The Olive. 203 



THE OLIVE. 



The Olive tree (Olea Euro])ea ) forms the Ijasis of" one of tlie 

 oklest iiKhistries in West America. Tlie oldest olive trees planted in 

 the I'nited States are those at the mission of San Diego, California. 

 These are credited with an age exceeding one hundred years and are 

 still in good bearing condition, notwithstanding the ill-usage to 

 which they have been subjected. 



The aecom])anying view of these trees is of historic interest, and 

 is taken from a report of the secretary- of the California state board 

 of horticulture. The variety planted at the old Califomian mis- 

 sions is the one which has until late years been planted almost 

 exclusively, and is still favorably known as the Mission olive. Other 

 varieties have of late years been tried in Southern California with 

 variable success. Horticultural varieties are as numerous in the 

 olive as in the ])each or ai:)])le, over a hundred named forms having 

 been described under a ])er]>lexing nomenclature. 



In the .MjK's Maritimes, a ])rovince in France, we learn from a 

 sjx'cial consular rei)ort that the olive covers 70,000 acres in that 

 ])rovince, yielding an annual income of $2.000.000 — the only rev- 

 enue of manv families. 



The olive jjrospers in calcai^eous or gravelly or dry soils where 

 no vegetable or cereal crop could be obtained. 



In Lower California the olive comes into bearing at seven vears. 

 In more northern or cooler climates, ten to twelve ^-ears is the tisual 

 time for the tree to arrive at maturity. It remains fraitful for cen- 

 turies, and a tree in Europe, near Xice, was famous for its old age in 

 1515, and measures forty-two feet in circumference. The a\erage 

 yield of this tree at ];resent is nearly ?>'20 poiuids of oil per year. A 

 well cultivated olive tree will easily yield fifteen gallons of oil, or 

 about 1500 gallons per acre, if ])lanted 100 trees to the acre; but in 

 Europe a less number is usually ])lante(l, more seldom even as many 

 as 75 trees to the acre. 



For oil the fruit is picked about a month before ri])e, but for 

 pickling for table use tjiey are gathered when fully ripe usually. 



The northern limit of the olive for fruiting is believed to be near 

 42° north latitude, on the Pacific coast, but it may be grown 

 farther northward as an ornamental tree, blossoming but not ma- 

 turing fruit. It is a handsome forest tree, well adai)ted for hillsides 

 too sterile for scarcely anything else of value to thrive. Lands once 

 abandoned for sterility in Africa and jjortions of Southern Europe 

 are now a source of wealth, and thousands of aci'es of arid lands 



