CALIFORNIA OLIVE CULTURE PICKLING, ETC. 73 



should be left longer in the lye, or until all trace of bitter- 

 ness is removed. The lye is then run off and water run 

 in immediately, which is changed every day or so, until no 

 trace of lye is found in the fruit. A light brine, made of six 

 ounces of salt to the gallon of water, is then put over the fruit, 

 in which the fruit is kept a week or more. This light brine is 

 then run off, and a stronger brine, consisting of fourteen ounces 

 of salt to the gallon of water, 1 is put on the fruit. It is very 

 essential that the first brine should be weak, as a stronger 

 brine tends to shrivel the fruit, which destroys its commercial 

 value. After the olives have been in the last brine two or 

 three weeks, they are ready for market, and must be then put 

 into a specially prepared brine. Olives grown in varied 

 situations differ in bitterness, and it often happens that a 

 second (or a third) application of lye becomes necessary to 

 neutralize the bitter principle in the fruit. 



Dead Ripe. Many prefer pickles made from dead ripe fruit, 

 i. e. t fruit that has shriveled on the tree. The processing of 

 fruit on a large scale at this stage of ripeness necessitates 

 extreme care. It will not withstand the lye treatment, and it 

 it is only occasionally that any degree of success has been 

 attained by the water process. Families, however, find no 

 difficulty in processing olives in a small way at this stage of 

 ripeness, and they are most palatable, owing to the abundance 

 of oil in the fruit. 



Water Process. While this process is the oldest in use, it 

 is one that requires patience and care. Well-cured olives by 

 this process keep longer and possess more nutrition by way of 

 percentage of oil than fruit which comes in contact with 

 lye and which must naturally lose a certain per cent of oil 

 while undergoing pickling. The olives are gathered when 

 black or of a purple color, placed in wooden vats or barrels, 

 and covered with fresh water, which is changed every day 

 until the bitter principle is removed. Many growers change 

 the water every other day, and claim that the bitterness is 

 more quickly extracted. The extraction of the bitter principle 

 requires from thirty tc sixty days, according to conditions. 



