'^'"klrrTis^so!'"' }  Manufacture  of  0 live  Oil  in  Southern  France.  143 
In  the  establishment  of  Jourdan  de  JaufFret  this  is  avoided.  Never- 
theless, their  manner  of  preparing  the  oil  is  such  that  fully  as  much,  if 
not  more,  is  obtained  by  them  as  by  those  allowing  the  olives  to  fer- 
ment. Before  the  olives  enter  the  mills  they  are  carefully  spread  over 
the  floor  of  the  well-ventilated  store-room,  where  they  are  allowed  to 
remain  for  three  days,  if  the  wind  is  from  the  south,  and  four  or  five 
days  if  from  the  north.  The  first  stage  of  the  manufacture  consists  in 
grinding  the  olives  between  revolving  granite  stones;  then  the  mass, 
enclosed  in  baskets,  is  exposed  to  a  slight  pressure  in  an  iron  press,  and 
yields  the  so-called  virgin  oil  (huile  vierge),  which  has  gained  the  good 
reputation  for  the  oil  of  the  Provence.  The  mass  in  the  baskets  is 
then  exposed  to  a  stronger  pressure,  and  yields  the  well-known  good 
oil  usually  found  in  commerce.  After  this  second  operation,  the  mass 
is  taken  from  the  basket-work,  and  is  again  placed  into  the  mills,  where 
it  is  thoroughly  ground  up,  when  it  is  again  packed  into  baskets  and  is 
exposed  to  the  pressure  of  hydraulic  presses. 
During  this  operation  the  effect  of  fermentation  is  made  use  of  by 
treating  the  mass  with  boiling  water,  in  order  to  facilitate  the  separa- 
tion of  the  oil  from  the  cells,  which  still  retain  it.  Thus,  a  larger 
yield  is  obtained  from  the  olives  without  interfering  with  the  quality  of 
the  greater  portion  of  the  oil,  since  only  the  last  yield  is  exposed  to 
heat.  This  oil  is  always  better  than  the  oil  obtained  from  fermented 
olives,  because  frequently  a  rotten  odor  is  produced  by  fermentation, 
which  is  imparted  even  to  the  oil  expressed  first. 
The  oil  expressed  with  the  aid  of  hot  water  is  known  in  commerce  as 
fine  table-oil.  The  greatest  precautions  must  be  used  in  the  manufacture. 
Columelle  even  forbids  the  kindling  of  fires  in  the  mills  during  the  manu- 
facture, claiming  that  the  smoke  of  a  single  lamp  may  prove  injurious 
to  the  quality  of  the  oil.  This  caution  is  necessary  in  the  older  mills. 
Even  at  the  present  time,  most  mills  are  under  ground,  and  of  such  a 
construction  that  air  and  light  can  scfarcely  penetrate  into  them,  and 
that  foul  odors,  etc.,  can  scarcely  escape  from  them ;  besides,  most  of 
the  mills  are  revolved  by  mules,  which  adds  to  their  uncleanliness. 
The  olive  oil  must  be  preserved  Vv'ith  great  care,  since  Th.  de  Saus- 
sure  has  shown  that  the  absorption  of  atmospheric  oxygen,  which  is 
favored  by  heat,  has  a  tendency  to  turn  it  rancid.  The  expressed  oil 
is  filtered,  and  immediately  transferred  into  large  cooled  stoneware  jugs, 
in  which  it  gets  cold  very  soon,  and  will  keep  unaltered  for  two  years. 
"Waste-oil"  (^huile  d'enfer)  is  the  name  given  to  all  oil  in  the  Pro- 
