4t .. Olive Growing. - \ 



^T f 1 * / *V \ \) I ~L I \ f \ 



The following extract from a letter oil olive- 

 trees, by Frank A. Kimball, of National City 

 San Diego Co., who has had several years of 

 experience, and has been very successful, will 

 read witli interest: 



'The habit of the Mission olive whether I 

 latural or the result of climatic causes, since 

 its introduction into California, is to branch low, 

 and if these low limbs be removed by severe 

 pruning, the higher limbs will droop and shade 

 the trunk, and right hereis where the 'Mission' 

 olive has an advantage over many varieties 

 which send out their branches at an acute 

 angle to the main stock of the tree, thus expos- 

 ing the trunk to the desiccating influence of our 

 ong dry seasons, the tendency being to evapor- 

 ate the sap which nature intended should be 

 lepoeited as wood. 



' 'I have tried the experiment and am satisfied 



hat a larger tree can be made in five years by 



ow branches, than in seven years by pruning 



he low branches and exposing the trunk. All 



;rees trimmed high will have coarse bark and 



rough, like the bark on old apple trees, but 



when protected by foliage, the hark remains 



smooth and green. 



"Many people are of the opinion that the 

 Mive tree may be planted on land which is worth- 

 less for any other plant, ami as a general con- 

 blusiou say, the olive will grow anywhere and 

 thrive without care. Kxpericnce in Southern 

 California will prove the falla'cy of such con- 

 clusions and I believe it may be written down 

 as an axiom that every plant, to secure the 



; <.i.ov. r\<; i> f'Krs.vo." "^STthe trr..-.k, and as Ions ago as 1516 was said to 

 TV/ Yh / - / V '- *"> an 'd trea. A celebrated tree at Peseio is 



last issue of th<K JOhcBANT known to be over 700 years old. There are sev- 

 in Mr. Pohndoiff's most valuable ir cral kln(ls of trecs- Tlle lon g-leaveU is eliieHy 

 tide on o'ivp mvm. " "Ultivated in France and the broad-leaved in 



e glowing, a mistake m re- Spain. Mr. Ellwood Cooper, who has given the 

 sprouting of my olive trim- subject considerable attention, calls all his trees 



uhtous has cr; pt in. 



I that so far none have sprouted. I am 

 happy to say that already.six weeks or two 



' ^* J t'cniUj (/- OCUUlC CUU 



pest results must be planted in soil adapted to 

 its nature, in locations adapted to its habits, 

 and receive such care and cultivation as would 

 [entitle the owner to expect satisfactory returns. 

 "Hundreds and perhaps thousands of cargoes 

 'of earth have been transported on vessels from 

 the Island of Cyprus to the Island of Malta, 

 carried up the mountain sides on the heads or 



months ago 

 | of shoots, 



which to-day measure two feet or more in 

 height. If of these shoots only one had 

 I'een H,iff,-ivd to remain, I have no doubt I 

 would now have trees of five to six f-et in 

 leigflt; hut as I wanted all the shoots for 

 propagation it was my policy to allow all 

 remain. 1 see no difference in growth 

 m the two varieties, " Manzanillo" and 

 "Xevadillo bianco,'' and I have every rea- 

 son to believe they will prove, as much at 

 home here as in Seville. The spot selected 

 for the olive orchard is a sandy hill sixteen 

 feet high, the "sand" being" rather stiff 

 and containing an abundance of "lime," 

 so necessary to the success of the olive. 

 According to Professor Hilgard, the quan- 

 tity of lime is as much as 1.760, which 

 cu-tainly is an abundance. Besides these 

 varieties I raise the Picholint, which I will 



Afi- p,,i, ,,,!/, ff !l)y one name, the Mission Olive, because they 



ff says a re the growth of cuttings secured from (he 

 Catholic Missions of this State. The Olive was 

 introduced into the Southern part of the United 

 States over 200 years ago from Portugal and the 



use as stock for grafting, aud some plants 



of the Missions. Tb.3 former seems to do 

 well, is easily grown and transplanted, but 

 consider as less valuable 



the Mission I 



The first year when transplanted it gener- 

 ally looses all its leaves. It grows only _ Z8MO 



very poorly from cuttings, something like 1866 16 > 228 



*u., A !_. .! *^ 1867.... ...2ft.02ri 



shoulders of men and women, and added to the " f J v-iuujjs, sumeinmg uue 



poor rocky sterile soil of the mount tins and the Aestivalis grapes, and bears only when 

 make it possible to produce the wonderful crops j six to seven years old. A good maiiv nl 

 that have made that island, having an area of! trees are situated 11 n 

 less than six or eight miles of arable land the f & Ver OUr count y. but 



most productive of any similar area, probably, 

 - the globe, there being an annual export of 



26,025 



1868 18,418 



1869 20,278 



1870 21,670 



"876 



, 



23,854 

 15,251 



15,615 



from s(i,000 to 10,000 in the product 

 ilberry tree and the vine." 



