FRUIT CULTURE IN MENTONE. 915 



wine, in small quantities, is good, and is distinguished from the Maru- 

 verno. 



The maladies which attack the vine are the oidium and phylloxera. 

 The first shrivels the leaves, destroys the grapes, and puts the vine in 

 danger. Happily the flour of sulphur is a sufficient remedy. The sec- 

 ond, much more terrible, are microscopic worms attacking and covering 

 the roots of the vine. Its ravages have extended more or less over all 

 France. Happily Mentoue has thus far escaped, though the scourge 

 has appeared within the department. 



THE OLIVE TREE. 

 / 



The olive trees of Men tone are several centuries old ; they are said to 

 have been planted in the twelfth century by the Crusaders. 



They are propagated by means of young plants which are detached 

 from the parent tree with some roots. This is the theory. Actually 

 none are propagated in late years. The same reasons mentioned 

 as affecting the lemon, to which must be added the slow growth of the 

 olive, have conspired to turn trade into other channels, and the propa- 

 gation of the olive tree has nearly ceased. 



Ten or twelve years are necessary for the growth of a small tree 

 commencing to yield fruit. The life-time of a man, fifty or sixty years, 

 or even a hundred, is necessary for a full-grown tree. They grow in 

 the plain and on the hills. 



A full grown tree in a good season will yield 60 to 80 liters of oil. 

 One can never have two good harvests in two consecutive years j for- 

 tunate if you have one. A fruit which remains a year on the tree is 

 mbject to many dangers. Sometimes the early heat burns the flower, 

 ir the wind blows it or the fruit off the tree ; a prolonged rain prevents 

 the gathering, or destroys the fallen fruit, or the dryness of the season 

 may blight it, etc. 



But the greatest enemy of the olive is the worm. Myriads of small 

 tlu s (Musca oleavia) sting the olives and deposit their eggs, which in a 

 short time attack the pulp of the fruit. These worms go around the 

 fruit and then go out in the form of a new fly. These in turn attack 

 the remaining olives, so that the entire harvest can be destroyed in less 

 than a month. 



The ground must be worked once a year ; useless or dead branches 

 lopped off every two or three years. 



The olive is never watered here, as water is almost always scarce and 

 sometimes insufficient for the lemon trees. 



The olive oil of Mentcne and its neighborhood is good, and is used 

 here and sent to other parts of Fran je. 



Including the surrounding country, the product of a very good sea- 

 son has been from 15,000,000 to 20,000,000 quintals of oil (a quintal is 

 100 kilograms; Ji kilogram is 2.20469 pounds avoirdupois). The olive 

 tree flowers in March and April. The fruit is gathered from Novem- 



