PROCEEDINGS OF NINETEENTH FRUIT GROWERS' CONVENTION. 119 



Question, Are green olives packed in this State f 



Mr. Lelong: Very few. Growers prefer to supply them in the ripe 

 state, being more nutritious and a food. In the green state they are 

 only a relish. 



Question, Is the olive hardy f 



Mr. Lelong: Yes, quite hardy. It grows under the most varied con- 

 ditions. Large trees are now growing in San Francisco, exposed to 

 trade winds, fogs, etc. In Ventura County there are trees growing near 

 the seashore, probably not more than four hundred feet away. The 

 winds strike them from the ocean, as in San Francisco, notwithstanding 

 which they make a fine growth, and make beautiful shade. 



Major Berry: What have you to guard against in raising olive trees? 



Mr. Lelong: Principally the black scale, and several leaf-rolling 

 insects that roll up the leaves and check the growth. There is also a 

 borer, the Polycaon confertus, that bores into the limbs; but this borer is 

 only troublesome where oak trees are in close proximity to the olive 

 trees. Paris green kills the borer. 



Question, Is the ripe olive better than the green olive for table use? 



Mr. Lelong: There is no merit in the green olive. It is a relish, 

 while the ripe olive is a food. The green olive is a pickle made from 

 unripe or undeveloped fruit. Analysis shows that the ripe olive con- 

 tains as much nutriment as beef. 



Question, Is there any difficulty in keeping ripe olives? 



Mr. Lelong: No difficulty at all. The greatest difficulty is to keep 

 fruit with brine improperly made. In making brine many simply stir 

 the salt into the water and place it, in this crude state, upon the fruit. 

 This kind of brine will not keep the fruit. If the brine is made with* 

 care, and the olives pickled rightly, they will keep for years. 



Question, What is the best brine? 



Mr. Lelong: Use Liverpool salt (or any other pure salt, but avoid 

 using marsh salt, which is very impure), 14 ounces to the gallon of 

 water. Always boil the salt and add to the water; when the salt has 

 been mixed, add alum, in the proportion of half a pound to 85 gallons 

 of water, and stir until it mixes thoroughly. The alum clarifies the 

 liquor and prevents fermentation. 



Question, How do you manage to keep the color of olives? 



Mr. Lelong: In pickling, especially when not fully ripe, they are apt 

 to change color, and those desiring green olives are disappointed. In 

 putting up green fruit, when the fruit changes color take a few pounds 

 of spinach leaves; make an infusion, and then put your spinach solution 

 onto your olives and allow them to stand for a day or two and they 

 will turn green. Pipe olives sometimes change color, and in order to 

 make them of a uniform black color, expose the pickled fruit to the air. 