TH!5 



ould be glad to 

 i formation in regard to any experiments 

 that have been made in the cultivation 

 of the olive in Northern California. All 

 persons who own or know of any bear- 

 ing olive trees in any portion of the 

 State north of San Francisco are ear- 

 nestly requested to communicate with 

 this office. The BEE desires to collect 

 !data bearing upon the culture of this 

 , tree in the northern half of the State, 

 'and to present the facts to its readers. 

 Olive culture is successful and profit- 

 able in Southern California, and we 

 know of no reason why it should not 

 become a leading industry in this half 

 of the State. But we want facts. No 

 northern county can show to the world 

 a better proof of its salubrity and gen- 

 eral adaptability to fruit growing than 

 an olive tree in profitable bearing. We 

 trust the press of Northern California 

 will aid to bring the splendid possibil- 

 ities of olive growing into prominence. 

 | There are millions in olives, if the trees 

 are grown under suitable conditions. 



too young. A few 

 i-ars ago quite an excitement was started 



lure in regard to olives. Miss Austin lec- 

 tured on the same and many olives were 

 planted. But they were all of the Mis- 

 sion variety, lost as' soon as transplanted 

 ( their leaves and the first season did not 

 grow much or any. This was taken as a 

 sign of failure .and the trees were mostly 

 dug up. Those, however, which remained 

 are now bearing fruit. Our vintners do 

 inot injure the trees and everything points 

 towards the success of olives in Fresno 



GUSTAV 

 PI 



1872 7,37711882." '.'.'. '.'.'.'.&',m 



1873 ... 23,666 i 1883 10.619 



In reply to the conditions of consumption in this 

 State, a French importer told us he thought there 

 had been but little if any increase in the past dec- 

 ade, beyond that naturally expected from a 

 Jarger population now than we had ten years ago. 

 So far as the above figures can be relied upon, 

 they indicate a slight decrease in the consumptive 

 wants of the coast as supplied from San Fran- 

 cisco, the imports for the whole period being di- 

 vided between the first and second decades as 

 follows: /<'/_ 



J2-S- CS &*&** MM* 



387M3 . 



Total 301,935 



Direct imports at Oregon in the last few years, 

 together with the California product, may more 

 Wian make good the difference. 



is imporiea direct trom France, Italy or Snain 



^ive-^fiT-one oE the oldest trees of the Theie are those still in-business in this city who 

 The Bible makes frequent mention of it, have been importing this oil regularly for twenty 



to twenty-five years. The proportion of really 

 choice salad oils is not large. It is claimed that 



lombardy. Formerly it used to be imported ex- 

 clusively in bottles, requiring great care in pack- 

 ing ana transportation. This is still tne favorite 

 of importation for salad descriptions. 

 ias been, however, more or less imported 

 u HMO in the last ten years. The Italians and 

 French use it quite commonly in cooking in place 

 "* butter or lard. Under the old law, there was 

 $1 per gallon regardless of 



- 3 that tariff operated in favor 



the best grades. The law of 1882 changed the 



both as a tree for fruit and shade. It was evi- 

 dently one of the trees in the Garden of Eden. 

 It is of record that the dove released from Noah's 

 Ark brought an olive leaf on its return. The 

 olive branch has ever been regarded as a symbol 

 of peace. Olive oil formed an important feature 

 in the religious services of the Jews. The 

 prophet Zechariah calls attention to two olive 

 tree in the sanctuary, and subsequently asks : 

 ' What, be there two olive branches which 

 through the two golden pipes empty the golden 

 oil out ot themselves?" The Catholic Church to ' ., s ., e( ,j uC 

 this day uses Olive oil in some portions of its ' 

 services. Tins article receives conscientious at- 



. 



tention from the members of that church. Great \ 

 stress is laid on baling a pure article for this pur- UnTadvSem hx w,Sh P nf g " 



To this end provision is made by the! I SfthlS '* f course is the 



e | ^ 



. f v/Jv*t(Eie>v><!* \\\& 

 At tiio residence of II. M. Albery, it; 

 Co!usa, there arc a couple ot olive "trees, 

 planted by ilon. A. J,. Hart when he owned"' 

 the place, which are very prolific bearers 

 fue suggestion ti<st the olive bo planted in 

 yards e.:n( uari'.eus is a good one. Tliny are 

 as IOIIJT lived nstho pine perhaps lunger. 

