over 



been u >.<! in the worst manner poisi- 

 i bie for a long time, yet the earth was 

 ill a duck mass of the siones 

 from i!'6 iruit tliai had for years gone 

 to waste, but which demonstrated the 

 extrajruiuary productiveness of the 

 trees. From this grove were taken 

 numerous cuttings which were utihized 

 in the establishment of olive planta- 

 tions in other localities. 



The history of the olive groves at the 

 other missions has Been similar to th it 

 of San Diego. At Santa Barbara there 

 was a large grove but it was suffered to 

 fail into decay, and now but a few trees 

 I "S left of what vas once a fruitful or- 

 chard. A good work, however, was 

 done by the plantation before it went 

 to ruin, in furnishing cuttings for 

 the noir famous Cooper olive urovns 

 near by. After the secularization of 

 the missions, the olive and other frait 

 trees were neglected and rapidly fell 

 into decay, but it is a proof of the in- 

 heront tenacity and vigor of the olive, 

 that it long survives after the other less 

 hurdy fruits have become but a mem- 

 ory. 



Kven now there are numerous 

 ,;n.rled, battered trunks remaining, 

 which, in spite of years of maltreAt- 

 mcnt, still bear fruit from season to 

 season as an evidence of what thev 

 would willingly do for man if afforded 

 the slightest encouragement. 



After the abandonment of the mis- 

 "sions little was heard of the olive until 

 the general interest taken in the 

 various branches of fruit culture be- 

 tween IS iO and 1370. That period was 

 signalized by the thorough inoculation 

 of Califormans with the belief that the 

 gold mines were to occupy a secondary 

 p.'.-ice to the farms, orchards and vine- 

 yards of the State, and in the dis- 

 cussion that ensued many opinions 

 were hazarded as to tho.se branches of 

 horticulture and agriculture which 

 were destined to prove the most last- 

 ing and profitable. The cultivation of 

 the grape, orange and other fruits re- 

 ceived a great stimulus at this time, 

 while the olive was almost entirely 

 neglected. Little was known about 

 the proper methods of cultivation or 

 of extracting the oil and making pick- 

 Jos of the fruit, and as a natural con- 

 sequence other industries concerning 

 which there was no apparent mystery 

 od ihe larger share of attention 

 Ihere were a few persons, however 

 ,-ho had become interested in olive 

 ulture. largely from noting the re- 

 sults that had been achieved about the 

 ussion establishments, and amon- 

 ie3e were Khvood Cooper of Santa 

 arbara and the Kimball brothers of 

 ban Diego. to whom California owes 

 the greater portion of its development 

 in this branch. 



In 1872 Mr. Cooper set out several 

 thousand cuttings from the old trees 

 Santa Barbara Mission The 

 totality chosen for the orchard was 

 mesa between the ocean and the 

 Santa Ynez mountains, about seven 

 teen mile? west of Santa Barbara citv 

 and a variety or soils was selected in 

 order that a thorough test might be 

 'ade in this respect, so as to avoid 

 ture mistakes. It may be mentioned 

 ; this point that the general testimony 

 long experience is that a light, well- 

 ined sou is essential for the produc- 

 on of the best results. Damp soil is 

 especially to be avoided, while, as with 

 vines, the better lluvoreJ fruit and oil 

 ara produced on l, K ht soil without a 

 nindance of moisture There 

 tli3 Cooper property olive trees 

 thriving equally well in black adobe in 

 Jeep bottom lands, in sandy soiMn 

 atony and adobe hillside, and in table 

 lands with a clay subsoil. 



Mr. Cooper had traveled and read 

 extensively and was thoroughly 



to success in olive culture 



never' a luMli * <** 

 nev< a moment apparently when 



> woll.fouadgLJjL.heu" 

 - _?_ j|_j >_*M^B|niv 



Ue plant-US oniis fl r ,t trees 

 .all crop of fruit was produced, 

 from which oil of a high quality 

 . was made. At seven years of a-'e 

 | n cnrefui test was made of the 

 product of the entire plantation, and it 

 was found to average 122 pounds of 

 iruit to each tree. From W\4 to 12 V 

 pounds were required to make a single 

 gullon of oil. Kach tree at seven years 

 from tiie cutting thus produced ten 

 bottles of oil, which were sold at $1 a 

 bottle, though since then the price has 

 been exactly doubled, so great has been 

 the demand. Mr. Cooper's first orch- 

 ard was set out at the rate of about 100 

 trees to the acre, which would thus 

 give a product of $1UOD gross from an 

 acre at the first figures inenlioned, or 

 Jl'OOO by those since established. These 

 are the acuial figures given by the 

 largest olive-grower in the Stato as the 

 result of his personal experience, and 

 ought to be enough to convince any 

 one of the possibilities that are inher- 

 ent in the olive tree. 



