THE OLIVE IN CALIFORNIA 



:5 



L. Paparelli, of the University of California, in a 

 recent report classifies olives from the Mission San Jose 

 districfas follows : 



According to time of 



ripening. 

 Nevadillo Blanco. 

 Atro-violacea. 

 Pendoulier. 

 Pendulina. 

 Redding Picholine. 

 Manzaiiillo. 

 Mission. 

 Polymorpha. 

 Oblonga. 

 Regalis. 

 Columbella. 

 Uvaria. 



Mission. 



Nevadillo Blanco. 



Columbella. 



Uvaria. 



Atro-violacea. 



Redding Picholine. 



Oblonga. 



Regalis. 



Pendoulier, 



Pendulina. 



Manzanillo. 



Polymorpha. 



The'oils made from Fresno olives were darker in color 

 and slower in clarifying than from the same varieties 



-Columbella Olive, 

 (natural size.) 



in the hill regions. But if the Fresno growers would 

 gather their olives when only just beginning to change 

 color, the oil would be of better quality. 



In respect to smallness of pit and large amount of 

 flesh, the leading varieties tested range as follows : 

 Manzanillo, Pendulina, Nevadillo Blanco, Rubra, Mis- 

 sion, Atro-violacea. In'respect to quantity of oil, the 

 best from Fresno were Manzanillo, Nevadillo Blanco, 

 and Rubra ; the best from Mission San Jose were 

 Nevadillo Blanco and Mission ; the best from Berkeley 

 were Nevadillo Blanco, Manzanillo, and a seedling olive 

 of promise grown by the late W. G. Klee. 



After the Nevadillo Blanco, perhaps even superior, 

 comes the Manzanillo, a widely distributed variety that 

 is now in bearing in many groves. It is most excellent 

 for pickles and also for oil. Rubra, one of the best oil- 

 olives, bears regular and large crops. Uvaria, a cluster 

 olive, most prolific, and fruiting, like Rubra, at a very 

 early age, is another of the leading 

 commercial kinds. Columbella has a 

 large fruit, of clear yellow just before 

 maturity, and then used for pickling, 

 though it is a good oil variety also. 

 It is one of the largest bearers yet 

 imported. Pendulina, an extremely 

 beautiful tree, ripening its fruit very 

 early, sometimes in October, is being 

 planted near the Bay of San Fran- 

 cisco, and so is Praecox, another very 

 early sort. The Pendoulier, imported 

 from France and Italy about 1875, 

 ripened fruit by the first week of Oc- 

 tober in the Vacaville region. In 

 Sonoma this variety ripens in No- 

 vember. 



The general requirements of olive 

 culture are extremely simple. A for- 

 eign grape-vine, such as the Black 

 Hamburg or the Muscat of Alexan- 

 dria, needs a moderate climate without 

 great extremes, and one that gives, 

 during the ripening season, 10,800 de- 

 grees Fahrenheit. A few varieties of 

 the olive will mature with this amount 

 of total heat during the season, but 

 for the most part nothing can be ex- 

 pected unless the district aggregates 

 about 12,800 degrees. This require- 

 ment will be met by a mean temper- 

 ature of 61° between March i and 

 December 31. Indeed, this average 

 from the time the flowers appear in May until the ber- 

 ries are ripe is sufficient. Marvin declares that a mean 

 of 56° in spring, 70° in summer, and 58° in autumn, with 

 a minimum of 20° in winter, make a successful olive dis- 

 trict. When the total heat of the year fails to reach 

 21,000 degrees Fahrenheit, the olive ripens badly. 



The climatic conditions of mild winters, and a mean 

 annual temperature that averages between the 57° of 

 Bologna and the 65° of Catania, can be obtained over 

 the large part of the arable area of California. I have 

 seen olive trees so near the Pacific that the spray in 



