2 BULLETIN 803, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Tulare and Fresno counties, centering at Lindsay and Fresno. Re- 
cently some very extensive planting has been done in Tulare County. 
The southern district lies in the territory centering around Los 
Angeles and San Diego. Although the oldest, it is, or soon will be, 
surpassed in production by both of the other districts. There are 
some groves also in a few sheltered valleys along the southern coast, 
and elsewhere, but they have little commercial importance. Planting 
is being done in the Imperial Valley. In 1916 the State’s estimated 
yearly production was 1,000,000 gallons of olive oil and 300,000 6-gal- 
lon cases of pickled olives.t. The rapidly growing popularity of the 
pickled ripe olives and the protection afforded to olive oil by food 
legislation have given a great impetus to the industry. 
VARIETIES OF THE OLIVE GROWN IN CALIFORNIA. 
The varieties of olives that have been grown in California are very 
numerous. The California Agricultural Experiment Station has 
reported analyses of 57 varieties.2, The important ones, however, are 
limited in number, the favorite varieties being, in approximate order 
of importance, the Mission, Manzanillo, Ascolano, Sevillano, and 
Nevadillo Blanco.* Since the Nevadillo Blanco is more important as 
an oil olive than for pickling, the observations reported in this bulle- 
tin have been limited to the first four named. The Oblitza olive, a 
large Dalmatian variety, is also used for pickling. The olive was 
originally grown largely for oil, but more recently the pickling 
varieties have been in greater demand. The following descriptions 
of the five varieties are based in part upon material recognized by the 
industry under the respective names and in part on publications of 
the University of California.* 
Mission—This name denotes the variety derived from the old 
mission groves, and possibly covers several subvarieties. Of these 
_the common or broad-leaved Mission is the one generally known as 
Mission. The fruit is of medium to large size, about ten-sixteenths to 
twelve-sixteenths inch in diameter; ovate, oblique—sometimes very 
much so—tip rather pointed; fruit variable in size; pit straight or 
somewhat curved, usually with a sharp point. (PI. L) 
Manzanillo—tThis variety was imported from Spain. It is a 
medium to large-sized olive, about the same as the Mission, approxi- 
mately ten-sixteenths to twelve-sixteenths inch in diameter; quite 
regular, rounded oval, more nearly globular than the Mission, and 
1 Ann. Rept. Calif. Development Board for 1916. San Francisco, 1917. 
2 Rept. of Work of Agr. Exp. Sta., Univ. Calif., 1898-1901, pp. 263-307. Sacramento, 
1902. 
$B. J. Wickson. The California Fruits and How to Grow Them, pp. 335-350. San 
Francisco, 1914. 
Rept. of Work of Agr. Exp. Sta., Univ. Calif., 1898-1901. Acknowledgments are 
due F. T. Bioletti for reviewing these descriptions. 
