The herald., 1893-05-28
PART II PAGES 9 TO 16.
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your institute paper, came to hand long,
long ago, but too late at the time for an
answer to have reached you ION time"
Prior to this moment no opportunity has
presented itself for an intelligent reply,
as my business affairs have been press
ing.
The question you PROFOUND is no
nearer solution today than it was four
years ago, because new varieties, now
being experimental with, have not come
into bearing in sufficient quantity to
months ago Mr.. B. M. Lelong, sec
retary of the state board of hor-
ticulture, submitted to number
OF leading olive growers throughout
the state a series of six questions
through the columns of the Pacific Rural
Press, bearing directly upon the olive
industry. Among the questions was
this one "What, in your opinion, is
the most profitable variety of olive to
| cultivate ?' Each answer invariably
favored the Mission.
In my own personal observation and
study of the olive | am undecided. AT
] the Quito olive farm Carriggiola is the
l favorite for oil and Cucho for pickling
purposes, but it should be borne in mind
that no extensive or exhaustive trials
have been made with either Of these va
, rieties. It is claimed that the first
named Yields one-third more oil than
the Mission; but as this is recent
importation from Italy, and as our in
formation comes through Italian sources
solely, and aa Italian preiudices magnify
all that is Italian. these statements will
demand time in which to verify them
| selves.
Speaking theoretically and to some
extent practically. doubt if that marked
| difference in variety exists with the
olive as in other fruits; at least in this
climate the varieties do not preserve
their identity. Surely, If so many kinds
| grow in Europe as i5 claimed. could
! these old Catholic priests who came out
here nearly century ago have taken
| their cuttings all from one tree? Such
an idea is preposterous. There are traces
of from ak to eight distinct varieties OF
olives to be found in any of the old mis-
sion groves and, indeed, l have found
as many as ak distinct varieties on one
tree, and got them named by an olive
expert by simply concealing the fact
that they were gathered from one tree.
The Mission olives all bear close re-
semblance, and only close observer
can discover that at one time the differ
ence was far more clearly marked, and
that the trend OF the olive in this climate
is to establish character and variety
entirely Californian. But as to the cor
rectness or falsity of this theory time
alone can determine; yet in the mean.
time the question, "Wbst is the best
variety of olive to plant?' remains un.
answered.-[A. Kamp, in The Ojai.
-
I . ~ <.rfr
II1ft IL airy Efss l vii cause sa il to be more
fruitful. Still it is rather dangerous
operation. 1t is evident that the sup
ply of nourishment is too suddenly cut
off by girdling the tree, which would
take a long time to recover, and in
many cases would die. NY experiences
for over 20 years in such cases has been
to go to the root of the tree, and not
to the trunk, as in the girdling opera
tion. Any kind of tree that is growing
too much wood and not produc.
ing fruit requires root pruning
(if the tree is old enough to bear fruit).
Root pruning can be successfully done by
digging o circular trench around the
tree, from 3 to feet from the trunk,
and from IS to 20 inches deep. The
older the tree the greater the distance
the trench must be from 1T.
Wit sharp knife cut all the roots
you come in contact with. In cutting
them cut from the underside upward, 60
that in forming new roots they will be
so situated as to go downward. The
digging OF such trench and cutting the
roots will check the wood growth, and
cause it to form fruit buds, and in the
case of the orange, will set most OF its
fruit. The above treatment is only for
strong, vigorous, growing trees that
are fruitful. On the other hand you will
find trees that do not bear fruit on
account of their sickly condition. In
such cases you must go to the top of the
tree, as they have the roots fully estab-
lished. BY cutting the tree down to one
bud, it not only has the flow of cap
which the sickly top had, but it has also
the vitality OF the root that it did not
formerly possess. From sickly, slow
growing tree, it is now converted into q
strong, vigorous tree.
Tsde. for instance, 3-year-old orange
tree in nursery row, put bud in at
the base of the tree, cut the Seeding
back to the bud, and it will make as
large a tree in one year as it had done
in the first three years of its existence.
Id. H. Murray in California Fruit
Grower