106 PROCEEDINGS OF TWENTY- SIXTH FRUIT-GROWERS' CONVENTION. 



them. These replies are given in full in the report, but are too volumi- 

 nous to reproduce here. From them, however, General Chipman makes 

 the following summing up:) 



Conclusions. — Having presented the evidence in the case, we are now 

 prepared for deductions and a verdict. I have given you the testimony 

 of about fifty witnesses, widely scattered over the State, nearly all of 

 them growers, and most of them manufacturers of oil or pickles or of both. 

 The time embraced reaches back a considerable period of years, with 

 experiences and observations brought down to date. Upon some points 

 there is a conflict in the evidence, on others an entire agreement, but 

 the evidence in its entirety largely preponderates in favor of the 

 industry. 



When I began the investigation my mind was unfavorably preju- 

 diced; my own experience and observations had raised a most serious 

 doubt as to whether I should dig up my forty-acre orchard of Picholines, 

 or graft them to some other variety. This investigation has deter- 

 mined the question, and I shall graft and not dig up the trees. Let us 

 briefly analyze the evidence and put the results in concrete form: 



First — The Olive Tree: It may be and is successfully grown in nearly 

 every county from San Diego to Shasta, below 2,000 feet elevation, and 

 even at that, or greater, elevations I believe orchards are thriving. It 

 grows equally well in all kinds of soil; the yield and quality of the 

 fruit depend on the fertility and adaptability of the soil, as must be 

 obvious. The tree is not subject to nearly so many or so serious enemies, 

 insects or diseases, as the trees of the old world. The chief enemy, the 

 black scale, is easily overcome, and this insect is not particularly 

 troublesome in the dry, hot atmosphere of the interior. So far as we 

 know, the olive knot, apparently the most dangerous enemy now con- 

 fronting us, is found only on foreign varieties, and has never been 

 found on the Mission; and almost the universal opinion is that the 

 Mission is the best variety for all purposes, irrespective of its prob- 

 able immunity from tuberculosis. The statistics I have given you 

 show that the yield per acre and per cent of oil in the olive are greater 

 here than in Europe. Our methods of orchard culture and of oil man- 

 ufacture are better and will bring the tree into bearing sooner than is 

 done in Europe. 



Second — The Oil: There is entire agreement that the chief impedi- 

 ment to profitable oil-making lies in the fact that adulterated oils are 

 sold with labels falsely designating them as pure olive oil. I have 

 shown you that the producers abroad are contending with the same 

 unfair and fraudulent competition. I have shown you that in this State 

 the law gives us ample protection, and that it is our fault that here, at 

 least, we have not extirpated cottonseed oil and adulterated compounds 



