SELECT PLANTS READILY ELIGIBLE 



abating fecundity. The •well-known Olive-oil is obtained 

 from the fruit. Certain varieties of the fruit, preserved in 

 vinegar or salt liquid before perfectly ripe, are also much 

 used for the table. For this piu'pose the fruit is generally 

 macerated previously in water containing potash and lime. 

 The gum-resin of the Olive-tree contains the crystalline 

 Olivil. The oil of the drupaceous fruit is a most important 

 product of countries with climates similar to that of Victoria. 

 Its chemical constituents are : — 30 per cent, crystalline 

 Palmitin ; 70 per cent. Oleiu, through which OKve-oil 

 belongs to those kinds which are not drying. The wild 

 variety of the Olive-tree has usually short lalunt leaves and 

 thorny branches. Long contiaued droughts, so detrimental 

 to most plants, will affect the Olive but slightly. It thrives 

 best on a free loamy calcareous soil, even should it be strong 

 and sandy, but it dislikes stiff clay. Proximity to the sea is 

 favourable to it, and hill-sides are more eligible for its 

 culture than plains. The ground must be deeply trenched. 

 Manuring with well-decayed substances is requisite annually, 

 or every second or third year according to circumstances. 

 Irrigation will add to the productiveness of the plant. 

 Mons. Riordet distinguislies thi-ee main varieties, of which he 

 recommends two : 1, the Cay on, a small-sized tree, which 

 comes into bearing already after three or four years, but it 

 bears fully only every second year ; its oil is fine with some 

 aroma. 2, the Pendulier, a larger tree, with long drooping 

 branches, yielding an oil of fii'st-rate quality. Mons. 

 Peynaud, Culture de I'Olivier," separates twelve varieties, 

 as cultivated in France, and recommends among them : — 

 1, the Com-niau or Com-niale, also called Plante de Salon, 

 bearing most prolifically a small fruit and producing an 

 excellent oil. 2, the Picholine, which by pruning its top 

 branches is led to spread over eight square yards or more. It 

 is of weeping habit, yields a good oil in fair quantity and 

 resists well the attack of insects. 3, the Mouraou or 

 Mourette, a large tree furnishing also oil of a very fine 

 quality. Olive-trees requii-e judicious pruning immediately 

 after the fruit is gathered, when the sap is comparatively at 

 rest. They may be multiplied from seeds, cuttings, layei's, 

 suckers, truncheons or estacas and old stumps, the latter to 

 be split. The germination of the seeds is promoted by 

 soaking the nutlets in a solution of lime and woodash. The 

 seedlings can be budded or grafted after a few years. 

 Truncheons or estacas may be from one to many feet long 

 and from one inch to many inches thick; they are placed 

 horizontally into the gi'ound. Olive plantations at Grasse 

 are worth from X200 to £250 per acre. For many details 



