THE 01, LYE IN TUSCANY. 691 



(4.) To press slowly and at a cold temperature. 



(5.)To have all machinery and recipients very ctaan, as well as to in- 

 sist on the cleanliness of the laborer. Crushing presses of old system are 

 used, and the quantity of olives submitted to each pressure varies from 

 150 to 250 liters (4J to 7 bushels), but not over. 



Olives must be well pressed and ground for about one hour, after 

 which they are reduced to a paste and placed in frails, submitted to 

 presses, and then mixed with cold water for a second pressure, and even 

 a third pressure, but with hot water in that case. The oil produced by 

 a first gentle pressure is the virgin oil; the other is mixed, and consti- 

 tutes a second quality, usually called olio mangiable (table oil) ; a third 

 quality is derived from the deposit of oil, and used by colonists for burn- 

 ing. 



Olive oil is preserved in jars varnished inside, containing from 50 to 

 300 liters and over (13.200 to 79.251 gallons). Olive husks crushed and 

 pressed again give an in/erior oil for lubricating purposes. The clarifi- 

 cation of oil must not be too cold nor too hot. The temperature is not to 

 vary from 10 to 12 centigrade (54 Fahr.), in order that the oil fluid 

 be such as to facilitate the deposit of heterogeneous substances. 



The process of preparing olives for table use consists in their sweet- 

 ening or drying ; those green are sweetened, and the ripe olives are 

 dried. To sweeten they are placed in clean water during five or six 

 days, changing the water four or five times a day. When they have 

 lost their bitterness they are transferred into a pitcher of brine with a 

 few branches of fennel, taking care to keep them well plunged in. After 

 sixty days they are good for table use and are so preserved until the fol- 

 lowing year. They can be sooner prepared for table use by crushing, 

 extracting the nut and keeping the fruit moist for four or five days and 

 changing the water four or five times a day. They are then placed in 

 brine, and after six or eight days may be eaten alone, or with vinegar 

 and oil, according to taste. Olives can also be sweetened by keeping 

 them in brine until they lose their bitterness, after which they are 

 placed in water renewed twice or three times a day for four or five days 

 until they lose their disagreeable taste. Then they are kept in brine, 

 adding thereto fennel, cloves, cinnamon, or nutmeg, but the fennel if 

 used must be used alone. Dark olives are dried by exposure to the sun 

 for from fifteen to twenty days, and are subjected to a slight sprinkling 

 of salt. 



Another process is to place the fruit in baskets, with alternate layers 

 of salt. In the course of twenty-four hours the juice will commence to 

 leave the fruit, and after five or six days the fruit is sufficiently dry for 

 table use. Day by day the baskets should be gently shaken and a little 

 salt sprinkled on. 



Olives for oil are to be picked when thoroughly ripe, which is clearly 

 shown by the bright black color, and also by the fact that at such tirae 



