226 ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE OLIVE. 



In Europe it extends as far north as latitude 44J? degs., in America 

 scarcely to latitude 34 degs.— so much greater is the severity of the 

 winter on that side of the Atlantic. In the neighbourhood of Q;iito, 

 situated under the equator, at a height of 8,000 feet above the level 

 of the sea, where the temperature varies even less than in the island 

 climates of the temperate zone, the olive attains the magnitude of the 

 oak, yet never produces fruit. 



Olive oil may be said to form the cream and butter of those coun- 

 tries in which it is pressed ; the tree has been cultivated in all ages 

 as the bounteous gift of Heaven, and the emblem ol peace and plenty. 

 There is a common saying in Italy that " if you want to leave a 

 lasting inheritance to your children's children, plant an olive." 



In Italy the young olive bears fruit at two years old ; that is in 

 two years after it has been placed in the plantation. In six years 

 it begins to repay the expense of cultivation, if the ground is not 

 otherwise cropped. After that period the produce is the surest source 

 of wealth to the farmer. 



Like most other trees that have been cultivated for a length of 

 time, the olive has produced numerous varieties ; different countries, 

 or even different districts, cultivating their peculiar favourite. The 

 variety longifolio and its many sub-varieties are chiefly cultivated in 

 France and Italy. The variety lavfolia and its sub-varieties are those 

 chiefly cultivated in Spain. The fruit of the variety latifolia is nearly 

 twice the size of the common olive of Provence and Italy, but the oil 

 is greatly inferior. 



There are several varieties of olive, differing less in their fruit than 

 in the form of their leaves ; two of these have been introduced into the 

 Cape Colony — one of them from England, by Mr. Thomas Berry, in the 

 year 1821, and the other variety I believe from France, since that period. 

 The European olive may be propagated in various ways. Cut- 

 tings of nine inches in length, taken from one year old shoots, 

 may be planted in a rich light soil, and kept moderately moist ; the 

 ground ought never to be allowed to become very dry ; these will root 

 freely in a few weeks, and be fit for transplanting in twelve months. 



In Italy the propagation is conducted in the same manner in which 

 it was during the time of the Romans. " An old tree is hewn down, 

 and the ' ceppo,' or stock (that is, the collar or neck between the root 

 and the trunk, where in all plants the principle of life more eminently 

 resides), is cut into pieces of nearly the size and shape of a mushroom, 

 and which from that circumstance are called novoli ; care at the same 

 time is taken that a small portion of bark shall belong to each novolo ; 

 these, after having been dipped in manure, are put into the earth, soc n 

 throw up shoots, are transplanted at the end of one year, and in three 

 years are fit to form an olive yard." — (Blunt's ' Vestiges,' &c. 216.) 



Truncheons, or stakes of the olive, two inches thick and five feet long, 



