THE SWEET ORANGE. 35 



the palate than for its flavour, which in its pickled state is 

 often disliked. The olive is a long oval berry, very much like 

 a common acorn, both in colour and shape. It consists of a 

 one-seeded nut, enclosed in a dark bluish-green fleshy drupe, 

 which, for pickling, is gathered while green. The nut is ex- 

 tremely hard, and was originally a two-celled carpel, but one 

 seed only being developed, the superfluous cell is absorbed. 

 When ripe, the fleshy covering is found to contain oil in great 

 abundance. (See Olive Oil.) There are varieties found in 

 commerce, the only difference of which probably is climatal ; 

 they are the large, or Spanish, and the small, or French. 



The olive is a fine large tree, of slow growth, and attain- 

 ing an immense age. It is first mentioned in Genesis viii. 

 11 : "And the dove came in to him in the evening, and lo, 

 in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off." Yery few 

 trees exceed the olive in graceful beauty ; it has elegantly 

 coloured leaves, similar in shape and size to those of the 

 willow, but softer and more delicate. It will survive our 

 coldest winters, but does not perfect its fruit in this country ; 

 besides which, the tree loses much of its beauty in our cli- 

 mate. About 11,000 or 12,000 gallons are annually im- 

 ported, some of which are again exported to the colonies 

 and other countries. 



