will find a congenial home, and in return 

 for care and attention will bless the hus- 

 bandman in "basket and in store." 



So far the Mission olive holds its own 

 for making oil and also for pickling. The 

 Franciscan Fathers knew what they were 

 about when selecting this variety from all 

 those in cultivation in Spain. It will be a 

 difficult matter for us to improve upon 

 their choice for oil or pickles. My neigh- 

 bor, Mr. E. E. White, has thirty varieties 

 growing in his nursery; only one has 

 yielded fruit up to this date. We shall 

 watch the fruiting of these trees with 

 great interest. The tree bearing fruit this 

 year came to Mr. White labeled "Picho- 

 line,"or Oleo. Oblonga. I am quite sure it 

 is a misnomer, as it answers fully the cata- 

 logue description of the Olea ISubtratuncta, 

 being very small, perfectly round and in- 

 tensely bitter, ripening its fruit now Octo- 

 ber 15th, while the Mission is still green, 

 showing no sign of color. If this tree 

 bearing this small fruit is spld by our 

 nurserymen for the Picholine, it will re- 

 sult in great disappointment, as it is en- 

 tirely too small for pickling". It is used in 

 France for oil. 



Our nurserymen are charging from 

 twenty-five cents to one dollar a tree, ac- 

 cording to size, age and variety; planting 

 thirty-three feet apart, forty trees to each 

 acre would be required. 



If desired, I will give, in a succeeding 

 number of the Mural, directions for pre- 

 paring olives for domestic use according 

 to the Spanish method, discharging the 

 bitternes* by water alone. 



And now, Mr. Editor, in concluding 

 this letter, I only add that my highest 

 wishes will be gratified if anything has 

 been written that will awaken thought 

 and interest in this matter of olive cult- 

 ure. Strangers are coming among us to 

 make new homes, and a word in season 

 will sometimes help materially in direct- 

 ing attention to the new forms of indus- 

 try peculiar to this coast. O. L. Lo< < 

 the Rural Cali/ornian. 



POMONA-ftt- IB- !- ^^^ 



A PROFITABLE OLIVE OR- 



IN a recent visit to Ellwood, Mr. 

 Cooper's farm, twelves miles west 

 jpf Santa Barbara, a general sur- 

 prise awaited us. There could be 

 i no room for doubt that Mr. Cooper 

 had been very successful in the 

 management of his farm of 2000 

 acres, as the four-horse wagon 

 loads of English walnuts and al- 

 monds coming into town recently 

 from his place gave abundant evi- 

 dence, but we were not prepared to 

 spend a half-dny on such a farm, 

 with its tens of thousands of trees 

 jof various kinds, its hundreds of 

 acres in cereals, and its large dairy 

 of blooded stock, and after a close 

 look at many parts of it never to 

 see a single weed, even by the road- 

 iside. That was a real surprise; 

 but the astonishing thing to sec 

 iwas his olivo orchard of about fifty 

 acres, all the trees clean, healthy 

 and strong growers, the branches 

 all bending with tho enormous 

 weight of the fruit, many of the 

 seven-year trees having a full barrel 

 of olives to the tree, the larger nine 

 and ten-year-old trees having on 

 them two barrels of olives apiece. 

 On the other hand, in Santa Bar- 



