O LIVE TREE. 
99 
of winter, which is the season for transplanting the Olive. The stock and 
principal branches are lopped and the wounds are covered with clay. As 
much of the roots as possible should be preserved, with the earth adhering 
to them. When the trees are carried to a distance, which may be done 
with the precautions that are used for other fruit trees, they should be set 
during several hours in water before they are replaced in the ground. 
Mellow, fertile mould should be spread upon the bottom of the holes and 
thrown first upon the roots ; among which the earth should be lightly 
forced, though it is not useful to render it compact nor to heap it about the 
trunk. A copious watering follows, which is repeated in the course of the 
season, as the weather and the health of the plant may require. 
The Olive arrived at an advanced age may be transplanted in the same 
manner as the young tree. In general, whatever vegetable is to support 
this trial, the most important precept is, that the earth be widely broken 
up and minutely subdivided, so that the roots may be placed in their natu- 
ral position, and that their first efforts to extend themselves may not be 
embarrassed by compact masses, which they penetrate with difficulty, and 
from which they derive scanty subsistence. 
The Olives should be planted at such a distance that they may not inter- 
fere with each other, and that every portion of the soil may contribute to 
their nourishment. In meager lands from which no other produce is 
exacted, 18 or 20 feet are enough ; but in vineyards or corn-lands they may 
be 35 or 40 feet apart. Cato assigns 25 or 30 feet, which, as mean term, 
is sufficiently exact; In warmer climates, certain varieties attain such 
dimensions as to require a space of 60 or 70 feet. 
The Olive does not become barren when totally abandoned ; but, like 
other vegetables, it repays the neglect of the husbandman with a dimin- 
ished produce, and his care with larger and more abundant fruit. 
In Provence it is customary to turn the soil in the spring and in the fall. 
Besides the tillage of the plough, the ground should be carefully dressed 
with the spade about the foot of each tree. More labor is required by 
some soils than by others : a compact, argillaceous loam must be more fre- 
quently turned than a light, calcareous mould. 
The olive-yard should be manured at least once in three or four years ; 
but it would be more beneficial to sustain its strength by moderate, annual 
supplies. Most species of manure, while they increase the produce of the 
Olive, impair the quality of its fruit : the finest oil is made from wild trees 
growing in calcareous lands of moderate fertility. Vegetable substances 
are preferable to animal manures for fruit trees in general, and especially 
for the Olive and the Vine. When animal matter is employed, it should 
be tempered with marl, sea-weeds, leaves, etc., and applied only when the 
whole is reduced to mould. To soils deficient in this ingredient, calcareous 
matter is of the utmost utility. Great benefit is said to be found in Spain 
