392  Olive  Oil  and  its  Production  in  Tuscany.        {Am  jS^um"™* 
remain  an  undue  length  of  time  in  the  garners  it  heats,  begins  to  decom- 
pose, and  will  yield  only  bad  oil. 
The  process  of  making  oil  is  as  follows  :  The  fruit  is  crushed  in  a  stone 
mill,  generally  moved  by  water  power ;  the  pulp  is  then  put  into  bags 
made  of  fibre,  and  a  certain  number  of  these  bags,  piled  one  upon  another, 
are  placed  in  a  press,  most  frequently  worked  by  hand  ;  when  pressure  is 
applied,  the  oil  flows  down  into  a  channel  by  which  it  is  conveyed  to  a 
receptacle  or  tank.  When  oil  ceases  to  flow,  tepid  water  is  poured  upon 
the  bags  to  carry  off  oil  retained  by  the  bags.  The  pulp  is  then  removed 
from  the  bags,  ground  again  in  the  mill,  then  replaced  in  the  bags  and 
pressed  a  second  time.  The  water  used  in  the  process  of  making  oil  must 
be  quite  pure ;  the  mill,  press,  bags  and  vessels  sweet  and  clean,  as  the  least 
taint  would  ruin  the  quality  of  the  oil  produced.  The  oil  which  has  col- 
lected in  the  tank  or  receptacle  just  mentioned  is  removed  day  by  day,  and 
the  water  also  drained  off,  as  oil  would  suffer  in  quality  if  left  in  contact 
with  water  ;  the  water  also,  which  necessarily  contains  some  oil  mingled 
with  it,  is  sent  to  a  deposit  outside,  and  at  some  distance  from  the  crushing 
house,  which  is  called  the  "  Inferno,"  where  it  is  allowed  to  accumulate, 
and  the  oil  which  comes  to  the  surface  is  skimmed  off  from  time  to  time. 
It  is  fit  only  for  manufacturing  purposes.  After  the  second  pressing  the 
olive  pulp  is  not  yet  done  with ;  it  is  beaten  up  with  water  by  mechanical 
agitators  moved  by  water  power,  and  then  the  whole  discharged  into  open- 
air  tanks  adjoining  the  crushing-house.  There  the  crushed  olive  kernels 
sink  to  the  bottom,  are  gathered  up  and  sold  for  fuel,  fetching  about  12 
francs  per  1,000  kilos.,  while  the  debris  of  the  pulp  is  skimmed  off  the  sur- 
face of  the  tank  and  again  pressed  in  bags,  yielding  a  considerable  quan- 
tity of  inferior  oil,  called  "Olio  lavato,"  or  washed  oil,  which,  if  freshly 
made,  is  even  used  for  food  by  the  poorer  classes.  The  pulp  then  remain- 
ing has  still  a  further  use.  It  is  sold  for  treatment  in  factories  by  the  sul- 
phide of  carbon  process,  and  by  this  method  yields  from  7  to  9  per  cent,  of 
oil ;  of  course  suitable  only  for  manufacturing  purposes.  Only  the  first  two 
pressings  yield  oil  which  ranks  as  first  quality,  subject  of  course  to  the  con- 
dition of  the  fruit  being  unexceptionable.  New  oil  is  allowed  to  rest  awhile 
in  order  to  get  rid  of  sediment;  it  is  then  clarified  by  passing  through  clean 
cotton  wool,  when  it  is  fit  for  use. 
The  highest  quality  of  olive  oil  for  eating  purposes  should  not  only  bo 
free  from  the  least  taint  in  taste  or  smell,  but  possessed  of  a  delicate  appe- 
tizing flavor.  When  so  many  favorable  conditions  are  needed  as  to  growth, 
maturity  and  soundness  of  the  fruit,  coupled  with  great  attention  during 
the  process  of  oil  making,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  by  no  means  all 
or  even  the  greater  part  of  the  oil  produced  in  the  most  favored  districts  of 
Tuscany  is  of  the  highest  quality.  On  the  contrary,  the  bulk  is  inferior 
and  defective.  These  defective  oils  are  largely  dealt  in,  both  for  home  con- 
sumption and  export,  when  price  and  not  quality  is  the  object. 
In  foreign  countries  there  is  always  a  market  for  inferior  defective  olive 
oil  for  cooking  purposes,  etc.,  provided  the  price  be  low.  Price  and  not 
quality  is  the  object,  so  much  so  that  when  olive  oil  is  dear,  cotton-seed;, 
