Arthur Tappan Marvin

“ If their oil has merit it is because it was properly made. Italy is the fountain head. Italy has long been the source of all the good oil we have ever known. Italy has carried the cultivation of this tree to greater perfection than any other country on the globe. How can we then do better than follow the classification of Professor Caruso, Professor of Agriculture of the National University of Pisa, who at the instance of the Italian Government has given to the world a monograph on the olive which is perhaps the most profound and exhaustive work on the subject that has yet been written. ”

“ The surest test for the fertilization, is the knowledge of the loss to which the tree has been subjected in fruit, leaves, and wood: and the object should be to restore to the soil that which has been taken from it in producing these. No manure should be applied till it is thoroughly fermented. To throw unfermented, or indeed any manure, close up against the trunk of the tree, is to do harm instead of good. With the rain fermentation starts again, and the heat generated is prejudicial to the tree as well as being a centre for the propagation of harmful insects. ”

“ This is the crying sin of the California fruit grower. In this way heretofore unheard of pests are evolved, trees are rendered sickly and stunted, and promising orchards become unprofitable. The olive is least able to bear the effects of overcrowding; sunlight and ventilation are absolute necessities to it. Fifty good trees to an acre is a better investment than a hundred poor ones. As the olive is so long in maturing, it is customary to utilize the space between the young trees by growing grapes and the short lived fruits, such as prunes and peaches, to give way finally to the mature tree. ”

“ An irrigated soil loses its fertility quicker than one that is not watered; so, where irrigation is practiced, it is necessary to frequently manure. In general, it may be said that the olive requires the same kind of soil as the vine, and in proof of that we often see them grown together. Excessive moisture is prejudicial, and also in a dry, hard soil the tree contracts, splits, and leaves the roots gorged with sap. The most favorable soil is an open, loose and fairly fertile one, and should be of at least a yard in depth to give the roots opportunity to extend themselves. ”

“ A tree grown from seed, has a long tap root, and a very straight smooth stem, which shows the vigor of the plant; while a tree raised in any other way has not these advantages. Its pivot root gives it a force that other trees do not possess. It is more productive, will resist diseases better, and is a hardier tree than one raised from a cutting.
When the ground is loosened by rain, and the tree is loaded with fruit, a heavy wind sometimes overturns the olive, this could not happen to a tree from seed, its tap root takes too firm a hold. ”

“ Experience, some say, has shown that the olive cultivated alone, in rich soil grows vigorously; makes each year a number of new shoots, but gives little fruit, as the sap being too active to fix the blossom, is carried to the extremities, and the flower falls. To obtain good trees quickly, one should never sow underneath them at first, but however afterwards, to get good fruit it is advantageous to do so; but only then the year of the crop. Thus one should prune, manure, and cultivate to force shoots or young wood to bear fruit. ”

“ Though every two years is generally considered often enough to thoroughly prune an olive, there is abundant work for the knife each year after the crop is gathered, in taking off the dead, weak, and sickly branches, to the end that the sap may go to fruit, and not be obliged to keep useless wood in life. The tree so treated will be better able to resist frost, will bloom and yield more heavily, and its olives will contain more oil than do those of one that does not receive this care.
The olive is exceedingly subject to a species of dry rot, and unskillful pruning may actually cause it. ”

“ The total production of oil then is:
of which Italy and Spain together furnish thirty million gallons only for export.
The population of Europe is three hundred and thirty-nine millions of people, more than enough to consume their own oil.
It is plain that France is a large importer. Such is the fact. The entire Spanish surplus and the bulk of that of Italy finds its way into France. Hence the impudence of a French export of olive oil; its own supply being a failing one and insufficient for domestic consumption. ”

“ Cuttings, insomuch as they are so near the surface of the ground, demand greater care than truncheons, being exposed to danger from animals and frost. But if they survive these early perils, the vigorous shoots of the cutting soon equal the truncheon in size, and at the end of fifteen years pass it in the race. The tree grown from a cutting is lustier, better shaped, and more productive than that from a truncheon. The latter solely has the advantage of bearing more fruit in its youth, but it is at the expense of its growth. ”

“ It hardly seems possible to exaggerate the importance to the United States of olive culture as an added agricultural interest, productive of an article of such high value for medicinal use, and of such varied benefit as food, both in the every day dishes of a family table and the luxurious plats of the artistic chef. ”

