8 STATE BOARD OF HORTICULTURE. 



willowy habit, the fruit large and roundish, which matures 

 early and evenly; others are tall, lofty, sturdy trees, bearing 

 elongated fruit and of very uneven ripening; while still 

 others are of a dwarfish habit of growth, the fruit small and of 

 very little value. It is not uncommon to find olive plants that 

 have sprung up spontaneously under trees from pits of fruit 

 that dropped, especially where the soil had not been disturbed 

 for a season. I have gathered many such plants for several 

 seasons. It is reasonable to suppose that this also occurred in 

 the primitive days at the mission orchards; the plants, no 

 doubt being cared for, in time became as large as their parents 

 and to-day are probably numbered among the historic trees of 

 our State. This no doubt is also accountable for the great 

 variability of the different types of the Mission olive found in 

 different localities, and especially in mission orchards. 



In the matter of climate, California is well adapted to olive 

 culture. The tree requires a moderately uniform temperature 

 and will not withstand extremes of either heat or cold. It is 

 essentially a fruit requiring an invariable climate, being found 

 between 45 degrees north and 1 8 degrees south. The altitude at 

 which the olive will grow depends upon the latitude. The farther 

 north we go in the olive belt the lower the altitude at which it 

 will thrive, and the farther south the higher the altitude suited 

 to it. In the Sierra Nevada range, in latitude 37 degrees north, 

 it will do well at 3,000 feet. Locations visited daily by a 

 gentle breeze, especially in the blossoming season, are well 

 suited to the olive, while intense heat at this period may ruin 

 all prospects of a crop, and a low temperature, say 14, is fatal 

 to the tree, while 26 is fatal to the fruit. 



The culture of the olive for commercial purposes forms an 

 industry that, with proper protection, should be regarded as 

 one of the safest in California, and under favorable conditions 

 the most profitable of all branches of horticulture. Large 

 areas of -land have been planted to this fruit, in most of which 

 it finds all the conditions of soil and climate perfectly adapted 

 to its growth and fruitage. 



*"The published estimate of the number of olive trees (by 

 County Assessors to the State Board of Equalization) now 

 growing is 2,500,000. The number of pounds that a tree 



*Address by Hon. Ellwood Cooper, State Fruit-Growers' Convention, 

 November, 1897. 



