THE OLIVE. 697 



valuable in the world. With respect to its longevity, we may 

 remark, that there is a celebrated plantation near Terni, in Italy, 

 more than five miles in extent, which, there is every reason for 

 believing, has existed since the time of Pliny. 



The olive is not a very tender tree. It will thrive farther 

 north than the orange. The very best sites for it are limestone 

 ridges, and dry, crumbling, limestone, rocky regions always 

 produce the finest oil. The tree, however, thrives most luxuri- 

 antly in deep, rich, clayey loams, which should be rendered 

 more suitable by using air-slacked lime as manure. It requires 

 comparatively little pruning or care, when a plantation is once 

 fairly established. 



Varieties. — There are numberless varieties enumerated in 

 the French catalogues, but only a few of them are worth the 

 attention of any but the curious collector. The common European 

 olive is, on the whole, much the best for general cultivation, 

 yielding the most certain and abundant crops. 



The sub-variety most cultivated in France is the Long-leaved 

 Olive ( Olea, e. longifolia)^ with larger and longer leaves ; the 

 fruit nearly of the same size as that of the common olive. 



The favourite sort in Spain is the Broad-leaved Olive ( Olea 

 e. latifolia). Its fruit is nearly double the size of the common 

 olive, and yields an abundance of oil, but the latter is so strong 

 in flavour as to be more relished by the Spaniards than by 

 strangers. 



The Olivier a Fruit Arrondi [Olea spherica^ N. Duh.) is a 

 hardy French variety, which, in a moist, rich soil, yields most 

 abundant crops of fine oil. 



The Olivier Pleureur (Olea eranimorpha^ N. Duh.), or 

 weeping olive, is one of the largest and finest trees. Its branches 

 are pendant, its fruit excellent, and the oil pure and abundant. 

 It is a very hardy sort, and grows best in damp valleys. 



The Olivier Picholine {^Olea ohlonga, N. Duh.) yields the 

 fruit most esteemed for pickling. It grows quite readily in any 

 tolerable soil, and is one of the hardiest varieties. 



There are two varieties of the olive, which are said to have 

 been found not long since in the Crimea, lats. 45° and 46°, 

 Avhich bear abundant crops of fine fruit, and the trees endure a 

 temperature in winter of zero of Fahrenheit. These sorts have 

 not yet been introduced into this country ; and though it is a 

 desideratum to obtain them and test them at the South, yet it 

 is not unlikely that, in common with many trees similarly re- 

 ported, they may prove little diff"erent from the common olive. 



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