THE OLIVE TREE IN SOUTHERN FRANCE. 629 



As to the Yield, it is even more variable; each tree may pay from 

 50 ceiitiiiies to 3 francs. Asa rule, an olive tree is only productive 

 every otber year; some varieties, when placed under the most favorable 

 conditions of soil and weather, produce two years in three, but in no 

 case is the yield constant. It varies from (50 to 535 gallons of fruit per 

 acre. The average price of the fruit ranges from 12 to 22 francs per 

 hectoliter (9 to 17 cents per. gallon). The quantity of fruit turned into 

 oil is not the same in all districts, some of which prepare a much larger 

 quantity for table use than others. On an average little over two-thirds 

 of the whole crop is sent to the mill. 



Prq)aration.— Olives intended for table use must be perfectly sound, 

 and of course are picked among the largest on the tree. There are two 

 modes of preserving olives, in pickle and in oil. Those that are to be 

 preserved in oil are picked when perfectly ripe, that is, black. They 

 are, without any further preparation, steeped and kept in olive oil with 

 some fennel, coriander, salt, and pepper. The pickled olives are picked 

 before they arrive at maturity, and as soon as they have' acquired a 

 bright green color. They are pricked and rolled into wood ashes to set 

 free all the oil they may already contain. After being washed they are 

 l)laced in the pickle, where they remain until consumed. The "Picho- 

 line" and " Verdale" are the varieties mostly prepared in pickle here. 

 The "queen olives" are the produce of a variety of tree that is not 

 grown in this country. They are imported at this port from Spain. 



Nearly all the production of preserved olives is consumed in France. 

 The exportation is exceedingly small, and does not amount to more 

 than a few thousand kilograms, that are mostly sent to Algeria. The 

 extraction of oil is made in special mills where the farmers bring their 

 crops by quantities of 400 liters (about 106 gallons). For this quan- 

 tity, called " molte" in the country, the mill-owner generally returns40 

 liters or 10 per cent, of oil. The olives are thrown into a recipient, 

 where they are crushed under the action of two wheels measuring two 

 and a half feet in diameter and worked by water or steam power. After 

 two hours the olives are reduced to a sort of a paste, which is placed in 

 a number of grass bags and pressed. The oil thus expressed is called 

 " virgin oil," the quantity being about one-half of the whole produce. 

 The paste is then taken out of the bags, spread out on a cloth, broken 

 up, and replaced in the bags. Each bag is drenched with about five gal- 

 lons of boiled water and placed again in the press. The mixture of oil 

 and water thus obtained is left for a day in the receivers. The oil comes 

 to the surface, is skimmed off, and in most cases mixed with the virgin 

 oil first extracted. The mill-owner charges 3 francs for each " molte" 

 and keeps the residues, from which he again extracts, on his own ac- 

 count, by a supplementary and more abundant addition of boiling 

 water, an inferior grade of oil called "resseuce." There is still left in 

 the residue after this operation a small quantity of oil that is extracted, 

 in special factoriesj by means of sulphide of carbon, 



