FRUIT CULTURE IN THE ALPS MARITIME. 929 



SUITABLE SOIL. 



What character of soil is best adapted to olive trees ? 



A limestODe soil ; marl and clay or any soil wet and cold are not good. 

 It will flourish in almost any kind of soil light and dry. A light lime- 

 stone, gravelly soil is its delight. 



IRRIGATION. 



None is needed here for the olive. 



SITUATION OF ORCHARDS. 



How near to the coast are the olive orchards ? 



If on the plain, half a mile distant; if on the hillside and protected 

 from the cold winds, they grow and flourish within 20 yards of the sea 



DISEASES. 



To what maladies are the olives subject ! 



The principal ones are the cairon, a small worm (Musca oleai), and the 

 morphea, an almost imperceptible bug (Cirnea barbanus). 



The slow ripening indispensable to the production of the best fruit 

 causes sometimes a fermentation, by which is engendered the small 

 worm, cairon. It attacks only the fruit, and gives a bad taste. Its 

 effect is felt most seriously in the next harvest, and thus is produced 

 the succession of good and bad harvests. 



The morphia, on the other hand, attacks the tree, and its evil effects 

 are greater, paralyzing the vegetation, rendering the tree fruitless, and 

 frequently causing its death. It flourishes in damp seasons and places, 

 and propagates itself with an astonishing rapidity. It operates by 

 spinning or weaving a sort of web, resembling in some degree that of a 

 spider. This, after a short time, becomes black and dry and resolves 

 itself into a powder which covers the leaves, flowers, and fruit ; this 

 powder is corrosive in its effect, and deadens all with which it comes in 

 contact. The insect flourishes on the olive, but the dust spreads and 

 settles on everything ; so a country thus infested presents the appear- 

 ance of a field of death, the valley of the legendary upas tree. No cure 

 has yet been employed with success. It runs its course, and of the trees 

 the fittest only survive. 



COSTS AND PROFITS. 



The yield, the proceeds, and profit, and the cost of cultivation. 



I have given the yield per tree per crop biennial : In fruit, 60 to 120 

 liters ; in oil, 12 to 18 liters or 8 to 12 kilograms. 



In average years, and at average prices, the fruit of a single tree will 

 sell at the foot of the tree for, say, 8 francs ; if rendered into oil it will 

 bring, say, from 10 to 15 francs. According to quality the prices are, 



