ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE OLIVE. 227 



may be driven into the ground where they are intended to remain, and 

 root freely. Shoots of one or two years' growth may be laid down, 

 giving them a twist to crack the bark ; or slit them half way through, 

 when they root very readily. These operations should be performed 

 in the month of August. 



Grafting on the Olea Capensis, and other indigenous species of the 

 Cape olive, should also be performed in the month of August, and there 

 is little doubt of the beneficial result of such practice, in procuring an 

 early return of the green fruit for pickling, and the ripe fruit for oil. 

 The scions or grafts should be placed rather low on the stocks, and the 

 buds on the latter be carefully rubbed off as they make their appear- 

 ance. 



In France and Italy, an uncertainty prevails in the crops of olives ; 

 sometimes one that yields a profit, does not occur for six or eight years 

 together ; and hence it is considered that the culture is less beneficial to 

 the peasants of those countries, than that of corn ; but these circum- 

 stances do not appear to apply to the Southern Colonies, especially as the 

 olive may be cultivated on ground which is impenetrable to the plough 

 or spade. 



The different kinds of South African olive trees are well known to 

 the peasantry of the colony, by the general appellation of olyrenhout- 

 boom, some of which attain a considerable size, and are useful as 

 furnishing a hard and compact wood for cabinet work, and some more 

 essential purposes of domestic economy. The iron-wood of the colony 

 is in reality a species of olive, viz. — Olea undulata. 



The Boschjesmen sometimes form their keries and the well-known 

 implement, the graafstock, of the Olea Capensis, and for the latter pur- 

 pose it is peculiarly adapted on account of its hardness. Among those 

 tribes, the nuts are preserved by the mothers, and given occasionally to 

 the children, who appear to devour the kernels with much satisfaction. 



The Olea Capensis is widely disseminated over the whole Cape colony, 

 and inhabits alike the highest mountains (where they maintain themselves 

 by insinuating their roots into the crevices of the rocks), the strong soil 

 of the Karoos, and the purer sands of the downs and sea shores. It is 

 also found in the recesses of the forest, and along the margins of rivers. 

 In the plains neighbouring the Sneeuwberg, the olive sheltered by 

 piles of loose green stones or occasional schistus rocks, attains a 

 larger size than any of the other trees which occur at a distance from 

 rivers. It is common from thence to the Gariep or Orange river. 

 In that country they occasionally shelter the flocks and herds ; and it 

 is the kind so often confounded by botanists with the European species, 

 but which differs in every essential specific character. It is recom- 

 mended as stocks for grafting upon, until a sufficiency of the European 

 kinds are produced from layers or cuttings to form permanent planta- 

 tions, as, in strong soils and on the dry declivities of the hills, the 



