688 FRUIT CULTURE IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 

 OLIVES AND OLIVE TREES. 



Olive trees are adapted to few countries, being so delicate that they 

 can thrive under the influence of a mild temperature only. Cold winds 

 and a soil too fresh or too dry are equally unfavorable to their produc- 

 tiveness. Therefore, on the Mediterranean coasts, and nominally in Italy, 

 it seems that olive trees meet with most of the conditions favorable to 

 their development. Olive trees in a favorable climate and soil grow 

 quickly, and are both strong and leafy. 



In Tuscany the diameter of the trunk measures from 0.25 meters to 

 0.30 and 0.42 meters (9J inches, 11 J inches, 1 foot 4J inches). The or- 

 dinary height of the tree when fully developed is from 5 to 7 meters 

 (16 feet to 22 feet 7 inches), and the maximum and exceptional height 

 is from 8 to 12 meters (25J feet to 38 feet). 



It is difficult to state the length of life and productiveness of olive 

 trees. In the most favorable countries, however, they remain fruitful 

 during two hundred or three hundred years, and if after this term of 

 life they do not bear, young shoots are produced by them which become 

 fruitful, so that actually, when properly tended, they may be said never 

 to die. 



Among the olive trees the following are the better known in Tuscany : 



Infrantoio (fit for the press), one of the most delicate and very sus- 

 ceptible to cold. 



Olivastro (dark brown olive), found on the hills ; hardy, but not very 

 productive. 



Moraiolo (resembling the mulberry), hardy, ripening early, and fairly 

 productive. 



Razzo or Grossaio (large and lucent), much appreciated for the abun- 

 dance and size of its olives and the good quality of its oil. 



Coreggiolo (resembling the crucible from its lowering branches), sus- 

 ceptible to cold weather, and consequently not adapted to high localities, 

 but still growing with northern expossure. 



Gremignolo (a coarse description of olive), ripening in March or April, 

 and found in the Pisan Mountains. 



Leccino (holm-oak), coarser, but very hardy, and not susceptible to 

 cold. 



Quercetano (resembling the oak), deriving its name from QueVceta, a 

 small place in the Lucchese, where it is largly cultivated, owing to its 

 strong constitution and resistance to sea winds. 



Indolcitoio (tender and sweet), whose fruit, larger than other varie- 

 ties, but with little oil, is eaten fresh after having been for some time 

 well soaked. 



The varieties mostly used in Tuscany are the 



Infrantoio, with favor able exposure, and the Moraiolo elsewhere. The 

 Infrantoio grows well in sheltered places and on hillocks. This plant 

 is very susceptible to exposure to or changes of weather. The Moraiolo, 

 cultivated in a meager and arid soil, is very hardy and bears well. 



