i9i4- I 9 I 5-] The Olive Tree. 157 



the fruit is ripe, and the trees are beaten with long poles 

 or shaken, and the fallen fruit is gathered. Then follows the 

 manufacture of the fruit into oil. Hand-picked olives give 

 the finest oil, and the fruit must be completely ripe. Knock- 

 ing the fruit from the branches with sticks injures the tree 

 and lessens its productiveness in the next year. The finest 

 kind of oil, called virgin oil, is obtained merely by pressure. 

 Common oil is procured by a stronger pressure and submitting 

 the fruit to the action of boiling water. The fruit is exten- 

 sively cultivated in Italy, and the finest oil is from Leghorn. 

 It is called Florence oil, and is the kind used in this country 

 as salad oil. The oil is brought from the country districts 

 and sold by weight. After purchase it is placed by the 

 merchants in large earthenware jars and allowed to settle 

 before being filtered and rendered fit for export. It is filtered 

 through perfectly clean carded cotton from Malta. If it does not 

 come out at first perfectly clear, it is passed through the filter 

 again and again till it becomes so. If the oil is of good 

 quality, it should be quite bright after one filtering. It is 

 imported in casks to this country, where it is bottled by the 

 importers. In the olive countries oil is one of the first 

 necessaries of life. It is the cream and butter of Italy and 

 Spain, but with us it is only taken as a condiment. Spain 

 produces upwards of 250,000,000 lb. of oil a year, and in 

 Andalusia 30 lb. are consumed annually by each individual 

 of the population. Owing to the impulse now given to 

 vegetarianism, the consumption of olive oil in many homes 

 will be largely increased. It is so pre-eminent among vege- 

 table oils, that it not only has always had an exclusive use 

 in culinary purposes, but is largely employed in the arts and 

 manufactures. It is much used in the woollen manufacture, 

 as well as in that of soap — Castile soap being made of olive 

 oil and soda. It forms an ingredient in the most celebrated 

 perfumes. The use of it on the hair and skin has been 

 customary from the earliest times. It formed a lucrative 

 article of trade between the Jews and the Syrians. The 

 finest oil is generally consumed in the country where it is 

 produced, and is used as an emollient or for oiling the wheels 

 of watches. Sardines when put into boxes are covered with 

 olive oil, a laurel leaf and a clove being added to impart an 



