- -nip. 



A note in the Alameda comity items of 

 the /I'M recently says that three-year-old, 

 olive trees, transplanted two years ago iuto ( 

 tbe orchard of Hubert McGlasher,, Live,- 1 

 more Valley, are this season bearing olives. 



In Europe the minimum bearing age ot 

 the olive is seven years, and in some of the 

 Mediterranean olive regions the tree is bar- 

 ren until ten and fifteen years old. In such 

 circumstances the times of waiting for a 

 crop is too large a section out of a mans 

 life and the planter of a new orchard u 

 working for posterity indeed, since others 

 must eujoy the fruit of the tree whose 

 bloom he is not to see. 



ID California the olive partakes of the 

 procreative precocity which inner* in oul 

 climate and physical conditions. Bat a- 

 far as vegetable life is concerned, this pre 

 cocity is associated with longevity. Th< 

 peach in this State will bloom within the 

 year that it germinates in the stone, 1ml 

 the tree is practically immorial. We know 

 peach orchards here that are thirty years 

 old, and the trees bear annually with vigor 

 and excellence undimiuished. The rich 

 earth and elements of the air stimulated by 

 sunshine seem to furnish a store of inex- 

 haustible material for the support of plant 

 and tree life. Therefore, while the olive is 

 precocious, there is no reason to doubt that 

 it will reach the age of those trees in Pales- 

 tine which have a record of twenty cen- 

 turies. 



The olive growing area of California is 

 ' vast. The slopes of the coast range and 

 foothills of the Sierras, as well as lh(* 

 minor valleys, all seem kindly to it. 



From San Francisco we look over the 

 bay upon the Bemi-circle of mountains 

 which wall in Oakland. Their sides are 

 bare except for occasional groves of euca- 

 lyptus and bay trees. But upon those 

 mountains Joaqum Miller has planted the 

 pioneer olive orchard of nearly two thou- 

 sand trees. They have net been in the 

 ground a year, nor a half a year, but they 

 have blus.iomed and fruit is upon them. 

 It would greatly interest an olive grower 

 to visit Mr. Miller's trees on that bald 

 mountain side and see the sprightly, thrifty 

 growth they have made. They seem to 

 foretell the time when the summits which 

 over hang the bay will be crowded with 

 olive groves, and the picturesque moun- 

 tains will receive new beauties, wedded to 

 a utility now unknown. 



--*-: 



ie Views of a California 

 Expert. 



New Varieties Growing in 

 This State. 



His Notes on the Growth and Be- 

 havior of Sixteen 



Varieties. 



WASHINGTON, August 22. The Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture has issued a number 

 of bulletins showing the record of experi- 

 ments in agriculture at the different sta- 

 tions that have been established through- 

 out Che country. At the California sta- 

 tion experiments have been conducted for 

 lime on olive varieties. The follow- 

 ing is a brief introduction by Director Hil- 

 gard of this station on an elaborate report 

 by W. G, Klee, who has been managing the 

 experiments. "The increasing prominence 

 of olive culture in this State gives im- 

 portance to all light that can be thrown 

 upon the subject, the more so as the slow 

 growth of the tree renders mistakes made 

 in the selection of varieties both costly 

 and difficult of rectification. It is, there- 

 fore the intention of the station to sub- 

 ject both the growing trees and the fruit 

 and its products to the most thorough 

 comparative observation and investiga- 

 tion as quickly as the material shall be 

 obtainable. In the mean time the observa- 

 tions of Mr. Klee are of sufficient prac- 

 tical importance to justify their publica- 

 tion at the present time. 



"Some have the impression that the oil of 

 the kernel or pit forms a considerable pro- 

 portion of the product, but the investiga- 

 tion of this point made by L. Paparelli 

 upon the common olive of central Italy 

 showed this proportion to be as one to 

 thirty, T, hile in the Mission olives, noted 

 for the rarity of sound kernels, the pro- 

 portion was found by A. I). Sommer of 

 the university as 1 to 102. Hence, to the 

 oil-maker as well as to the consume? of 

 pickled fruit, the data given will be of 

 sonic interest. The account of the observa- 

 tinns made by Mr. Klee relates to the 

 growth of a number of varieties of olives 

 during several years. 



"This is, of course, only the beginning 

 of observations which will be continued 

 for years to come. Nearly all the varie- 

 ties enumerated arc ing at the 

 four different experiment stations, namely, 

 Berkeley, Paso Robles, Jackson and Tu- 

 lare. Those at Berkeley were planted five 

 years ago, while those at the other sta- 

 tions were set out only a year ago, and 

 if value. Obser- 

 vations of the varieties growing on the 

 1 'alifornia nursery at Niles 

 and at the Fancher creek nursery, Fresno, 

 were also made through the courtesy of 

 their respective manapers. 



The tabular record gives data for sixteen 

 varieties, their age at planting, whether 

 cuttings or grafts, diameter of stem or 

 crown, height and habit of growth and 

 bearing at Berkeley and elsewhere. Notes 

 of measurements of fruits, etc., are also 

 given for thirteen varieties and notes on 

 the growth and the general behavior fo* 

 eleven varieties. 











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