THE OLIVE IN CALIFORNIA. 



199 



Horticultural Board, has done much to develop pub- 

 lic interest in the olive. W. B. West, of Stockton, 

 the nurseryman to whom, more than any other man, 

 the Californians owe the beginnings of fig culture, 

 was also one of the pioneers in studying the olive 

 abroad, and importing the best varieties. John 

 Rock, the veteran nurseryman, formerly of San 

 Jose, now of Niles, is probably the leading spirit of 

 the present time in the practical development of 

 the industry. He does not write about the olive, but 

 he has made two journeys to France, Spain and 



was republished in 1887, and supplemented by 

 other papers in 1888 and §889. F. Pohndorf's 

 olive book appeared in 1884, aad B. M. Lelong's 

 in 1888. Two of the best of recent publications 

 have been papers by northern Californians, one by 

 S. S. Boynton, of Oroville, in the Overland Monthly 

 for July, i88g, another by Mr. Gray, of Chico, 

 which was printed in the state horticultural re- 

 ports. 



Nearly all the olive trees that have yet come into 

 bearing are of the old Mission variety, brought to 



A Typical Bit of Olive-producing Country in Southern California. 



Olive trees at f/ie right and in tlie back-ground. 



Italy within the past five years, and, like W. B. 

 West, he knows exactly what to look for, and 

 where to find it. Another of the names forever 

 linked with the early history of olive culture here, 

 is that of the late B. B. Redding. He was chief of 

 the Land Department of the Central Pacific rail- 

 road, and devoted much of his leisure to horti- 

 cultural investigations. He made large importa- 

 tions and planted extensively. In 1878 he pub- 

 lished a paper on olive culture. The late Dr. 

 Bleasdale, an old priest, whose knowledge of the 

 Spanish, Italian, French and Portuguese literature 

 on the subject was something wonderful, pub- 

 lished many papers on the olive, and finally, in 

 I 88 I, a book. 



Elwood Cooper's notable work appeared in 1882, 



the coast by Spanish priests more than a century 

 ago. It is a very valuable sort, identified as be- 

 longing to the Cornicabra-Cornizuelo group of 

 Spanish olives, and is excellent both for pickles 

 and for oil. It ripens late in the season, is a shy 

 bearer in some localities, and its propagation is 

 somewhat difficult, but even with these drawbacks, 

 it will long be the leading olive of California. An 

 olive of small size, introduced by B. B. Redding, 

 and called the Redding Picholine, is found to pro- 

 pagate so readily that it is used extensively as the 

 stock upon which to bud or graft the finer sorts. 

 The Picholine is often called here the Oblonga. 

 The Pendoulier, Manzanillo, Rubra, Uvaria, Col- 

 umella, Lucques, Macrocarpa, Oliviere, Saillern, 

 and several other varieties are described, and the 



