64 



THE OLIVE 



method is preferred to any other. It is desirable that the cutting 

 should he entirely covered with earth, as otherwise the sun will 

 check and burn it, so as to make any good result impossible. 



For California orchards, where as speedy an issue as possible is 

 desired, if two cuttings are planted together in the spot where the 

 future tree is intended to grow, the outcome will probably prove sat- 

 isfactory. The two cuttings should give birth to at least one tree, 

 and this never being disturbed by transplanting, will make an ex- 

 traordinary growth. Should more than one tree make its appear- 

 ance, the extra ones may be used to supply those that fail altogether. 



The smaller the cutting the greater is the necessity for planting it 

 horizontally. 



truncheons. 



The question is often asked, how long before the olive will bear 

 fruit ? In answer to this, it may be said, that it depends very much 

 upon the size of the wood planted. A truncheon sometimes bears 

 in the following year from that in which it was put into the ground, 

 and generally in the third year. But it must be well understood 

 that it is at the expense of the tree. Cuttings, insomuch as they 

 are so near the surface of the ground, demand greater care than 

 truncheons, being exposed to danger from animals and frost. But 

 if they survive these early perils, the vigorous shoots of the cut- 

 ting soon equal the truncheon in size, and at the end of fifteen years 

 pass it in the race. The tree grown from a cutting is lustier, bet- 

 ter shaped, and more productive than that from a truncheon. The 

 latter solely has the advantage of bearing more fruit in its youth, 

 but it is at the expense of its growth. 



An olive truncheon, is a limb of the thickness of a mans arm, and 

 from seven to ten feet in length, of new smooth wood, free from 

 warts or scratches, the most vigorous and healthy scion of the tree 

 it is proposed to reproduce. 



From this, it will be evident how difficult and costly it is, to ob- 



