.278 
PTiTNT'S KATTJRIL HISTORY. 
tBook XV. 
as conducive in the very highest degree to the comforts of life, 
lias declared that there was no one who had ever gathered fruit 
from the olive-tree that had been sown by his own hands, so 
slow was it in reaching maturity in those times ; whereas, now 
at the present day, it is sown in nurseries even, and if trans- 
planted will bear fruit the following year. 
CHAP. 2. THE JsTATURE OF THE OLIVE, AND OF NEW OLIVE OIL. 
Eabianus maintains that the olive will grow^ neither in 
very cold climates, nor yet in very hot ones. YirgiP has 
mentioned three varieties of the olive, the orchites,''' the 
radius,^ and the posia ; ^ and says that they require no raking 
or pruning, nor, in fact, any attention whatever. There is no 
doubt that in the case of these plants, soil and climate are the 
things of primary importance ; but still, it is usual to prune 
them at the same time as the vine, and they are improved by 
lopping between them every here and there. The gathering of 
the olive follows that of the grape, and there is even a greater 
degree of skill required in preparing oil than in making 
wine ; for the very same olives will frequently give quite 
different results. The first oil of all, produced from the raw 
olive before it has begun to ripen, is considered preferable 
to all the others in flavour ; in this kind, too, the first drop- 
pings of the press are the most esteemed, diminishing gradually 
in goodness and value ; and this, whether the wicker-work 
basket is used in making it, or whether, following the more 
This is the case. "We may remark that the tree will grow in this 
country, but the fruit never comes to maturity. 
^ Georg". ii. 85, also ii. 420. 
Probably the Olea maximo fructu of Tournefort. It has its name 
from the Greek opxic, the *' testis," a name by which it is still known in 
some parts of Provence. 
^ Or ^'shuttle" olive. Probably the modern pickoline, or long olive. 
3 Probably the Olea media rotunda praecox of Tournefort. It is 
slightly bitter. 
This is so much the case, that though the olives of Spain and Por- 
tugal are among the finest, their oils are of the very worst quality. 
^1 It does not appear that the method of preparing oil by the use of 
boiling water was known to the ancients. Unripe olives produce an ex- 
cellent oil, but in very small quantities. ' Hence they are rarely used fqr 
the purpose. 
^2 Called "virgin," or "native" oil in France, and very highly esteemed. 
^2 Sporta. 
