124 
Olive  Culture  in  California. 
j  Am.  Jour.  Pharrru 
t     March,  1888. 
with  chloroform  and  this  sohition  evaporated;  the  residue  thus  left 
gave,  with  sulphuric  acid,  a  reddish  color,  which  may  be  due  to 
saponin. 
OLIYE  CULTURE  IN  CALIFORNIA. 
By  James  E.  C.  Bell. 
Read  at  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting,  February  21st. 
The  extent  to  which  foreign  olive  oil  is  now  adulterated  is  a  matter 
that  would  justly  cause  serious  apprehension  were  it  not  for  the  fact  that 
we  have  within  our  own  country  the  means  of  relief  California  has  for 
several  years  past  produced  a  limited  supply  of  pure  olive  oil  of  very 
superior  quality.  The  olive  tree  was  introduced  at  the  time  of 
the  founding  of  the  Missions  by  the  Jesuit  priests  during  the 
twenty  or  thirty  years  beginning  with  1769.  Orchards  of  from  a 
dozen  to  one  or  two  hundred  trees  were  planted  for  the  use  of  the 
Padres,  and  many  of  those  trees  still  survive,  adding  much  by  their 
graceful  proportions  and  striking  foliage  to  the  picturesqueness  of  the 
surroundings  of  the  Missions,  which,  with  few  exceptions,  are  in  ruins. 
The  writer  has  often  rested  in  the  shade  of  some  of  these  trees  planted 
more  than  one  hundred  years  ago.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  in- 
troduction of  the  olive  tree  is  coeval  with  the  founding  of  the  Missions. 
The  latter  received  their  death  blow  in  1833  by  reason  of  the  confisca- 
tion of  their  lands  by  the  Mexican  Government,  while  the  former  still 
flourishes  in  more  than  pristine  vigor.  It  was  not  until  1872,  how- 
ever, that  olive  orchards  were  planted  with  a  view  to  extensive  oil  pro- 
duction. In  that  year  Mr.  Ell  wood  Cooper,  of  Santa  Barbara, 
planted  the  nucleus  of  what  is  now  one  of  the  finest  olive  orchards  in 
the  world.  Having  demonstrated  that  the  industry  could  be  made 
profitable,  his  example  has  been  followed  by  others,  so  that  now  there 
are  productive  orchards  in  San  Diego  county  (Mr.  Frank  A.  Kim- 
ball of  National  City),  near  San  Jos^  (Mr.  Edward  E.  Goodrich  of 
Quito  Olive  Farm),  and  at  several  other  places  in  the  State.  The 
trees  are  now  being  extensively  planted,  and  the  day  is  not  far  distant 
when  the  difficulty  of  getting  pure  olive  oil  will  not  be  as  great  as  it 
is  now.  The  climate  and  soil  of  California  are  peculiarly  adapted  to 
olive  culture,  the  chief  difficulties  now  in  the  way  being  the  high 
price  of  land  and  labor.  These  obstacles  will  doubtless  be  gradually 
overcome,  and  then  pure  olive  oil  will  be  obtainable  at  a  much  lower 
price  tliaii  at  ])i'0S(Mit. 
