How to Make Olive Oil. 343 
the oil to be pressed out. Mr. Cooper formerly used a stone, 
but has substituted two iron crushers, one following the other 
over the fruit. Mr. Kimball works his crusher and his presses 
by steam power. Mr. Cooper uses horse power, and has the 
apparatus so geared that the horse works outside the building, 
which is an advantage in point of cleanliness and otherwise. 
Pressing—When the revolving crusher has reduced the 
olives to a mass, the pomace is shoveled up from the bed of the 
mill and prepared for pressing. Instead of the fabric of woven 
esparto grass which is used abroad, coarse linen cloth is used. 
A certain amount of the pulp is put in each cloth, so that when 
the cloth is folded hack it makes a cheese about three feet 
square and three inches thick. Ten or more of these cheeses 
are placed one above the other, with slats between, and the 
pressure applied gently at first. From the liquid which runs 
out first is made the very finest oil, known as “virgin oil.” The 
pressure is then increased very gradually until the full power of 
the machine is reached. This presses out the second quality of 
oil, which is generally mixed with the first. After obtaining all 
the oil possible by the first pressure the “cheese” is taken out, 
thoroughly broken up in hot water, and again pressed. This 
yields the third quality, which is very much inferior to the first 
and second. Sometimes the “cheese” from the first pressing is 
thoroughly broken up with cold water and pressed again before 
being treated with hot water. In this way a little oil is obtained 
that differs little from the second quality, and may be mixed 
with it. After this a certain amount of oil still remains in the 
“cheese,” hut it can be extracted only by very powerful hydraulic 
presses, or by chemical means, and then is of very inferior qual- 
ity, and suitable only for burning or for soap making. a 
Settling and Clarifying —The liquid from the press is dark 
colored, and it is conducted into a receptacle for settling. 
Much of the foreign matter quickly separates, the oil appearing 
on the top. The oil is removed to other receptacles in which it 
can stand from two to five months for perfect separation of 
undesirable sediment. These settling tanks may be made of 
well-tinned metal, or of cement lined with glass or other imper- 
vious substance. The first settling is conveniently made by 
means of a funnel-shaped apparatus, which by its conical shape 
facilitates the rapid deposition of sediment. After standing for 
twenty-four hours in this apparatus the major part of the sedi- 
ment is deposited and can be drawn off at the bottom. It is 
well, before running the oil into the settling tanks, to pass it 
through two or three inches of cotton wool. This is accom- 
plished by means of a funnel with a perforated, horizontal cross 
partition, upon which the cotton is placed. It takes, generally, 
about one month for the oil to settle sufficiently in the first tank, 
