Am.  Jour.  Pharm. ) 
March,  1888.  j 
Olive  Culture  in  Calif oimia. 
125 
Virgin  olive  oil  in  full  sized  bottles  now  sells  on  the  Pacific  Coast 
at  two  dollars  a  bottle  wholesale.  Mr.  Cooper  and  Mr.  Goodrich, 
both  state  that  the  demand  for  their  respective  products  is  much 
greater  than  the  supply.  The  cost  is  a  serious  bar  to  its  general 
use  at  present,  but  not  to  those  who  wish  pure  oil. 
The  limits  of  this  article  preclude  more  than  a  mere  outline  of  olive 
<;ulture  in  California.  Much  interesting  matter  must  therefore  be  left 
out  and  only  the  main  points  mentioned. 
The  trees  are  propagated  from  cuttings,  taken  from  sound  growing 
trees,  during  the  months  of  December  and  January,  and  carefully 
trenched  in  a  loose,  sandy  soil  in  a  shady  place.  The  ground  of  the 
intended  orchard  is  thoroughly  prepared  by  proper  cultivation,  and  in 
February  or  March  the  cuttings  are  permanently  planted  about  twenty 
feet  apart.  Theoretically  the  trees  should  be  propagated  from  the 
-seeds  as  they  would  be  better  rooted  and  more  symmetrical,  but  in 
practice  this  method  has  not  proved  successful.  The  trees  usually 
produce  some  fruit  the  fourth  year  from  planting,  and  thenceforward 
the  yield  increases,  alternating  a  light  with  a  heavy  crop.  A  few 
trees  at  four  years  have  produced  over  two  gallons  of  olives,  and  at  eight 
years  thirty  gallons.  The  average  yield  is,  of  course,  much  smaller 
than  this.  A  tree  in  the  San  Diego  Mission  orchard  has  produced 
150  gallons  of  berries  in  a  year.  The  fruit  is  generally  ready  for 
picking  in  November,  but  sometimes  is  not  sufficiently  matured  be- 
fore the  middle  of  January.  The  oil  made  from  olives  picked  before 
fully  ripe  and  just  after  they  b(icome  purple,  is  lighter  in  color  and 
more  fragrant  than  that  from  riper  fruit.  The  picking  is  done  by 
means  of  ladders  attached  to  wagons  which  are  driven  from  tree  to 
tree.  This  method  is  preferable  to  that  employed  in  Europe,  where 
the  fruit  is  knocked  with  poles  and  picked  from  the  ground. 
After  picking,  the  fruit  is  freed  from  leaves  and  imperfect  berries 
by  passing  it  through  a  winnowing  mill,  when  it  is  either  dried  in 
the  sun  for  about  two  weeks,  or  exposed  to  artificial  heat  at  a 
temperature  of  110°  to  130°  F.  When  the  moisture  has  been  suffici- 
ently evaporated  the  fruit  is  crushed  by  stone  rollers,  and  pressed  out 
in  a  manner  almost  identical  with  that  used  in  the  old-fashioned  beam 
cider-press.  The  cheeses  are  three  feet  square  and  three  inches  thick, 
enveloped  in  coarse  linen  cloth,  about  ten  cheeses  being  put  in  at  one 
pressing.  The  expressed  liquid  is  allowed  to  stand  in  tanks  from  two 
to  three  months  by  which  time  the  oil  rises  to  the  top  and  is  drawn 
