372 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 May, 1898. 
ORIGIN OF THE OLIVE. 
It is certain that the greater part of the Mediterranean littoral was in 
ancient times, as it now is, the home of the olive, and of all the countries 
which claim the tree as indigenous Italy is that which is the chief of the oil. 
producing countries of the region. And in Italy it grows upon a great variety 
of soil, and in a fair variety of climate. It is found wild on the scorching and 
rocky hills near Taranto, where it grows from seeds which have probably been 
carried from place to place by birds, and casually deposited in some fissure 
where sufficient soil has been found to nourish the young plant, for birds are 
extremely partial to olives; indeed in the southern provinces of Italy, where 
the large migratory thrush, so heartily praised by Horace on his journey to 
Brundusium, still abounds, we find the expense of gunpowder for birdscaring 
a considerable item in the olive-growers’ accounts. ‘The cultivated olive, too, 
is a tree which is very independent of soil, and may be seen growing on a 
rocky hillside or on the deep soil of the plains, and flourishing as well in the 
one situation as in the other. 
OILS OF LUCCA AND BARI. 
The small province of Lucca has given its name to the finest table oil in 
the world; and though the best oils of Bari in this district compare favourably 
with it, they have not the same celebrity. In point of quantity at least this 
consular district is far ahead of the rest of Italy, as will be seen by the 
following figures :— 
PRODUCTION AND EXPORT, 
The total amount of olive-ground in Italy is officially estimated at 908,072 
hectares (a hectare being roughly 23 acres), of which 492,430 hectares, or 
more than half the total, are in this district. The total produce of oil ig 
reckoned at 3,350,143 hecto-litres, of which this district yields 1,934,948, or 
more than half of the produce of the whole kingdom. Of the South Italian 
oils those of Bari have the greatest repute, and many of the trees are of very 
great antiquity. The annual export of oil from Italy amounted in 1888 to 
63,500 tons. A very large proportion of this export goes to the British 
Empire, and though no doubt the importers care little about the methods of 
the cultivation of the tree, as compared with the market price at which they 
can purchase the oil wholesale, the cultivation is an important item to British 
trade, because a determined effort is being made to introduce the tree both 
into South Africa and the Australian Colonies. The plants are being sent out 
in considerable numbers from Naples, chiefly, if not solely, by the firm of 
Messrs. Dammann, of Portici, a suburb of Naples, who have also charged them- 
selves with the introduction of the Karob into South Africa. 
USES OF OIL. 
Tt is unnecessary to mention the variety of uses to which olive oil is put, 
but it may be interesting to note that large quantities are used on sheep-runs 
in the colonies for sharpening the clippers at shearing time. Time alone can 
show what success the introduction of the tree will have in our colonies, It 
may be that the best oil will be produced ; it may also be that only the lower 
class oils, such as those grown in Vurkey, which are only useful for making 
soap, will be manufactured, but at any rate a useful lubricant will be obtained, 
and a very picturesque tree added to the landscape. In the meantime a 
report in English on the cultivation of the plant cannot fai! to be of service. 
THE OLEASTER. 
The wild olive or oleaster is a tree of small and stunted growth, and yields 
a fruit from which very little oil can be procured. The grafting of the oleaster 
was known in very ancient times, and is mentioned by St. Paul in his Hpistle 
to the Romans, who, however, for the reasons of his metaphor, or perhaps from 
ignorance of arboriculture, reverses the process, and describes the vleaster ag 
being grafted on the olive, whereas, of course, it is the cultivated tree which is 
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