298 DICTIONARY OF POPULAR NAMES OLIVE 



describe seven Olive trees as growing at Gethsemane, wliicli, 

 judging from their description, is sufficient to warrant the sup- 

 position that they were trees at the time Christ " went as He 

 was wont to the Mount of OHves/^ One of the chief trades 

 with Jerusalem in the present day consists of chaplets and 

 small toy articles, many of which are made of Olive wood. A 

 branch of Olive wood is considered an emblem of peace. It 

 may be said that the Olive tree is now cultivated in most 

 countries favourable to its growth for the sake of its oil ; its 

 principal use being for food, making soap, dressing woollen cloth, 

 and lubricating machinery. The following will be suiSicient to 

 give an idea of the extent of its use : — At Nice the Olive 

 orchards occupy upwards of 15,000 acres, and in good years the 

 estimated produce is 180,000 to 200,000 gallons. Equal quan- 

 tities are produced in other parts of the South of France, 

 Italy, and other Mediterranean countries of Europe. In Tunis 

 5,000,000 Olive trees are grown, which yield an annual average 

 of 44,000 tons of oil, of which one-fifth comes to Great Biitain. 

 In Persia the Olive groves are said to yield 100,000 cwts. of 

 fruit ; large quantities are used in the country, and also 

 crushed for the oil for the manufacture of soap. The Olive 

 trees of Provence are at the present time (1880) threatened 

 with a scourge, which may prove as disastrous as the phylloxera 

 has to the vine. It is caused by an insect {Daucus oka), 

 which lays its eggs in the young fruit, causing it to fall before 

 maturity. 



Olive, Wild Barbadoes {Bontia dajplmoidcs), a small tree of 

 the Myoporad family (Myoporine^e), native of many parts of 

 the sea-shore in the West Indies. Its resemblance to the olive 

 tree has led to its being called by the above name. It possesses 

 no special properties. 



Olive-wood, a name in New South Wales for Mceodendron 

 integrifolia and E. australe, trees of the Spindle Tree family 

 (Celastraceae). The first is a large tree, abundant in the forests 

 of Pegu and about Eangoon ; the second is a native of New 

 South Wales, and attains a height of 30 to 40 feet, with a 



