THE OLIVE IN GENOA. 667 



ripe when picked for oil. When matured it drops from the tree. This 

 occurs late in the fall or early winter, as in all its stages, from bud to 

 full-grown fruit, the atmosphere also has its influence in bringing the 

 olive to maturity. 



For table use you have the olive in three ways : 



(1) Pickled green. 



(2) Dried when ripe. 



(3) Pickled when dead ripe. 



They are prepared as follows : The green olive is placed in a strong 

 solution of lime long enough to take the oily substance out; the well- 

 matured olive is dried in the sun ; the ripe pickled olive undergoes the 

 same process as the green, only salt is used instead of lime. Further, 

 the green olive, when purged of oil, is conserved in salted water. The 

 dried olives are placed in jars, with sufficient oil on top to prevent the 

 air drying and oxidizing the bulb, but no oil is allowed to sink to the 

 bottom of the jar, for fear of getting rancid and thereby communicate 

 a bad odor to the fruit. Aromatic herbs in certain quantity are gen- 

 erally used to aromatize the fruit preserved in this way. The ripe olive 

 is pickled in brine of salt, as stated, but the brine is frequently changed 

 in order to extract the oil and sour flavor. The olive must not be too 

 salt. When prepared as given above olives will keep a long time. 



Oil extraction. Oil is extracted from the olive by crushing the fruit in 

 a stone press. When a certain quantity are reduced to a pulp the crushed 

 mass is placed in a sieve-like receptacle, and this mass when pressed 

 produces the oil. Pressing by hydraulic engines has been tried in the 

 past, in order to obtain a larger quantity of oil, but this power proved 

 too great in that it actually spoiled the oil. Such a pressure is used now 

 only for extracting oil from husks. 



Results. The best results in olive culture are derived from hill-sides 

 and protected by sea winds ; in such locality even the most gentle and 

 tender kinds are comparatively safe. Olives raised on flat lands, as 

 elsewhere mentioned, contain more water, for the reason that they are 

 not sufficiently exposed to the sun (on account of mountain shade), 

 and are always liable to be frost-bitten. Even on table-lands the olive 

 is often damaged by winds, which forces the fruit to fall before matu- 

 rity. Cold winds always hinder the growth of olives, and they are 

 especially damaging to young branches. 



Soil and climate. In Liguria, including all the province of Genoa, the 

 highest elevation of land on which the olive is cultivated ranges about 

 1,000 feet above sea-level ; the orchards, however, are all in the south 

 side of the hills and protected by lofty mountains from north winds. 



The olive tree will prosper in almost any kind of soil, rocky land in- 

 cluded, except that of a sandy nature ; the latter absorbs too much 

 heat, and therefore cause rapid evaporation, which deprives the soil of 

 the necessary moisture in summer. Very damp soil is prejudicial for 

 the reason that the tree is liable to the ravages of the "lupa." Olive 



