regular flowers with only two stamens, 

 and generally four divisions to the co- 

 rolla. The flowers of the Olive are small 

 and creamy white, in slender, branching 

 sprays. 



■ The first Olive Trees of California 

 were planted at the mission of San Diego 

 about one hundred and thirty-five years 

 ago. With cuttings taken from these 

 trees the Spanish Fathers planted or- 

 chards at the other missions, and hence 

 the species acquired its name, the "Mis- 

 sion Olive." In recent years the Olive 

 industry has grown rapidly in California 

 and there are now more than two million 

 trees in the State, ranging through a ter- 

 ritory six hundred miles in length and 

 extending as far north as the foot of 

 Mt. Shasta, New plants are generally 

 propagated from sprouts or cuttings, but 

 may be raised from seed. The seeds re- 

 quire two seasons to germinate but pro- 

 duce hardier plants than those from cut- 

 tings. 



The tourist in California is often in- 

 duced to try a green olive, fresh from 

 the tree, but he never cares to repeat the 

 experiment. The first sensation is that 

 of concentrated bitterness mixed with 

 oil and alum, *and the final taste is even 

 worse than the first, — a combination of 

 pepper and pucker long to be remem- 

 bered. It is a wonder that any one ever 

 thought the fruit of the Olive could be 

 made edible, or ever invented the effica- 

 cious treatment with lye and brine that 

 renders it palatable. And yet, pickled 

 olives, retaining their flavor, have been 

 found amid the ruins of Pompeii. 



The "bitter" is removed from the 

 fruit, either by the use of lye or by re- 

 peated daily immersions in fresh water, 

 but the latter process must be continued 

 at least a month, and therefore lye is 

 generally used. After the lye has been 

 washed out with fresh water the olives 

 are put into a weak brine which is grad- 

 ually made stronger. Thus the fruit is 



kept from shrinking and from growing 

 tough, and in boiled brine it may be 

 preserved many years. 



In California ripe olives are much pre- 

 ferred to the green ones. The latter are 

 only a relish but the former have a food 

 value and are not only healthful and nu- 

 tritious but are generally more pleasing 

 to the taste than the green pickled olives. 

 Ripe olives contain more than twenty- 

 five per cent of oil but "the green ones 

 have only about half that amount. 



In the manufacture of olive oil the 

 process is much the same as that em- 

 ployed thousands of years ago. The 

 ripe fruit is spread on trays which ad- 

 mit free circulation of air, and afterward 

 it is crushed by 'stone rollers. After the 

 first oil has been extracted a second 

 grade of oil may be obtained from a sec- 

 ond pressing, and sometimes the process 

 is again repeated. The oil that still re- 

 mains in the pulp is used in the manu- 

 facture of castile soap, and the residuum 

 makes a good fertilizer. 



Imported olive oils are all more or 

 less adulterated and sometimes contain 

 eighty or ninety per cent of cotton-seed 

 oil. California can produce oil enough 

 to supply all the United States but the 

 industry needs protection against cotton- 

 seed oil sold under the name of olive oil. 



The clear, light colored oils are most 

 in demand at present, but they require 

 repeated filtering which impairs the fla- 

 vor and produces what is, in reality, an 

 inferior article. 



California is now the principal state 

 in which the Olive is cultivated but there 

 will probably come a time when, with in- 

 creased means of irrigation, it will be 

 planted extensively in Arizona and New 

 Mexico. In the East and in the West, in 

 its earliest habitat and in its latest home, 

 may the sign of the Olive prove true in 

 all nations. May it flourish world-wide 

 as the emblem of Wisdom, the symbol of 

 Peace. 



Alice M. Dowd. 



37 



