CONTINENT OF AFRICA, 

 MOROCCO. 



REPORT BY CONSUL MATHEWS, OF TANGIER. 



(Republislied from Consular Reports, No.41.) 



THE OLIVE. 



Varieties. Several varieties are grown, wild and domestic. It is im- 

 possible to proclaim in an absolute manner which variety produces the 

 best results, as in every country one is preferred which suits best the 

 locality and climate ; and it happens that a variety which prospers in a 

 certain climate in others fails to produce the same results ; therefore it 

 must be ascertained by trials of the best and hardiest varieties. 



The varieties which will stand the severest cold weather are those 

 nearest to the wild, such as the Odessa and the Beaked olive (Olea Eu- 

 ropea rostrata, Clem.) ; the olives of these trees are not large, but of a 

 medium size. 



There are nineteen denned varieties of olives ; the principal ones are, 

 the Royal Seville, of large fruit, which is gathered in a green state for 

 pickling ; the Queen of Commerce, of very large fruits, with small, white 

 spots, also gathered while green, for pickling ; the Eicholine, of long, 

 oval shape. The Empeltre olive tree produces a small olive, oval- 

 shaped, bearing abundantly on the sixth year of its plantation, and in- 

 creasing every successive year ; the fruits ripen very early and yield 

 abundant oil and of a superior quality ; is a variety greatly cultivated 

 in Aragon, Spain ; a similar variety, but neglected, grows near Meque- 

 nez, in this country. 



The province of Soos, south of Morocco, produces great abundance of 

 oil. The plantations of olive trees in this province are very numerous; 

 many of the trees are of great size and beauty, and are planted in a 

 very whimsical and peculiar manner in the neighborhood of Messa, the 

 <au.se of which I learned from Governor Gilali Benhamos : that one of 

 the emperors being on his journey to Soudan encamped here with his 

 army, that the pegs with which the cavalry picketed their horses were 

 cut from the olive trees in the neighborhood, and that these pegs being 

 left in the ground on account of the sudden departure of the army, the 

 olive trees in question sprung up from them. I have seen the Moors in 

 the province of Angora, between Tangier and Ceuta, planting olive, 

 pomegranate, and quince trees by cutting bits of wood of these trees, 



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