THE OLIVE 27 



towards the ground, and even touch it, completely covering in the 

 trunk. The bark is of a gray green. The under side of the leaf 

 is a clear white and tlie upper a smooth dark green with tlie fibers 

 Avell marked. 



The berry is an incli and a half in lieight and three quarters of 

 an inch in diameter. It weiglis five grams, is a black ]*ed in color 

 and is a clingstone. It gives a good oil, but is late in maturing 

 and needs tAvelve thousand seven hundred decrees of heat, in order 

 to ripen, from the time the fiower appears until the olive is readv 

 for the mill. It needs a careful })runing and frequent clearings. 

 The wiser course is to cultivate thorouoldv aiul uive the tree f^r- 

 tilizers rather than to ])rune closely in order to force the sai) into 

 the bearino; branches. 



In Spain it may be said to be the fivorite olive, but in some of 

 the northern ])rovinces where the ti'ee is out of its elemeut it oives 

 no fruit at all but onlv attains a colossal size and hence is classed 

 by the country peo])le as a wild tree. But as we shall j)rocee(l to 

 show it has iione of the attributes of the wild tree, so far from it 

 that it is one of the " oil ])ress olives,'' one of the varieties mo-;t 

 hiolilv domesticated and cultivated that the world knows. 



When olive culture and oil making come to l)e better understood, 

 where each variety is given the treatment it demands and olives are 

 gathered at the moment best suited for making the oil, we shall 

 probably hear less about the' lateness of the Cornicabra in ri])ening 

 under a Calif )rnia sun. 



lidciinfiL 



A medium sized tree with branches that incline towards the 

 ground, and of abundant blossoms. Resists cold and arrows steadilv 

 in all kinds of soil. This is one of the earliest olives to ripen, <i:ives 

 a good oil in fiiir quantitv, but it is easilv detached from the tree, 

 and many berries are lost on this account. It does not produce 

 every year, but is apt to only give a crop every other year 

 It needs especial care in pruning, for, although it is prodigal of 



