678 FRUIT CULTURE IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 



This is thought to produce the most uniform exposure to air and sun. 

 The trees should not be allowed to grow too high, the trunk from the 

 ground to the lower branches not to exceed 1 J to 2 meters (about 4J to 

 6 feet). 



When the young tree is sufficiently branched and has reached a 

 height of about 1J meters (or 4^ feet) the top is cut off immediately 

 above a vigorous embranchment. In the following spring the principal 

 branches are pruned, being left shortest at the bottom and longer as 

 the top is approached, and so on from year to year, preserving to the 

 tree a symmetry of form and uniformity of density as far as possible. 

 When the fruiting age is reached the skillful primer will form such a 

 relation between the general growth of wood and the fruit-bearing 

 branches, from year to year, as will best subserve the health and vigor 

 of the tree. In addition to this pruning there should be an annual 

 cutting away of all decayed and unhealthy branches. 



Picking. All the olives on a tree do not mature at the same time and 

 two pickings are generally made. In the first are taken the southern side 

 of the trees and those trees situated on high ground, as these ripen 

 first. The method is to pick by hand those within reach, then gently 

 shake the branches until the balance drop to the ground. In large 

 groves the wind is largely relied on to assist in the labor. It is esti- 

 mated that to pick an ettolitro (or about 2f Winchester bushels) of 

 olives from the tree by hand requires a man's labor for eight hours, while 

 the same amount can be picked from the ground in one and one-half hours. 



Pickling. Olives for pickling or preserving in any manner for table 

 use are picked green ; for oil, when fully ripe. It seems to be the 

 opinion here that olives increase in amount of oil produced if left on 

 the tree some weeks after fully ripe, but the quality of the oil deterio- 

 rates. 



Manufacture of oil. To make good oil the olives should first be thor- 

 oughly cleansed of all earth and leaves. If washing is necessary to 

 effect this, they must then be carefully dried, after which they should 

 be conveyed at once to the mill ; but, if this is impracticable, they may 

 be spread out 4 or 5 inches deep in a dry, airy place, care being 

 taken to turn them over thoroughly every three or four days to prevent 

 fermentation. If the olives are allowed to ferment the quality of the 

 oil is effected injuriously both in color and taste. There ai*e several 

 varieties of machines for crushing the olives. Extensive producers 

 have at least one grooved mill which crushes the olives but leaves the 

 pips or stones intact. The oil from the latter, although amounting to 

 7 or 8 per cent, of the whole, is of an inferior quality, and its admixture 

 detracts from the brightness and excellence of the first pressing. The 

 olives, reduced to paste, are put in sacks made of a species of rush or 

 reed (Juncus acutus), of strips of bark, or of hemp and placed under 

 the press (worked by screw or lever), when the first extraction of oil is 

 made. This is the " virgin oil," absolutely pure and highest in value. 



