694 FRUIT CULTURE IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 



is not unhealthy, but simply detracts from the flavor of the pure 

 article. 



WILLIAM L. WELSH, 



Consul. 

 UNITED STATES CONSULATE, 



Florence, March 17, 1884. 



VENETIA. 



REPORT BY CONSUL NOTES, OF VENICE. 

 [Republished from Consular Reports No. 41.] 



If, as has been seen, the production of oranges and lemons at a special 

 point of the Venetian territory is in reality a forced and artificial indus- 

 try, that of the olive, so characteristic in many other parts of Italy, is 

 hardly better suited to the natural conditions of the country here, and 

 only reaches the importance of an industry in the same limited region. 

 In all the eastern and central portions of Yenetia the plant itself is 

 rarely seen, and its cultivation for product insignificant or null. At 

 the extreme west, on the hilly slopes with southern exposure around 

 Verona, are found occasional plantations, though their extent and pro- 

 duction have constantly decreased since the sixteenth century in con- 

 sequence of the change of climate, caused by the excessive denudation 

 of the mountains, and the exaggerated risk and difficulty thus produced 

 to the cultivation, besides the outlay of time and capital before a return 

 can be gathered. In an industry thus discouraged and declining, little 

 effort is made for improvement, and in general, as it is one of the most 

 ancient of all forms of culture, so is it perhaps that which has least bene- 

 fited by the application of art or intelligence. 



The olive cultivated here and throughout Italy, whatever modifica- 

 tions it may have undergone by climate and situation, belongs to but 

 one species Olea JEuropea which, however, with long neglect and 

 hardship is subject to a transformation so marked as to appear a change 

 of nature. When the tree becomes scrubby and uncouth, changes the 



described is then placed in water, the temperature of which must be brought to 84 

 centigrade (151 Fahrenheit). After half an hour's immersion the oil, if impure, be- 

 comes of a dark, muddy color, and with practice and caution the actual proportion of 

 the adulterating liquid can be determined. 



Another method is to place 5 centimeters of the oil into a bulb and add thereto 30 

 centimeters of alcohol 98. Shake the mixture thoroughly, and then let it rest until 

 the oil and alcohol separate. Then transfer the alcohol to another glass bulb and add 

 the test (same quantity as before). Put the bulb in the bath and heat the water to 

 the same grade (84 centigrade or 151 Fahrenheit), when if the oil is impure a dis- 

 tinct dark color will be produced. This test is based on the essential quality pos- 

 sessed by the glycerine of the cotton-oil to reduce the nitrate of silver. It is always 

 well to also use the test with pure olive oil, when, if the oil be thoroughly pure, no 

 decoloration will le observed. 