 There are. irees in Asi'i Minor kfcown to be 

 OT> T aooo yours old ond a single trco will 

 support a iamil;,-. The ojiler Hie iree the 

 greater Its value Cor fruH. No man who 

 Plants an olive tree may expect to live to 

 see i: reach fuil maturity, but in eight or 

 ten yeara t.he tree will become valuable and j 

 ituvitlue will keep increasing. 



pose. To this end provision 13 maae i>y tne 



ehurch for the cultivation of the trees and for the , California has been doing something In 

 prepartion of pure oil from the fruit of the same. f t lvatlon of the Olive during the S few Tears 

 It is presumed that it was m this way that the Whvood foonpr wist 



tree was introduced into California. It is known ! "" MAtom I tellisent bn si, P H" '" 

 that the Catholic Missions have cultivated the jnencedro 1872m Santo Barbara p ml- 

 olive ever since their establishment in California, he has now an orchard of 60 acrps 

 i The missions that do not cultivate the trees are 6 000 trees man y o ( t ' tiem i n be-in e 

 i supplied with oil from those that do. The only years . T h e cuttings were set out 20 feet i 

 I olive trees now in California were raised from ea ch wav Thpcrni>i ti, !<,,., 

 cuttings obtainedfrom the Catholic Missions. ^, ^SZ SS?rtS5*fe 



The Olive is a branchy evergreen tree, and ]SS2 (lirt nnt ri 



sometimes attains a height of 30 feet. The cul- ftlwell. Mr Ser nfad^^S h'^f " ^f 

 tivaled Olive is supposed to have been introduced &'?. J .I?' bottles of Oil 



into Spain and Italy from Asia. The fruit is a I fom the MOD of l^t R^ Bet t 20 ' 000 h 1)oUlcs 

 smooth oval plum of a green or violet color, con- Kfl ls ^, '?.,?,, ?, ?i I T "i" tf re ; 



tnlmng a hard nut. The trees thrive 'best near ^ e t..^ T mull, this LM cultivation of 

 the sea. In the Holy Land and in some parts of " M "" s >. the light year for 



Kyria there are some very old trees. They begin .^11" parties and could nrob"hT o'i er " 



o bear when 2 or 3 years old, but are not very|jj a( | (j lem 'jiQistof the pruuin^' S a' ! '^ 

 productive until about years A tree at Nice is d in ' t , y ft ^ * ^ "r 

 reached a circumference of 38 feet, at the bottom , hc sm!lllestj a / the cut tmg s are then tue health- 



jest ;iml strontrftst. 



rrera n: * 1, ,,1 i ^uu years ago irom .rornigai anil tne 



sent up a bunch Bermudas. More or less success has attended 

 strong and lienHhy, many of tl)e effort s of those engaged in the cultivation of 



the same in Georgia and Florida. 



The principal consumers of Olive Oil are the 

 Italians, French and Spanish, it is also used to 

 a greater or less extent bv all the civilized na- 

 tions of the earth. The tree is cultivated ouite ex- 

 tensively in Italy, and the numerous and large Ol- 

 ive orchards are a feature in the agricultural land- 

 scape of that country. There are two or more va- 

 rieties of Olive Oil. The first pressing is gener- 

 ally used for salad and medicinal purposes. This 

 is known as virgin Oil. The second pressing is 

 used for illuminating and lubricating purposes 

 The imports of Olive Oil into the United States 

 for the ten tiscal years ending June 30, 1883, were 

 as follows : 



, Salad Oil. ,, , other Oil , 

 Gallons. Value. Gallons. Vulue 



1S73-J 139,241 $261,22-4 118,453 $84,551 



1874-5 176,119 335,918 173,688 127 "40 



JJ75-6 178.232 328.357 93,675 60^087 



18J6-7 194.069 376,731 154,639 114650 



1877-8 217,017 414.435 49,531 44345 



1878-9 192.326 354.582 143.242 97620 



"J> 264,762 442,935 118,369 83,543 



1880-1 234,362 378,280 160,051 102403 



1881-2 264,838 478,747 243,190 151067 



1882-3 257,375 459,759 279i374 wa,Si 



These figuies will give an idea of the extent and 

 value of the trade. It will be noticed that the 

 Oil for salad purposes is appraised at a value of 

 SI 75 to $2 per gallon, while the residue from the 

 second and third pressings is much cheaper, be- 

 ing used for more common purposes. 



The imports of Olive Oil at San Francisco for 

 the past twenty years have been as follows: 



1874, CS 18,023 



1878 n,485 



