THE OLIVE 



91 



years are the fruit branches, those of one year will bear the follow- 

 ing season. 



The lower and horizontal branches produce the fruit in an olive. 

 So a very general rule for pruning would be to preserve all lateral 

 branches possible, with a due regard to the proportion of the crown, 

 and to cut away those that are perpendicular to the trunk. The 

 branches called "gluttons" are peculiar to the cultivated tree and 

 need to be cut away, as they merely rob the plant of just so much 

 vitality, without any compensation whatever. The glutton is a de- 

 generated fruit branch, or one that appears where a fruit branch 

 should be. They may be recognized by the speed with which they 

 grow, by the broadness of their base, and by the appearance of the 

 bark which, though green, is not smooth and shining, but rough and 

 seamed. In shape also they are not rounded, but flattened on one 

 side or the other. The color of the bark on the lower side is like- 

 wise of a dark brown. These distinctive characteristics are conse- 

 quent to the over abundant flow of the sap, which the glutton draws 

 to itself. 



Though every two years is generally considered often enough to 

 thoroughly prune an olive, there is abundant work for the knife 

 each year after the crop is gathered, in taking off the dead, weak, 

 .and sickly branches, to the end that the sap may go to fruit, and 

 not be obliged to keep useless wood in life The tree so treated will 

 be better able to resist frost, will bloom and yield more heavily, and 

 its olives will contain more oil than do those of one that does not 

 receive this care. 



The olive is exceedingly subject to a species of dry rot, and un- 

 skillful pruning may actually cause it. 



Branches should be cut perpendicularly to the trunk, and from 

 the lower side to the upper, as otherwise, in foiling, a strip of bark 

 is apt to be carried away and a grievous wound caused to the tree. 

 The cut should never force the bark out but always press it in. 



It is better to avoid taking off large limbs, as the surface exposed 



