OLIVE TREE. 
101 
distinguished by their size, by their temperament as to soil and climate, 
and by the qualities of their fruit. Some of these varieties, like those of 
’the Vine, owe their characteristic properties to the spot in which they are 
reared. 
The principal product of the Olive is oil, but the pickled fruit is also a 
valuable article of commerce. The simplest manner of preserving the 
green olives is by covering them with a solution of common salt impreg- 
nated with fennel, cumin, coriander-seed and rose-wood : the most perfect 
method is that employed for the picholines of Provence, which are so 
called from Picciolini, by whom the process was invented. They are 
gathered in the beginning of October, and the finest of them are selected 
and thrown into a weak solution of soda or potash rendered caustic with 
lime. In this solution they remain 8 or 10 hours, till the pulp ceases to 
adhere to the stone ; they are then steeped, during a week, in pure, cold 
water, daily renewed, and are afterwards transferred to an aromatic brine. 
Such of them as are destined for the tables of the luxurious are taken out 
after a certain time, deprived of the stone, in place of which is substituted 
a caper or a bit of truffle, and closed up in bottles of the finest oil. In this 
manner they are kept palatable for two or three years. The sw T eet olive 
of the ancients, which was eaten without preparation, is said to exist in 
the kingdom of Naples. 
The proper season for gathering the olives for the press is the eve of 
their maturity, which varies in different climates and in different varieties 
of the Olive, but which is easily distinguished by the color of their fruit. 
Two powerful considerations should engage the cultivator not to delay the 
olive-harvest. We have already observed that the produce of this tree is 
alternate. The phenomenon, it is true, is more uniformly witnessed in 
some varieties than in others ; but it might he assumed as a constant char- 
acter, if it was not proved by experience to depend upon accidental causes. 
It has been attributed to the injury sustained by the trees in beating off 
their fruit-; but it is not observed in some places where this practice pre- 
vails, and is constant in others where it is discarded. It has also been 
ascribed to injudicious pruning; but it is witnessed alike in olive-yards 
pruned in the most opposite modes, and in those that are unconscious of 
3. The Olivier de Lucque, Olea minor Lucensis, 9th variety, N. D., is hardy and yields a 
fruit proper for preserving. 
4 and 5. The Aglandaou, Olivier a pelitfru.it rond, Olea fruclu minore et rolundiore, 3rd va- 
riety N. D., and the Olivier de Salon, Olea media fructu subrolundo, 19th variety, N. D., are 
good for oil, and prefer dry and elevated grounds. 
6. The Olivier amygdalin, Olea amygdalina 25th variety, N. D., is much esteemed about 
Montpellier for its fine and abundantoil. 
7. The Picholine, Olea oblonga, 1.1th variety, N. D., yields the most celebrated pickled olives. 
This variety is not delicate in the choice of soil and climate. 
‘ Vol. II.— 14 
