The fifteenth Booke of 



of fomc are called Roiall , of others Majorinsej and Phaulias, which every man knoweth^ are the G 

 biggeft and faireft Olives to fee to^ and yet otherwife have leaft oilc in them of any others. Like- 

 vsifc in iEgypt the Olives are moft flefliie & full of pulpe^howbeitjeaft oileous. As for the conn^ 

 trie Decapolis of Syria^the Olives indeed be very final! there,& no bigger than Capers:yei com- 

 mended they are for their carnoficie. And for that caurCjtheOlives from the parts beyond fea 

 are preferred before the Italian,for goodneffe of meatjand as better to be eatcn^yet thofe of Iia- 

 lie yeeld more oilel And even within Italie^the Picene and Sidicine Olives furpalic the reft. For 

 in truthjthefe arefirft confedcd and feafoned with fait ; oreIs(asall others)prepared and eonditc 

 cither with lees of oile , or wine-cuit. Some Olives there bee, which they fuffer to fwim alone as 

 they bcjin their own oikjwithoutany helpeand addition of other tbings^andfuch be called Co- 

 lymbades, Andthefamethey ufeotherwhiles to bruife and cleanfe from their ftonesj and then H 

 confcd them with greene hearbs^which have fome pleafant & commendable taft. Others there 

 arCjwhich being otherwife very greene and unripejare prefently brought to maturiticjand made 

 mellowjby lying infufcd and foking in hole fcalding water. And a wonder it is to fce^how Olives 

 will drinke in a fweetliqiiotjand how by that meanes they may be madetoothfbmejycajand to 

 carie the taft of any thing that a man would have them. Among Olives there be alfo that are of 

 colour purpkjlike to thoie grapes which change colour when they begin to ripen.Moreoverjbe- 

 fides the abovenamed forts of Olivesjthere be fome named Superbae [/. prowd.] Alfo there are 

 Olives to be foundjwhich being dried by themfelves onelyjare paflingfweetj yeajand more deli- 

 cate than raifins .-marie thefe are very geafbn, and yet fuch are in Affricke and about the citie 

 EmeritainPortugall. j 



As touching the very oile it felfe,the way to preietve it from being overfat and thicke,is with 

 fait .If the barke of an Olive tree be flit and cut^it will receive the rellice and fmell of any niedici- 

 nable fpice, and the oile thereof will ieeme aromatized : otherwife pleafant in taft it is not, like 

 as wine is : neither is there fuch difference in fo many kinds of Olives as there is in wine:for fure- 

 ly we cannot at the moft obferve above three degrees in the goodnefle of oiles, namely, accor- 

 ding to the firft/econd^and third running out of the prefle. Finally, the thinner that oile island 

 the more fubtile,the finer and daintier is the fiiicli thereof : and yet the fame fent^in the very beft 

 of them alljContinueth but a fmall time. 



Chap. nii. ^ 

 The nature of oile olive, 



THcpropertieof OilCjistowarmcthcbodie, and to defend it again ft the injuries of cold : 

 andyetafovcraigne thing it is to cooleand mitigate the hole diftemperatureot the head. 

 The Greekcs, whom we may count the very fathers and follers of all vices, have perverted 

 the true and right ufe thereof,to ferve for all excefTe and fuperfluitiejevcn as farre as to the com- 

 mon annointing of their wraftlers with it Jn their publickc place of exercife.Knowtie it is for cer- 

 taine^thatthegovcrnours and wardens of thofe places^have fold the oile that hath beenfcraped 

 from the bodies of the faid wraftlers for So Sefterces at a time. 



B ut the ftately majeftic of Rome contrariwifc haih done fb great honour to the Olive trccjthat 

 every yeare in lulie, when the Ides comejthey were wont to crowne their men of ai mes and gen- 

 tlemen marching by their troups and fquadrons in fblemnc wife, with chaplets of OlivCj yea and 

 the manner was of captaincs likewife to enter ovant in petie triumphs into Rome, adorned with 

 Olive coronets.The Athenians alfo honoured their conquerors with Olive guirlands. But ge- 

 nerally thcGrcekes did fet out their vidors at the games of Olympia, with braunches of the 

 wild-Olivc. " 



Chap, V, 



The mmner how to order Olives, 



M 



NOw will I report the precepts and rules fct downc by Cato^zs touching Olives. His opini- 

 on iSjthat the greater long Olive Radius of Salentum, the big Orchites, the Paufia^ the 

 ScrgianajCominiana^and the Albiccra^fhould be planted in bote and fat grounds. Hee 

 addeth moreoverCas he was a man of fingular dextcritic and prudent fpirit) which of them in the 



neiah-. 