No one will maintain that olives 

 planted under all sorts of conditions 

 and subjected to all sorts of methods 

 of treatment will yield so large a re- 

 tuni as this. It must be remembered 

 that ths Cooper orchard is in a very 

 favorable location, and that it has been 

 cared for in the best possible manner, 

 and has had the benefitof all the ctudy 

 and experience that can be brought to 

 boar upon it. Besides, it is of course 

 evident that with the increase in sup- 

 ply no such prices can be main- 

 tained for any length of time as 

 those quoted. But even granting that 

 the oil should some time in the future 

 be sold for us little as 50 cents a bottle 

 (and that is hardly possible), and that 

 the average olive grove should not bear 

 so quickly and so largely, still it must 

 be apparent that the industry cannot 

 help being highly profitable under any 

 circumstances. 



When it is remembered that the 

 supply of olive oil, though amounting 

 to hundreds of millions of gallons an- 

 nually, is not nearly eu.ua! to the de- 

 mand, and that as a consequence mill- 

 ions of gallons of cotton-seed and 

 other oi;, are used as adulterants 

 t can readily be seen that there 

 i slight prospect that prices will 

 ever become so low as the lowest 

 figures mentioned. If California I 

 oil should be produced in such qnan- I 

 titles that the price realized by Mr ' 

 .ooper were reduced 50 per cent, the 

 consumption in the arts as well as for 

 ood would increase so rapirllv that a 

 lower lirm, would hardly be reached. 

 At present olive oil is scarcely uved bv 

 the Americans as food, while pickled 

 olives are eaten only |a a relish bv a 

 tew. But when the superiority of olive 

 wloyer the imported or fraudulent 

 J'Uer. and lards that are so 

 freely u?ed is hotter understood, 



"' esma.l y ^ *' then inst ' 

 he small quantity of oil now used 



rt^*?^**?^ 



roves in California will reap the re- i 

 df? w . h "; n . t ' )e y a re justly entitled ! 

 1 for which they are now preparing, i 

 Scarcely less profitable th.,,, the pro- 

 ct.on of oil i, the conversion of the 

 iwmto an article of food by pickling? 

 itia erroneously called. The olive 

 ts natural state.it is almost unne- 

 : .ry to , Maia , is so tilttor > 



"a s to be unpleasant to the, 



pickling process consists in the re 

 moval of that taste by the application 

 i e. In order to gratify the taste of 

 lose who regard the olive simply as a 



palt'e me M t08iVe afiUpt "WeS 

 palate, it is customary to gather the 

 fruit while green, and then put it 

 through the pickling and leaching 

 process. The native to the mannef 

 born, who use, olives as a staple arUcle 

 o food, very sensibly waits until the 



" ^'"''ture before preparing it for 

 use When mlly ripe much of the 



acnd.ty of the green fruit is gone. Te 



olives are then pickled, and in this con- 

 dition have a most delightfully ar<i- 



An olive tree. 



matic and nutty flavor, and may be 

 consumed in large quantities. 



The ordinary green pickled olive re- 

 quires considerable education of the 

 ta<>te before it is thoroughly appreci- 

 ated, but not so with the ripe fruit. In 

 all the olive growing countries of 

 Europe the natives preserve the best of 

 health and foilow the most laborious 

 occupations upon a diet composed at 

 times exclusively of bread and 

 ripe olives. From actual experi- 

 ence the writer can testify that a 

 most satisfactory repast can be made 

 from these two articles, and that olives 

 so prepared can be consume! in large 

 quantities daily without palling upon 

 the taste, and at ihe same time with 

 the most beneficial influence upon the 

 health. A fair profit can be realized 

 from the production of pickled olives, 

 the price in California averaging about 

 50 cents a gallon. At twenty years of 

 age olive trees in this Stato have pro- 

 duced 150 and 200 gallons each, though 

 that is a high estimate.. Yet with a 

 much lower production the profit can- 

 not fail to be satisfactory, while with a 

 more general understanding 01 the de- 

 licious character of the ripe fruit, its 

 consumption can be largely increased. 

