220 
Italian  Olive  Oil. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
May,  1904. 
There  are  many  ways  of  making  olive  oil,  but  the  oldest,  slowest 
and  most  expensive  method  has  uncontested  preference  to  the  new, 
quick  and  economical  methods. 
The  old  method  consists  in  picking  the  olives  before  they  are  too 
ripe,  grinding  and  pressing  them,  separating  the  oil  from  the  muddy 
water  and  depositing  it  in  proper  vessels  until,  with  the  coming  of 
the  warm  season,  it  becomes  clear.  Then,  after  being  decanted 
two  or  three  times  at  intervals  of  a  few  weeks,  it  is  ready  to  go  into 
commerce. 
I  said  that  this  method  is  very  expensive,  and  it  is  so.  The  olives 
are  picked  by  hand  because,  being  not  ripe,  they  are  attached  firmly 
to  the  plant.  They  must  be  ground  and  pressed  the  next  day,  and 
three  men  and  one  horse  are  required  to  work  out  20  or  25  bushels 
of  olives  in  one  day,  producing  an  average  of  12  gallons  of  oil,  and 
fresh  olives  do  not  give  as  much  oil  as  those  which  have  been  kept 
for  a  few  weeks.  Besides  all  these  expenses  and  losses  one  has  to 
wait  almost  a  year  before  his  oil  has  reached  the  grade  of  maturity 
and  purity  required  for  a  first  quality  article. 
Any  one  who  can  afford  to  make  his  oil  in  such  a  manner  and 
wait  indefinitely  for  selling  it,  surely  will  have  his  price,  because 
olive  oil,  when  properly  made,  does  not  deteriorate  with  age,  but 
improves,  while  oils  made  by  modern  methods  become  rancid  and 
putrid  when  summer  heat  comes. 
That  explains  why  in  Italy  in  two  villages  at  a  few  miles  distance, 
the  price  of  olive  oil  varies  from  12  to  25  cents  per  litre. 
Something  must  be  said  about  properties  and  elementary  tests 
of  olive  oil;  but  this  is  not  an  easy  task  for  me,  considering  that  olive 
oil  is  largely  subject  to  adulteration,  and  I  am  talking  to  persons 
who,  perhaps,  have  never  had  a  chance  to  taste  a  first  quality  of  it. 
Of  course,  for  an  Italian  who,  as  the  one  who  has  the  honor  to 
address  you,  has  had  chances  to  plant  and  cultivate  olive  trees,  who 
has  picked  olives,  manufactured  oil,  and  uses  largely  of  it,  there 
are  three  tests  to  be  applied  in  the  assay  of  olive  oil,  namely,  looking 
at  it,  smelling  it,  and  tasting  it.  He  knows  that  fine  olive  oil  must 
be  of  a  pure,  clear,  light  amber  color,  without  any  trace  of  green; 
odorless,  except  that  little  pleasant  smell  proper  of  olive  oil,  and  of 
a  fresh,  fragrant,  soothing  taste. 
A  very  simple  test  of  olive  oil  can  be  made  in  the  following  way: 
On  a  plateful  of  hot  boiled  vegetable,  as  winter  salad,  put  salt  and 
