THE OLIVE IN MESSINA. 673 



ripen on the trees and are gathered as they fall. Olives are gathered 

 by hand or knocked down with long poles. The young twigs are 

 bruised and broken by the poles, which shortens the next year's crop; 

 but, as gathering by hand is much slower, poles are generally pre- 

 ferred. 



Olives for pickling are dried in the shade for a day or two, then 

 soaked in water from two to four days and pickled. 



Olives for the press are left for a few days in the baskets in which 

 they are carried home ; they are then thrown into vats and allowed to 

 ferment ; this fermentation diminishes the yield of oil and is detri- 

 mental to its quality. 



The process for pickling olives is as follows : Dissolve in water a 

 sufficient amount of rock-salt to float an egg or a potato. Put the olives 

 in this brine and cover them with fresh olive twigs with their leaves on, 

 wild fennel, bell peppers, and garlic. To make oil: The olives having 

 become soft, macerated, during their fermentation in the vats, are run 

 through (i. e., crushed) a mill with horizontal rollers. The pulp is then 

 put into large, round wicker bags, made of bulrushes, and pressed. 

 " Sansino," or oil from the husks, is obtained by pouring boiling water 

 on the olive husks and pressing them a second time. Tin dippers are 

 used to transfer the oil from the press to wooden tubs, in which it is 

 carried to the warehouse. The oil is then poured into large earthen- 

 ware jars and left to settle before being put on the market. 



Maturity. — At ten years of age the olive comes into bearing and con- 

 tinues bearing for centuries. 



Yield. — Olive trees in full bearing yield from 1 to 2 gallons of oil per 

 tree — 78 to 156 gallons per acre. 



Planting and propagating. — The large olives, Ogliaio and Calabrese, 

 are planted from 36 to 39 feet apart; the dwarf olives, Biancolilla, 

 from 15 to 24 feet apart. Trees are propagated by seed ; eyes (excres- 

 cences that grow on the foot of the trunk and roots of the olive — best 

 method); suckers; cuttings; and budding. 



Insect pests. — The olive tree and the olive have a number of insect 

 pests. The lepidoptera, in a chrysalis state, cut into the large branches ; 

 the Tlesino oleiperda, and the Phlocotribus olece eat into the twigs ; small 

 butterflies feed upon the leaves. A little hemipter, called ouphyllura 

 olecB, attacks the bloom of the olive tree and covers it over with a cot- 

 tonous substance that smothers it. The fly, J)acus olece, lays its egg in 

 the pulp of the olive, which egg produces a worm that feeds upon the 

 pulp. This prolific fly is a terrible scourge. Olives attacked by the tiv 

 yield but little oil of inferior quality. 



The beneficial insects are the parasites of the olive fly. 



There are little hymenoptera that feed on the larva of the dacus. 



Waxlace S. Jones, 



Consul. 



United States Consulate, 



Messina, January 27, 1890. 



