602 . FRUIT CULTURE IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 



Pruning. Pruning is only practiced to the extent of removing the 

 dead or dying timber. 



Picking. Olives designed for pickling are gathered a short time before 

 ripening, lest they should be too soft for the purpose. 



Pickling. On being placed in baskets (the flexible basket in general 

 use being employed) the olives are salted and then receive a gentle 

 pressure. Af cer three or four days they are removed from the baskets, 

 and, without any other preparation or process, are simply placed in jars 

 or barrels. This is all that is required, and for common use no other 

 care is given the olive, which will keep in this way for two or three years, 

 or perhaps even longer where greater care is observed. In towns the 

 fruit is often pickled in vinegar ; but in the country this is unknown to 

 be followed. 



Oil making. Where the olives are required for making oil they are 

 allowed to remain on the trees till quite ripe, when they are picked or 

 beaten with long poles from the branches. Allowed to lie in heaps for 

 a period extending from twenty to twenty-five days, at the end of which 

 time they are usually quite soft, they next are crushed in the rude stone 

 mills common in the country the oil-mills of Palestine, which probably 

 date back to biblical times. They are, however, first placed in the large 

 flexible baskets already described. Heavy pressure being applied, the 

 oil strains through the baskets into the trough placed to receive it. The 

 oil obtained from this first pressure is the best, or of first quality, and 

 will bring in the market as high as $4 per gallon. Two subsequent 

 pressures complete the extraction of the oil. It is all one of the most 

 simple of processes. The oil of the second pressing is considered good, 

 and may be sold for $3 per gallon, but that of the third and last pressing 

 is invariably poor or bad, and is only used for burning in lamps or mak- 

 ing soap. The oil of the first and second grades is often mixed, and the 

 result disposed of to the dealer. In fact this is a common practice, of 

 course deteriorating the oil of the first quality, which it is often sold 

 for. The expressed oil, without further manipulation or other process, 

 is emptied from the trough into skins, and so conveyed to the oil mer- 

 chant, that intended for export finally being transported to Jaffa. Here 

 it is stored in great cemented cisterns, which are specially prepared 

 for the purpose, from which it is emptied into barrels or casks when 

 required for shipment. The greater portion of the oil is exported to 

 France, where, having undergone the mysterious mixings and adulter- 

 ations known only to the dealer, it is placed upon the market, and 

 reaches the public at large labeled pure French olive-oil. The oil pro- 

 duced from olives grown on the mountains is far superior in flavor and 

 quality to that made from fruit grown on the low-lying plains. The oil- 

 cake or refuse remaining after the extraction of the oil is not thrown 

 away, but carefully preserved, it bringing a high price for fuel, being 

 specially adapted for certain uses. For example, the bakers of Jerusa- 

 lem prefer it, and consume large quantities of it in heating their ovens. 



