42 
OLIVE. 
olive plants from the cold, it is as much so to sup- 
ply them with a constant and regular heat during 
the greater part of the year. If fine fruit is ex- 
pected from the tree, this circumstance must be 
considered ; and therefore, as we have before ob- 
served, a southern aspect, properly sheltered from 
the cold winds, will be highly necessary. As a 
proof that warmth is the chief source from whence 
these trees derive their vigour ; the olives planted 
about Lima, and in South Carolina, produce fruit 
three times as large as the same species cultivated in 
France. 
The stem of the olive scarcely rises to the height 
of twenty feet, provided the inferior branches are 
suffered to expand; and, in general, they are careful 
to keep the tree as near the surface of the earth as 
possible, that the heat from the sun may be more 
condensed, the fruit brought sooner to maturity, 
and the crop collected with more ease. It ap- 
pears, from the accounts we have from those who 
have attended to the cultivation of the olive, 
that it is necessary to scrape the rough bark from 
the trunk, since it harbours insects during the 
winter, retains the wet, and renders the tree more 
susceptible of cold. It is said to be by no means 
rare, to find the trunk of the olive-tree rotten from 
top to bottom, and pierced through in every di- 
rection. 
Olive-trees are propagated in several ways; either 
by seeds, by cuttings, or by the shoots : but all the 
varieties, of which the French reckon twenty-one, 
