o4 



THE OLIVE 



manure, is one of the causes of the plant becoming weak and sickly, 

 and bearing heavily only at long intervals. To fertilize an olive 

 tree well, it is sufficient to restore to the ground the refuse from the 

 oil making and the ashes of the branches from pruning. The most 

 valuable fertilizer, is the water pressed from the olive. It is heavily 

 charged with vegetable matter, black in color, and should be col- 

 lected in a vat at the time of oil making. To this should be added 

 the pomace, after all the oil is extracted. To increase the quan- 

 tity, and at the same time add to the richness of this manure, grind 

 into the mass marine plants for their jDotash, or in the absence of 

 these, ferns, rushes, cornstalks, wheat and barley, straw, dregs of 

 pressed grapes, vine twigs, or broom corn. Good, but in a lesser de- 

 gree, because poorer in mineral properties, are husks of decayed 

 olives, scrapings from threshing floors and refuse of whatever na- 

 ture. These ingredients are very advantageously mixed during fer- 

 mentation. As each, or any of these materials are thrown in, add a 

 laver of earth. Keep this receptacle covered till the rains are well 

 over, and then let the summer sun have access to it and the fermen- 

 tation be thorough. The water will now have precipitated all val- 

 uable matter, and if it exists in too great quantities, let some run off; 

 but enough should always be left in the vat, to allow the mass to take 

 up moisture in place of that which is given off in fermentation. 

 Care should be taken to locate this putrifying mass at a distance to 

 leeward of the dwellings, or sickness might easily result from it. 

 By September it can be cut out with a spade, like peat, and will make 

 the very best of fertilizers for the olive orchard. But this is a pow- 

 erful agent and should never be applied to the trees until thor- 

 oughly fermented in the manner described. If used as manure with- 

 out fermentation, or mixing with other ingredients, the result would 

 be the roots would be burned and the trees killed. The writer has 

 seen the branches on young trees wither and die from coming in 

 contact with pieces of sacking saturated with olive water and oil, 