 / Coincident wit), the experiments so 

 successfully made by Air. Cooper at 

 Santa Barbara, large plantations of 

 olives were, made at National City, San 

 Diego county, by the Kimballs, who 

 are widely known for their connection 

 with the development of olive culture 

 on this coast. The old Mission trees 

 allorded the foundation for these or- 

 chards, and under the same amount of 

 care equally favorable results I'-.ve 

 been obtained at National City in the 

 production of oil and pickled olives, 

 which have brought most satisfactory 

 prices. 



The successof these experiments in 

 Santa Barbara <ind San Diego coun- 

 ties has been such that the planting of 

 orchards on a large scsle has been un- 

 dertaken all over the State. Because 

 the original mission orchards, as well 

 as those of later date which have been 

 mentioned here, were all grown within 

 the influence of the ocean moisture, 

 and therefore without the aid of irriga- 

 tion, or at best with only slight assist- 

 ance in that shape, the idea was long 

 prevalent that the olive would only 

 thrive near the coast, and that it was 

 useless to attempt its cultivation in the 

 interior. This has now been proved 

 to be entirely erroneous. While the 

 olive thrives near the coast and with- 

 out irrigation, so aUo does it reach per- 

 fection in the interior, whore artificial 

 moisture must be depended upon. It 

 is indeed one of the few fruits which 

 may be said to be generally. adapted to 

 the whole of California. No essential 

 difference cc. 1 ilheolivei:. 



Diego and of MI- :>oma and 



:.n 1 of the lower slopes Oi 

 :....- . 



Oi'rt nil press. 



every county of the State, except those 

 located almost entirely in the upper 

 j Sierra, the olive is now being success- 

 fully grown. 



During the last five years there has 

 been an especial impetus given to dive 

 culture, and the demand for yo'ing 

 trees and cuttings has at times been 

 greater than the supply. Thousands 

 of acres of orchard have been planted 

 in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, 



Monterey, Placer, Butte and other 

 counties. The fact that soil which was 

 not particularly adapted to other fruit 

 would produce olives of excellent 

 quality in large quantity has made 

 this a favorite in the foothills and in 

 places where there were natural diffi- 

 culties in the way of the successful 

 cultivation of many varieties of fruit, 

 and as a consequence the area now de- 

 voted to olive culture is very consider- 

 able. No accurate information has 

 ever been collated upon the subject, 

 and even those who have made the 

 cultivation of the olive a specialty are 

 entirely at sea as to the probable area 

 ot the olive groves of the State. It is, 

 however, probably well within bounds 

 to st te that by the close of the present 

 season there will be at least 30,000 acres 

 in existence, of which, of course, but a 

 very small proportion is in bearing. 



Coincident with ihe great interest 

 I taken in the cultivation of the olive, 

 | there has arisen a large amount of dis- 

 cussion as to the respective merits of 

 the several varieties of the fruit that 

 have been introduced nere. Mr. Cooper 

 and other pioneer growers have 

 achieved their success from the culti- 

 vation of the mission ojive alone, ami 

 therefore are not disposed to en 

 superiority to any other. The fuci 

 that oil flora the mission oiivc < 

 ready sale at from $10 to $12 a gallon 

 and that the demand vastly exceeds 

 the supply, while the imported oil noes 

 not bring more than half as much, is 

 cited as 'it least illustrating most favor- 

 ably the estimation in which our pro- 

 duct is held. When better results 

 shall have been secured from other 

 varieties, then the defenders of the 

 mission fruit will doubtless be willing 

 to make concessions, but not until 

 then. 



The principal competitor of the mis- 

 sion variety is the Picholine, for v 

 various points of excellence are claimed. 

 One of these is its early maturity by 

 comparison with the mission, but tests 

 made side by side do not sustain the 

 claim, and it is more than probable 

 that locality is a large factor in deter- 

 mining the time of maturity. This 

 jt*a is supported by the well-known 

 Tact that tnere is from six weeks to 

 two months' difference in the<', 

 ripening of the same varieties of other 

 fruits in various parts of the 



other uirieties besides those 

 have t:een introduced, but 

 these combine the bulk of the 

 orchards at present in exist. 

 Like every other fruit, th 

 iis encmi. ., u- d '.hose who engage i: 



