6 



SAMUEL RAE & CO. LEGHORN, TUSCANY. 



underneath ; whence, viewed from 

 a distance and especially when the 

 leaves are moving in the wind, an olive 

 plantation acquires a grayish tone. The 

 fruit as it begins to ripen assumes a 

 ruddy hue and when quite ripe is of a 

 dark plum color, almost black, and 

 glossy. The ripe pulp is of a creamy 

 color. 



In Italy the blossoming takes place 

 between April and June ; but generally 

 it has been found that a late blossom- 

 ing means a poor crop ; for though the 

 show of flowers may be fine, they do 

 not bind. The flowers are very small, 

 of a pale yellow, and grow in clusters 

 of ten or fifteen ; but of this number 

 not more than a third or a fourth come 

 to maturity. 



Climatic Conditions. 



The olive-tree needs a warm but tem- 

 perate climate : excessive heat and 

 excessive cold are both injurious. In 

 the tropics it has been observed that 

 although the tree vegetates, it bears no 

 fruit, and in North Africa olives are to 

 be found only near the shores of the 

 Mediterranean, where the heat is tem- 

 pered by sea-breezes. 



Excessive cold will kill the tree; the 

 lowest temperature which the olive can 

 bear is 14^ Fahrenheit. At 12° not 

 only the foliage, but the trunk and sur- 

 face roots perish. But when rain is 

 followed immediately by frost, and 

 particularly while the sap is rising in the 

 trees, even at 20° Fahrenheit, great 

 damage may be done. The same result 

 occurs after a fall of snow when bright 

 sunshine causes a partial thaw, followed 

 by frost after sunset ; the effect of ex- 

 treme cold on the olive-tree varying 

 according to the dryness or dampness 



of the atmosphere at the time, and the 

 season of the year ; so that extreme 

 cold is more fatal tothe tree in the spring 

 than in winter. 



In localities where the temperature 

 in summer is very high, it is customary 

 in planting olives to select a northerly 

 exposure ; butin Tuscany and generally 

 in central Italy, the reverse is the case, 

 and warm, sheltered localities are 

 chosen. 



The olive in hilly country gives better 

 results than in the plain, where it is not 

 possible to obtain the finest qualities 

 of oil. Too rich or too moist a soil is 

 unfavorable ; a sheltered hill-side best 

 suits it and a medium soil. The olive 

 likes a subsoil of rock ; its roots seek 

 out any clefts and fissures and inter- 

 twine themselves around any loose 

 fragments of rock, thus affording secu- 

 rity to the tree during the prevalence 

 of high winds. 



In central Italy the olive is not to be 

 found at a greater elevation than about 

 fifteen hundred feet, and at this altitude 

 its productiveness is very uncertain. 



Cultivation. 



In some parts of Italy the olive-tree 

 is planted in rows far apart, and the 

 intervening space devoted to vines and 

 grain, or other crops ; but much the 

 better plan is to plant olives by them- 

 selves, as generally practiced in the best 

 olive districts of Tuscany, where the 

 culture of this tree has attained the 

 greatest degree of perfection. The olive 

 is pruned at intervals of two years, 

 during the months of February and 

 March, and manured generally every 

 three years. 



It may be propagated by seed, cut- 

 tings, shoots, or ovoli. Seedlings are 



