SAMUEL RAE & CO. LEGHORN, TUSCANY. 



ent localities. In Tuscany alone some 

 twenty varieties were at one time 

 known, but of late years growers, in 

 planting and grafting, have confined 

 their choice to a few of the better de- 

 scriptions of trees. In selecting these, 

 due regard must be had to the special 

 conditions of the locality where new 

 trees are to be planted or existing ones 

 grafted. Those kinds which most ap- 

 proximate to the wild olive are much 

 the hardier and will thrive where the 

 choicer, but more delicate, sorts could 

 not live. 



The various kinds of olive-trees may 

 be thus classified : 



First. Trees but little removed from 

 the wild olive, of stunted growth and 

 scanty foliage, leaves small ; fruit 

 small and deficient in pulp, yielding little 

 oil, which moreover is rough and some- 

 what bitter to the taste, hence consid- 

 ered at the best a second-rate quality. 

 This class of tree is hardy and the fruit 

 is less liable to be attacked by insects 

 than the more pulpy kinds, but beyond 

 this it has nothing to recommend it. 

 The Moraiolo olive, which is to be found 

 in certain parts of Italy and is largely 

 cultivated in Provence, France, owing 

 to climatic conditions, is a type of this 

 class. 



Second. Trees of much greater size 

 than those just described, with dense, 

 dark-colored foliage, leaves large, fruit 

 big, with abundant pulp (much used 

 for pickling, for which purpose it is 

 picked green, first placed in a lye and 

 afterward in brine), but the oil it yields 

 is coarse and heavy. This class is very 

 sensitive to frost, liable to many dis- 

 eases, and requires a rich soil. It is 

 largely to be found in the south of Italy ; 

 the Spagnuolo or Spanish olive is a 

 type of it. 



Third. The third may be described 

 as an intermediate class, possessing to 

 a considerable degree the good quali- 

 ties of both the foregoing classes with- 

 out any of their bad properties. The 

 trees of this class thrive in hilly districts 

 with a medium soil and temperate 

 climate. They attain a considerable 

 size and are well covered with dark- 

 colored foliage. The fruit is well de- 

 veloped and yields the finest oil. The 

 Ra:{^lo olive, which is par excellence the 

 type of this, the best, class of olive- 

 tree, prevails almost to the exclusion 

 of other varieties in the districts of 

 Lucca and Pisa, in Tuscany, famed for 

 their oils. It is also to be found to 

 some extent, along with similar but 

 still inferior varieties, in the districts of 

 Bari, Riviera, and Nice. 



The Harvest. 



In the south of Italy the olive har- 

 vest begins about October; in Tuscany, 

 fully a month later ; but it is never in 

 full swing until near the latter part of 

 December. According to the extent of 

 the crop it may not be finished until 

 March or even latere Sometimes the 

 last of the olives are not picked until 

 so late as May or June. 



In some localities the practice is to 

 strip the trees of their fruit, either by 

 knocking it off with staves — which is 

 injurious to the tree, as along with the 

 fruit leaves and twigs are torn off — or 

 by the more rational method of pick- 

 ing the fruit by hand, when the boughs 

 which are not accessible from the 

 ground are reached by men and boys 

 with ladders. Where this system is 

 followed, the harvest may be com- 

 pleted within January or February, or 

 sooner with a short crop. 



