THE OLIVE TREE. 



place in 1769. If this is correct, they are from 

 seed forwarded from San Bias in Mexico by 

 Don Joseph de Galvez, who fitted out an expe- 

 dition by virtue of a royal order to ' re-discover 

 and people the port of Monterey, or at least 

 San Diego,' which expedition accompanied 

 Father Junipero Sera in his missionary efforts 

 'to extend the spiritual conquest of the North.' 

 Fifty years later it is recorded 'that all the 

 seeds that Galvez had been so provident in 

 sending up took root and prospered. The 

 fathers built new missions, and continually re- 

 plenished their stock of converts, which, at one 

 time, were about twenty thousand. They plant- 

 ed vineyards, orchards, and the olive.' From 

 San Diego the tree was transplanted to nearly 

 all the other missions, and from these missions 

 to various places throughout the State. Other 

 than those at San Diego, Santa Barbara, and 

 San Luis Obispo, I cannot learn that this tree 

 has as yet been planted in orchard form, with 

 the object of making profit from its fruit. 



THE MISSION OLIVE. 



"H. N. Bolander, who had charge of the 

 botany of the geological survey of the State, in- 

 forms me that in all of the missions there was 

 but one variety of the olive, one of pear, and 

 one of grape. 



"I have made considerable effort to learn 

 the name of this particular olive, and to ascer- 

 tain if this variety is cultivated in Europe, but 

 without success. John Ellis, who has charge of 

 the horticultural grounds at the University, in- 

 forms me that the seeds of the Mission olive 

 'come correct, and produce fruit of the same 

 kind as the parent.' From the fact that the 

 seeds produce trees bearing the same kind of 

 fruit as the parent, it would be safe to conclude 

 that it is the original stock of the wild olive of 

 Europe or Africa. It is a shy bearer, and has 

 fruit very much smaller than the varieties culti- 

 vated in Italy and the south of France. It is 

 probably very valuable as a stock on which to 

 graft or bud more prolific kinds. It has, how- 

 ever, demonstrated that the best varieties can 

 be successfully grown over a wide range in Cali- 

 fornia. 



A USEFUL AND PROFITABLE TREE. 



" I can find no other tree so useful and pro- 

 fitable that will grow and thrive with so small 

 an amount of moisture. If, as many believe, 

 the annual rain -fall of a given place can be in- 

 creased by the planting of trees, I do not know 

 so useful a tree to recommend for this purpose, 

 f it should fail in adding to the rain, it will be 



certain to thrive on what rain does fall, and be 

 sure to yield oil whether cultivated or neglected ; 

 for what Virgil wrote nineteen hundred years 

 ago is still true. After having described the 

 continuous culture necessary for the vine, he 

 adds : 'On the other hand, the olives require no 

 culture, nor do they expect the crooked pruning- 

 hook and tenacious harrow, when once they 

 are rooted in the ground and have stood the 

 blasts. Earth of herself supplies the plants with 

 moisture when opened by the hooked tooth of 

 the drag, and weighty fruits when opened by 

 the share. Nurture for thyself, with this, the 

 fat and peace delighting olive.'" 



The following is from a most ably written and 

 interesting article by Augustus L. Hillhous, in 

 Michaux's North American Sylva, vol. ii, pp. 

 130 et seq.: 



"The olive has been called the polypus of 

 trees, for it is propagated by all the known 

 methods of propagating trees by sowing the 

 seed, by layers, by slips, by cuttings of the root, 

 by sprouts separated from the trunk, or from 

 roots of the parent stock. Seed planting is 

 generally rejected on account of the length of 

 time before bearing. When it is resorted to 

 the best sorts only are selected, of these the 

 Gros Kibe's being considered the best. The 

 pulp is removed and the berries cleaned in an 

 alkaline solution, and planted, in March, in well 

 manured, rich, deep soil, in a sheltered locality, 

 two or three inches deep in trenches." [For 

 convenience of removing, the seeds should be 

 six inches asunder, unless "thinning out" be 

 contemplated.] "To accelerate the germination, 

 the stones may be kept in fine mold during the 

 summer and autumn, and sown in the begin- 

 ning of January. They soon germinate, and are 

 strong enough to bear removal the next winter. 

 These will have to be grafted, and the best 

 method is by inoculation, and the safest time 

 for it is the close of winter or the opening of 

 spring." 



OIL MILL, AND THE WORKING OF IT. 



The oil mill retains nearly its primitive form. 

 It consists of a basin raised two feet from the 

 ground, with an upright beam in the middle, 

 around which a massive millstone is turned by 

 water, or by a beast of burden. The press is 

 solidly constructed of wood, or of cast-iron, and 

 is moved by a compound lever. The berries, 

 after being crushed to a paste, are put into sacks 

 of coarse linen, or of feather grass, and submit- 

 ted to the press. 



The virgin oil, which is the first discharged, 

 is the purest, and retains most sensibly the 

 taste of the fruit. It is received in vessels half 



