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CHAPTER VI. 



THE HARVEST OF THE OLIVE. 



The fruit of the Olive is a " drupe " ; a Botanical 

 term applied to fruits which are externally succulent or 

 fleshy, with a hard- shelled seed. The plum and the 

 apricot may be cited as other examples of the " drupe" ; 

 but the word takes it origin from the Latin " drupce" 

 meaning " unripe olives, " which are the type of this form 

 of fruit. The shape of the olive varies according to 

 kind. It is generally oval (or egg shaped), sometimes 

 round, sometimes obovate (or like an inverted egg), 

 occasionally acuminate (or tapering to a point). It 

 varies still more in color than in form, according to kind 

 and to stage of maturity. Thus olives may be seen 

 green, whitish, violet, yellow, red, or even black. The 

 fruit is produced in vast profusion, so that an old olive- 

 tree becomes very valuable to its owner. 



The proper time for gathering is the eve of maturity ; 

 presuming that the cultivator aims at the production of 

 the finest quality of oil. If delayed too long, and the 

 fruit becomes over-ripe — especially if it be allowed to 

 fall — you lose in quality though gaining somewhat in 

 quantity. But while I advocate the gathering of the 

 fruit at the stage at which it will produce the best and 

 highest priced oil, I would point out, as one of the 

 advantages of the crop, that if, from press of other 

 operations on the farm, the owner is unable to gather 

 his olives when he would wish, they are yet available to 

 him — even in a state which in other fruits would be 

 regarded as rottenness — for the production of a- still 

 marketable though not so valuable a commodity. This, 

 however, is a matter which will soon regulate itself; 

 when the grower finds that his more careful neighbor 

 has made more money from his acre, than he himself 

 from twice the area. 



