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hours soaking, but sometimes longer. Taste will also show whether 
all the bitterness has been removed. Secondly, the lye is washed off 
by running it off carefully and replacing it with soft or rain water, 
which is renewed twice a day until all the lye bas been leeched out, 
which takes longer if salt has been used. This takes two or three 
days. A piece of red litmus paper dipped into the water before 
salting should not turn blue if all the lye has been removed. Thirdly, 
salt is then added in the form of a brine containing 6ozs. to 
the gallon of water, which, after two days, is run off and a 
stronger brine—8ozs. to the gallon—poured over the olives. Afier 
a few days, a stronger brine still, i.e, 12 to 14 oz. to the gallon, is 
used Unless the strength of the brine is only gradually increased the 
olives will shrink and shrivel. Finally, before bottling or casking, 
a strong brine, strong enough to float an egg is made, boiled, 
skimmed, and when cool, poured over the olives previously placed in 
bottles, which are then corked down and sealed. The addition of a 
little vinegar improves the colour of green olives, while some also 
like to add a few bay or all-spice leaves. 
For pickling “black or ripe” olives, salt is generally sufficient to 
remove the bitterness which it less pronounced as the fruit ripens. 
The olives are placed in jars or in barrels, sterilised by steam; they 
are then mixed with fine salt when they part with the bitter juices. 
After a few days they are steeped in fresh water for a little while 
and half dried. Before eating they are dipped in a light brine or 
in oil. Thus prepared, large quantities are consumed as an article 
of diet in olive-growing countries in the Mediterranean. Ripe olives 
in this form are more easily digested and possess a higher nutritive 
value than green pickled olives. 
NUTS. 
These fruit are true seeds only, and are made up of fleshy cov- 
erings or pericap, such as plums, apples, ete. They constitute a 
highly concentrated form of food, having less water than most fruit, 
with a higher percentage of protein or albuminoids and of fat. 
SPROUTING SEEDLINGS.—Nuts are generally sown in seed beds, 
and subsequently grafted to the kind it is desired to grow. 
The pits from natural fruit or seedlings are the most reliable 
stocks; they germinate easily, make more vigorous growth, and 
produce longer lived trees. 
They should not be allowed to dry after being taken from 
their covering or from the fruit, and they should without delay be 
put in sand or layered in the ground, to prevent the germ from 
drying. If allowed to dry, the pits either die or remain dormant in 
the ground for a year, and sprout the following season if left un- 
disturbed. 
In the cultivated and highly improved fruit, the union of the 
two halves or valves of the pits is often imperfect and “split.” Such 