“ Its vitality is really wonderful, and it seems as though it would actually live forever were it not for the attacks of its numerous and persistent enemies, who bore holes in its bark, eat out its heart, kill its branches and feed on its leaves and fruit; but so great is its hold on life that after all this has occurred, if the dead and dying tree be cut down close to the ground, its vigorous root will give birth to still another tree. ”

“ The longer the olive hangs
The more it renders.
This is an illusion. The longer the berries hang on the trees the greater is their exposure to a variety of perils; the birds devour many, more are beaten off by storms, and unless they are taken off the ground immediately, acquire an earthy flavor which renders them unfit for oil making. Another serious danger is that of being touched by frost which diminishes the yield of oil. But even supposing all olives to remain on the tree up to the point of full maturity, they are not making any more oil but are losing water. ”

“ Lime, abounding phosphates, magnesia, with an abundance of silicates of alum and mercury, and a sufficiency of potash and soda, are the chemical and physical requisites which this tree will find most advantageous to its development, and cause it to produce abundantly, and, provided other circumstances are equal, give the very best oil. It is seen that the olive will flourish wherever its roots will penetrate easily, and there is no deficiency of lime and alkali, such as a loose soil of rocky clay, or sand of volcanic or granite formation. ”

“ He says, in his lesson on agriculture, "Olive oil is not like the juice of the grape, which requires a chemical process to transform the sugar it contains into alcohol, in order that it may become wine; the oil is there, ready made within the fruit, and the utmost that can be done is to extract it, just as it is, bursting the cells within which it is enclosed, by crushing the olives and then pressing them." "Olive oil is found, not made." ”

“ The Spanish Manzanillo, which has been planted to some extent in California is sparse of leaf and requires the knife only to a limited degree, and then principally in cleaning rather than pruning. All pruning that is ill timed or out of season does harm, and may be an actual drawback by obstructing and impeding the natural flow of sap. Still the olive with the tremendous strides that its vegetation makes, really demands the knife. If left to itself its center becomes a mat of cris cross branches, its growth ceases, and it falls a prey to a variety of diseases. ”

“ A still, intense heat may be fatal to the promise of a crop by burning off the blossoms; for this reason and also to escape humidity it forsakes the plain and seeks the middle hills. The olive avoids the arid tops of wind swept heights but its home is the half hill. Follow a line of olive trees up a steep and it will be noticeable that those nearest the top are found to be stunted and lacking soil about the roots, the earth having been carried down the slope by rains and the trees are visibly affected by their situation. ”

“ Whatever may be the nature of the manure, it is important not to place it at the foot of the trees, but to bury it at a slight depth from one to two yards distant from the trunk, digging a shallow trench for the purpose. It is a matter of absolute necessity to manure the olive, under penalty of losing all produce if abandoned to itself, and remembering also, that the produce will always be in proportion to the manure applied. ”

“ The roots of the olive lie remarkably near the surface and these are the parts of the tree needing fertilization which should never be attempted nearer than a yard from the trunk. In cold regions, that is on the northern limit, sheep and goat dung is found to be an excellent manure; in temperate parts, stable ordure is good, and in hot regions cow dung is the best. It has been calculated that two hundred and twenty pounds of manure are equivalent to one gallon of oil. The foliage which falls naturally and decays under the trees every year, is eleven pounds per tree. ”

“ The manner of harvesting, of oil making by treading the berries, of planting on fertile plains where sycamores grow, of seeking the wild olives on the mountains where the birds had scattered the seeds, of the danger of the olive from fire, all this is repeated to-day in the European home of the olive. The oil olive, being essentially a product of civilization, no longer flourishes in Palestine; without man's fostering care it soon reverts to its wild state and ceases to fruit, and finally disappears altogether. ”

“ In Spain olives will average, taking the country over, thirty-two trees to the acre, and in estimating for oil it is customary to reckon every six trees as good for four gallons of oil. Here we may safely calculate on our trees, averaging one year with another, a gallon of oil per tree, and hope for as much more as we please. Also olive culture in Spain is susceptible of improvement. The yield could be much increased by giving more care and attention to the orchards. Their methods are very crude and the people very poor. ”