626 FEUIT CULTURE IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 



kept separate. This explains the existence of professional oil-crushers 

 who do nothing but press oil for the' growers; otherwise, unless a 

 grower had a large ainount of capital at his disposal wherewith to work 

 a mill and pay the necessary staff, he would never be able to attend to 

 the digging, fertilizing, and pruning of his olive trees with due care, 

 as this ought to be done just at the same time of the year as the all-im- 

 portant flrst-oil pressing. 



The olive-grower, if he attends to his task properly, has plenty of work 

 to do and the more he does the better he is repaid. As already men- 

 tioned, an olive tree left to itself will produce fruit, but one well culti- 

 vated will repay its owner tenfold. Though it does not pay to be too 

 lavish in expenditure, yet an outlay of about $50 per acre per year is 

 considered a sound investment in these regions. Considerably less 

 is spent by many a grower, but if one has the courage to lay out about 

 the sum mentioned one can generally depend upon being well repaid. 



A full-grown Pendoulier well fertilized and cared for will produce 

 about 30 gallons of olives in a crop ; very large and fruitful trees have 

 been known to produce up to 100 gallons even. A full-grown Cayon 

 under the same circumstances will produce from 7 to 8 gallons in a crop, 

 and there are many that can produce 20 gallons. 



The value of olives varies according to crop and quality, but roughly 

 speaking about $1 per gallon is the average price. 



The out-turn of oil varies according to the quality and condition of the 

 olives, but the average yield is 14 per cent, by the two pressings plus 

 10 per cent, by acids, say a total rough average of 24 per cent. 



The olive-tree, well cared for, is almost always free from disease and 

 parasites, but it is well to be on the look-out for any possible enemies. 

 The branches are sometimes covered with a kind of yellow moss, pro- 

 duced in some instances by too much dampness or moisture and in others 

 by weakness of the tree. In the iirst case the ground must be imme- 

 diately drained, and in the second it must be manured. In both cases 

 it is well to cut off the branches so covered. Sometimes there is no 

 remedy, and the trees must be rooted out, and the ground used for other 

 purposes. 



Sometimes a sort of a cochineal, the Coccus, attacks olive trees, and 

 in this case a hard brush, dipped in vinegar, is the best remedy. 



The Tinea oleolla occasionally attacks the leaves and the Hylerimis 

 olece occasionally kills the buds, but these are not serious foes. Of all 

 insects, that most to be feared is a fly that deposits its eggs in the wood 

 of the olive ; it is the Dacus olecB. The larvae of this fly eat away and 

 destroy whole branches, and it is extremely difficult to exterminate 

 them. The best way to destroy them is to scrape the branches and 

 apply boiling water or a solution of lime, but even these are not 

 always efifectual. Nature, however, sometimes helps herself, and not 

 unfrequently another insect, the " Gynips,'" deposits an egg in the bole 

 bored by the Dacus and the l:irva of the Oynips kills and feeds on that 

 of th« Dacus, thus saving the tree. 



