RIPENING AND PICKLING OF CALIFORNIA OLIVES. 
bY 
Since the percentage of oil in the flesh appears to be the most val- 
uable index of maturity, the data bearing on this subject have been 
represented graphi- 
cally for the differ- 
ent varieties of olives 
in figures 5 to 10. 
Each curve represents 
the mean of all the 
trees sampled in a 
single grove. In 
figure 5, represent- 
ing Missions of 1915, 
northern district, the 
rapid increase of 
oil seems to have 
ended by the middle 
of November, at 
which time the fruit 
could fairly be said 
tobe mature. The 
poorest of the groves 
shown had at least 17 
WRYGATT 14 OPV AS 
Oo 
\ x N ~ N N 
R \ \j S i & 
‘ S q \ . . 
Fig. 4.—Changes in weight, of 100 Mission olives occur- 
ring during ripening in 1916. 
per cent of oil in the flesh at that time. Turning to figure 6, 
Missions of 1916, a great variation is seen. 
Some of the groves do 
not merit much consideration. In Grove H, which is in an exposed 
Be anal 
N 
Fic. 5.—Percentage increase in oil content of fruit flesh of 
Mission olives taken from various groves in 1915. 
situation on the 
coast near Carpen- 
teria, the olives ma- 
tured very late and 
never attained the 
usual oil content for 
that variety. Grove 
Fi, which is near by, 
is more protected. 
Grove I was very 
poorly cared for, 
with trees in had 
condition, and is de- 
cidedly not normal. 
Grove S, near Los 
Angeles, appeared 
to have attained its 
maximum oil content on November 13. Although its oil content was 
much lower than was that of many other groves, this grove was 
healthy, flourishing, and scientifically cared for. Excluding from con- 
