said to be rank and disagreeable. Besides these, there are several other varieties of the Olive tree ; as the 
iron-coloured, the twisted-leaved, the box-leaved, African, Lucca, &c. 
Culture. — The cultivated Olive came originally from Asia ; it grows abundantly about Aleppo and 
Lebanon. It became early naturalized in various parts of Italy, Spain, and France. In Gibbon’s “Decline 
and Fall,” chap. i. he quotes Pliny for the following fact : “Two centuries after the foundation of Rome, both 
Italy and Africa were strangers to that useful plant ; it was naturalized in those countries, and at length 
carried into the heart of Spain and Gaul.” “ Its usefulness, the little culture it requires, and the otherwise 
barren situations which it renders productive, quickly spread it over the western face of the Appennines. 
The suckers are removed from the parent tree at all seasons ; but the best is in spring and autumn, when 
the grounds are ploughed, and sometimes, if the trees are thinly scattered, sown with corn and lupines. 
Otherwise, the earth is merely loosened round the roots, and, in some cases, manure is laid round them. 3 
The young olive plant bears at two years old ; in six years it begins to repay the expense of cultivation, 
even if the ground is not otherwise cropped. After that period, in good years, the produce is the surest 
source of wealth to the farmer, and the tree rivals the oak in longevity ; so that the common proverb here 
is, c if you want to leave a lasting inheritance to your children’s children, plant an olive.’ There is an old 
olive tree near Gerecomio, which a few years back yielded 240 English quarts of oil : yet its trunk is quite hollow r , 
and its empty shell seems to have barely enough hold in the ground to secure it against mountain 
storms.” — Maria Graham’s Three Months near Rome, p. 49. 
According to Humboldt, the Olive is cultivated with success in every part of the old world, where the 
mean temperature of the year is between 58° and 66°, the temperature of the coldest month not being under 
42°, nor that of the summer below 7l°-73°. These conditions are found in Spain, Portugal, the South of 
France, Italy, and Turkey. The Olive also flourishes on the Northern Coast of Africa, but is not found 
south of the Great Desert. In Europe it extends as far north as latitude 44§°, in America scarcely to 
latitude 34°, so much greater is the severity of the winter on the other side of the Atlantic. Maillet says, 
that the olive tree thrives greatly in Egypt, and very commonly produces fruit as large as walnuts. Has- 
selquist states, that he ate olives at Joppa which were said to have grown on the Mount of Olives, near 
Jerusalem, and that they were the best he had tasted in the Levant. He saw olive trees in Galilee also, but 
none further than the mountain on which our Lord’s sermon is supposed to have been delivered. They 
are found, however, in various parts of the earth. In the neighbourhood of Quito, situated under the 
equator, at the height of eight thousand feet above the level of the sea, where the temperature varies less 
than even in the island climates of the temperate zones, the Olive attains the magnitude of the oak ; but 
never produces any fruit.” 
The proper time for gathering olives for the press, is on the eve of maturity. If delayed too long, the next 
crop is prevented, and the tree is productive only in the alternate years. At Aix, where the olive harvest 
takes place early in November, it is annual; in Languedoc, Spain, and Italy, where it is delayed till Decem- 
ber or January, it is in alternate years. The quality of the oil also depends upon the gathering of the fruit 
in the first stage of its maturity. It should be carefully plucked by the hand ; and the whole harvest com- 
pleted, if possible, in a day. b 
In Provence and Italy, the oil is drawn from the olives by presses or mills. The fruit is gathered when 
at its utmost maturity in November, when it begins to redden : being put under the mill, as soon as gathered, 
care is taken that the mill-stones are set at such a distance, that they do not crush the nut of the olive. 
The pulp covering the nut or stone, and containing the oil in its cells, being thus prepared, is put into bags 
made of rushes, and moderately pressed : and thus is obtained a considerable quantity of a greenish semi- 
transparent oil, which, from its superior excellence is called virgin oil. The marc remaining after the first 
pressure is broken to pieces, is moistened with water, and returned to the press, upon which there flows 
out a mixture of oil and water, which spontaneously separate by rest. This oil, though inferior to the 
former, is of good quality, and fit for the table. The marc, being again broken to pieces, well soaked in 
water, and fermented in large cisterns, is again submitted to the press, by which is obtained a third oil, that 
is valuable to the soap boiler, and other manufacturers. In Spain, the olives, instead of being gathered, are 
beaten down, so that the ripe and unripe ones are mixed ; and to these are added such as have fallen of 
themselves, and are therefore more or less decayed. All these are thrown together in a heap, and soon fer- 
ment : the olives in this state are ground and pressed, and thus is produced, with little trouble, a large 
quantity of oil, of a rank, disagreeable flavour. It is probable that the Spaniards derive their process from 
the Moors : for we find the same method described in Jackson’s History of Morocco. 
Olive oil in Spain and Italy supersedes the use of butter and cream, and “ the inhabitants of the south 
of Europe feel at least as much dislike to the produce of the dairy as we may feel to their general use of 
oil ( Barton ; ) indeed a line may be drawn which geographically separates the countries of butter and oil, 
which although admitting some exceptions, is on the whole sufficiently correct. 
a This does not agree with Virgil, who says, Genrg. i. 1. 507. “ No dressing they require, and dread no wound.” 
b See Hillhouse on the Olive Tree. 
