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dies, it diverts the juices which should be 

 employed in the preparation of the flower- 

 buds. At Aix, where the olive-harvest takes 

 place early in November, it is annual and 

 uniform; in Languedoc, Spain, Italy, etc., 

 where it is delayed till December or January, 

 it is alternate. The quality of the oil, also, 

 depends upon gathering the fruit in the first 

 stage of its maturity. It should be carefully 

 plucked by hand, and the whole harvest com- 

 pleted , if possible , in a day. To concoct the 

 mucilage, and allow a part of the water to 

 evaporate, it is spread out, during two or 

 three days , in beds three inches deep. 



The oil-mill retains nearly its primitive 

 form ; it consists of a basin raised two feet 

 from the ground , with an upright beam in 

 the middle, round which a massive mill- 

 stone is turned by water or by a beast of 

 burthen. The press is solidly constructed 

 of wood or of cast iron, and is moved by 

 a compound lever. The fruit, after being 

 crushed to a paste, is put into sacks of coarse 

 linen or of feather-grass, and submitted to 

 the press. The virgin oil , which is first dis- 

 charged, is the purest, and retains most sen- 



