4 



SAMUEL RAE & CO. LEGHORN, TUSCANY. 



in Italy to cultivate the olive ; Strabo 

 describes it as a wild and mountainous 

 country dependent upon lower Italy 

 for supplies of wine and olive oil. 



Some Figures. 



In Italy the extent of land devoted to 

 the culture of the olive is stated to be 

 about two and a quarter million acres. 

 A full crop of oil is estimated at about 

 eighty-nine and a half million gallons, 

 thus apportioned: 

 Liguria or Riviera, extending 



along the coast line from 



the French frontier to Massa 



Carrara 9,100,000 



Lombardy, Venetia, Emilia 



and the Marches. . . . 2,200,000 



Tuscany 7,300,000 



Umbria and Latium . . . 6,300,000 



Bari 7,800,000 



Neapolitan provinces on the 



Adriatic, exclusive of Bari 14,900,000 

 Neapolitan provinces on the 



Mediterranean .... 16,800,000 



Sicily 19,300,000 



Sardinia 5,600,000 



Gallons .... 89,500,000 



Thus it will be seen that the greatest 

 production of olive oil is obtained in the 

 Neapolitan provinces and Sicily, though 

 at the same time these regions, with the 

 exception of Bari, produce oil of low 

 quality. 



In practice, however, a full crop of 

 oil is rarely approached, nor, consider- 

 ing the many and exceptional vicissi- 

 tudes to which the olive crop is exposed, 

 is this much to be wondered at. 



The following are the official returns 

 of the production of olive oil through- 

 out the Kingdom during the last seven 

 years. 



Actual Olive Oil Production of the 

 Kingdom of Italy. 



Year. Gallons. 



1880 86,000,000 



1 88 1 , . . . . 34,600,000 



1882 ..... 56,800,000 



1883 ..... 41,300,000 

 1884 46,800,000 



1885 . . . . . 47,000,000 



1886 ..... 64,300,000 



An average of about fifty-four mill- 

 ion gallons. 



Spain, as an olive oil producing coun- 

 try, comes next in importance to Italy, 

 though a long way behind ; while 

 France in this respect is at a great dis- 

 advantage compared to both, her pro- 

 duction of olive oil being a fraction of 

 what Italy produces, and quite insuffi- 

 cient for her own consumption. Hence 

 France is obliged to draw large supplies 

 of this article from other countries and 

 chiefly from Italy, her total imports for 

 the last five years having averaged over 

 seven million gallons. 



Next to France, Great Britain is Italy's 

 best customer for olive oil. Exports 

 to the United States are relatively small 

 and chiefly of the better qualities of oil. 

 This trade, however, is certain to de- 

 velop, as the universal tendency is to 

 import commodities direct from the 

 country of their production. 



The total exports of olive oil from 

 Italy for the last ten years have averaged 

 about twenty million gallons. Hence 

 the consumption in Italy must greatly 

 exceed these figures. 



The Tree. 



The olive is an evergreen tree of slow 

 growth, its wood is hard and compact, 

 the leaves lanceolate, silvery and downy 



