A^H;m2RM  }      Manufacture  of  Olive  Oil,  etc.  457 
not  thoroughly  or  until  the  stones  are  broken.  This  process  finished,, 
the  pulp  is  wrapped  in  coarse  cloths  or  gunny  sacks,  and  placed  un- 
der a  rude,  home-made  screw  or  lever  press.  The  oil  and  juices,  as 
they  ooze  through  the  cloth  or  sacks,  flow  into  a  small  tank,  and,  as 
they  increase,  are  distributed  into  other  vessels,  from  the  surface  of 
which  the  oil  is  afterwards  skimmed.  The  oil  flowing  from  this  first 
pressure  is  what  is  known  as  "virgin  oil,"  and  commands  the  highest 
price  from  connoisseurs  of  the  table.  Without  further  preparation 
the  oil  is  now  ready  for  use,  except  that,  in  order  that  any  intrusive 
matter  may  be  separated  from  the  body  of  the  oil  and  collected  at  the 
bottom  of  the  oil  cask  or  jar  previous  to  bottling,  it  is  set  away  for  a 
time  to  rest.  At  the  Mission  of  Santa  Barbara,  the  oil  is  stored  in 
huge  antique  pottery  jars,  that,  ranged  round  the  room,  remind  one 
of  the  celebrated  scene  of  the  jars  in  the  story  of  "  The  Forty  Thieves." 
The  "second  class  oil"  is  the  result  of  a  second  and  more  thorough 
crushing  of  the  berries,  in  which  even  the  stones  are  broken,  and  of  a 
subsequent  subjection  of  the  pulp  to  the  press.  The  berries  are  some- 
times submitted  even  to  a  third  process  of  crushing,  and,  previous  ta 
pressure,  are  brought  to  a  boiling  heat  in  huge  copper  kettles.  The 
oil  thus  obtained  is  of  an  inferior  quality,  and  is  sold  for  use  as  a  lu- 
bricator and  also  as  an  ingredient  in  the  manufacture  of  castile  and 
fancy  toilet  soaps,  and  for  other  purposes  for  which  it  is  superior  to 
animal  oil.  The  residue  of  the  berries  is  then  returned  to  the  orchard 
and  scattered  under  the  trees,  and,  possessing  the  qualities  of  a  rich 
and  rapid  fertilizer,  may  be  said  to  be  yielded  to  us  again  revivified 
and  luscious  in  the  richer  fruitage  of  succeeding  years. 
The  tree,  at  five  years  of  age,  returns  a  slight  recompense  for  care; 
and  at  seven  an  orchard  should  afford  an  average  yield  of  about 
twenty  gallons  of  berries  to  a  tree.  If  there  are  seventy  trees  to  an 
acre,  there  should  be  obtained  from  it  one  thousand  four  hundred 
gallons  of  berries.  From  twenty  gallons  of  berries  may  be  extracted 
three  gallons  of  oil ;  and,  if  properly  manufactured,  olive  oil  will 
command  $4  to  $5  a  gallon  at  wholesale.  Thus,  an  average  yield  of 
olives,  derived  from  an  orchard  covering  one  acre  of  land,  will  pro- 
duce about  $800  worth  of  oil.  After  deducting  the  entire  cost  of  pro- 
duction and  manufacture,  a  net  profit  may  be  anticipated  of  at  least 
$2  per  gallon ;  and  thus,  one  acre,  containing  seventy  trees,  yielding 
an  average  of  twenty  gallons  of  berries,  or  the  equivalent  of  three 
gallons  of  oil,  each,  will  afford  a  surplus  above  all  expenses  of  about 
$400  a  year. 
