388 COFFEE. 



them still more, and they are then gronnd under heavy stone 

 rollers until thoroughly crushed. Small portions of this pulpy 

 matter are then placed in envelopes of coarse bagging, which are 

 laid up in piles under a screw-press, and the screw being brought 

 down, the oil and juice exude and run down in a purple stream 

 into a reservoir beneath. The oil being lightest, rises to the top, 

 and is drawn off into receptacles provided for it. After the first 

 pressure the envelopes are taken from the press, moistened with 

 hot water, again placed under the press and squeezed until no 

 more oil can be extracted, but the oil obtained from this last pres- 

 sure is kept separate, and is not esteemed so highly as that first 

 extracted. The oil as it runs from the press is necessarily quite 

 crude, containing much sediment; different countries, and different 

 districts, even, producing oil of different flavor and quality. It is 

 usually refined by the manufacturer by straining it through layers 

 of cotton cloth, and also in some places by means of charcoal fil- 

 ters. 



But little has been done, however, either in Italy or Spain, the 

 great oil-producing countries, in the way of completing the refin- 

 ing process and packing the oil in bottles for foreign consumption. 

 It is usually shipped in large casks to Marseilles and Bordeaux, 

 where refining and packing is a large business, amounting in Bor- 

 deaux to probably 150,000 to 200,000 cases of fine oil per year. I 

 could obtain no statistics of the exports from Marseilles, but it is 

 probable that the quantity exceeds that sent from Bordeaux ; the 

 quality, however, does not stand as high, owing to the fact that the 

 Marseilles manufacturers have always endeavored to furnish a low- 

 priced article, while those at Bordeaux sought chiefly to deal in the 

 better qualities. Hence the fact that the Bordeaux brands are much 

 more highly esteemed in America than those which come from 

 Marseilles. Probably three-fourths of all the olive oil bottled in 

 Bordeaux comes from Italy, while about one-fourth is produced in 

 France. Little or none comes from Spain, notwithstanding the 

 vast quantity produced there. Where it all goes is a mystery, 

 but large quantities are consumed in Spain, where it is used for 

 burning, cooking, and even lubricating purposes, besides quite 

 Supplanting butter as a table article. Indeed, in all oil-producing 

 countries, butter, as an article of table consumption, is of quite 



