New-York tribune., 1895-06-23
THE OLIVE IN CALIFORNIA.
AN IMPORTANT AND RAPIDLY GROWING
INDUSTRY.
,.,.,,. .,,.r,,ors OF PROPAGATION HOW THE OH.
IS PRrPARED-CoNDITioNs NEEDLp FUN
THE BEST RESULTS.

THE BEST RESULTS
Toe Angeles Cal. June % CSpeciaD-When 'ne
,ro.o,, season Of orchard planting in Ca'rorh'a
shall have closed some time during the "''e' pa''
OF this month there will be over "'Vo' 'norc o'e
trees In this state ;has there were al inc peS'"e
OF the year. r RAJ growth OF the o''e ''''ua''
IN California ind.o. throughout the southwest. ~
m. ~ tho marvcls OF horticulture on the west
Coas, There is good reason TO believe tnat IN an
other decade the growing OF olives IN the ''o'deh
State will rank we'll aIors with that OF o'""s'" ~
the matter Of the production or weh'h anu '''
cs pitai Invested. Never has any asr1c"'"'"' VI
horticultural pursuit made such giant strides. even
IN this land OF big enterprises and new ana rhdcai
ideas. as that Of planting and cul''a,'hs o've
orcharde Six yenrs ago there were less IMAM wv
scres of these groves IN all California, ana 'hre
fourths o. these in southern 'atiorh''' i"'
next year. that is In 1890, the acreage was -"
creased by some 1900 acres. The rare hha"ola' '"'
cess that the bottlcrs OF olive oil ana 'ne s'''o "
the fruit in It's picked form had that year started
.h hoor, IN olive. that has gathered momentum as
1, bas rol,.l along each season since. In lH7 there
were over 100 0o olive planted In California on
400 acres Last year the sales ran 70 over nan nan
a million OF and this year tho area oi o'Nc
orchards will be increased by FUZZY '"" acres'
There are in California to-day about Zl'" acres o'
olve orchards and OF these about 5.op are IN Dear
ING The nurscrymen who make spec1a''y "l
growing olive cuttings into small trees TOT or'"''
nurnoscs say that the demand FOR trees OF thls
variety Of fruit In this state next year VIII ne over
one million. and they are proving their ia''n "Y
their wholesale preparations for meeting the ue
manl. ,,
As in growing oranges. lemons and prunos IN 'h'S
state tnerc are certain localities where Gives
thrive extraordinarily we'll and where the Planters
have greater faith in taat branch "' ho'"O"''"''
than in any otncr. Thus. for instance !" '''
northwestern part Of Santa barbara county 'h''"
IS little or no attempt to grow any variety "l nun
hut olives while IN Ventura County, which adjoihs'
,ho-e arc few and small olive orchards. but immense
tracts are devoted to growing pruncs ana lemons.
poun,na Valley Is the acknowledged nome OF 'h'
olive Industry in Southern California ana the la''
,ho, from, 10000 to $1,000 trees for planting "llVe
orchards have been grown there and shipped away
,,,u,llv makes # IN. most important olive
nursery depot on this continent. There are IN al
fornia hut three mills for the production ot o'Vc
oil from the olive. The largest Is the HowIani MN
a, Pomona II was built two years ago on pans
from Italy and much OF the machinery ana "-
nara,us came from Leghorn. italy Inc cooper
ollve mill al Santa barbara. AM the klmnaH III" 80
Naf!onal city. the Mexican border me III
san Diego county have each cost many thousands
OF dollars and have been sourcea of large proht
:, lo-cc has been the call for california olive %
slnce lsso that the whole product has frequently
been sold in less than ninety days hfirr itS 'N'H
,ion from the berries II VAS formerly c'h'"'''
<,r y.,re that the oil. alr ;craicd with coton7'''
an, peann, oils and other ingredients, "aa So
ronuar and cheap IN the tnfcl states 'N'' VIC
average person an not know The difference. ana
,borcf,ro dH not care for the pure oil o. me "''
,rt ayo or th. ollcs, olive trees In california fnhF
back over ninety years They nr" SIX IN n''n'''
and stand about tho San Gabriel Mission s'i.' h'"'
ING fruit living monuments 10 the VISION '' '''
Franciscan frnrs The very oldest DIV" tr"' ~ '''
country Is that NJ the Cap!sirano Mission. tip
barcelona Spain in i76s and tho purI'os" "a7 10
nr,viln food from the trees for the monks VINO
came from olivc-growng regions ~ IN" sam" '''
tllcs ns Southern california. In spain ""l 'h'
e,uA Of France The oil nornrrA man boon p''-
,orraphcl hundreds OF times boy tourists from in'
Fast !, is ~ feet high AM has trin" i''' "'
diameter.
The frs, manufacture % olive oil IN california.
outside o, the Franciscan monasicric' "a' 'h'' "'
Comulus ranch IN San HrenaFo"tufH '''"f ''
1871 Tie lroiuc, vas sold at g''i If'"' u"
druggists ard others n Los Angcics and santa
ua-bara IN 1892 the production o' oll'" "" A"'
crown to $500 gallons in 1873 u "as about "'''
e,unne ana this year c'0sc es'lmai's pD' iN" vIrl
a, .bsu, 1900 gallons. Tho extent - iN' Amer '''
market o2cn - thu California olive 'i maker
can be realize In The FAC; that the Department ''
Agriculture reports there ar" over t""' "a IONS %
olive oil annually imported into IA" ni'"' S'a'''
from Itaiy spain and France. AMI tens ~ 'hon-
sa,,s ~ gal,ons Of olive o alulieratei with pea
M. co,onseel and poppy oil. are sold every : ar
In this country
The Eastern people here often cxiross wonier
that olive growing IN California has he"n - bh'K-
warl considering thai the adnpiah'.iy ~ ~" iFni'
"a this climate and soil vero demonstrated hy The
Franciscan monk. many decades axe. Ine i'in-
fral reason &c bor.iro oi the former slow pfOc"s"'
Of proIacatinr olive trees. AMI IA" in"ny Y'aT- t''
had =, be spent In bringing ~" young 'r"s 10
their bearing. People IN ih~ W"e'. ind'o AL over
,hc I-n.on 10 not care - 2lv" .Ynf N'"'' lh pr
,,,lrg FOR a c-ou of fru., o. ony Einl Tho present
method of growing olive trees Tor "r'aArl piAnuAs
was not known MIN abon' 1855 The moih'i oi
producing olive trees now IN ')gu' among European
olive growers. anl once common In 'hHio'hia' ]"
20 cut limbs as large In diameter az mans arm
from trees AMI from each ~ these star n"" tree
An old olive tree VII not Furnish mo-" 'han tAr'r
or four such limbs for propneaiing pur?o7"'' II
VIII be seen that the process Ia expensive. am InS
tho starting Of ncw orchards to a few ehch year
Another method Is the oid-fa.honrd planting 0f
oliy. seeds This IL the slOwcst manner "i ild"4hs
an orchard and by such method bearing oi'o
trees cannot be produced In less than eigh'e"n or
twenty years and then only bv extreme care ana
wo;chfulness In California the method OF growing
ollv. trees from small cuttings has for ten years
ho.n made a great success olive trees Tor orchard
rlantng purposes used 70 coz; s. and = each Ihe'
can now be hal by the Thousands for - ana j.
cents each. A poor Pomona nurseryinan fonni by
experimentng that olive trees could De prophgatc1
from cuttings by siartinC them In the winter months
In boxes OF sand I'm hot greenhouses. That discov
erv has been worth millions OF dollars to 'hi-
fornla and the Southwest. but the discOverer Is
siill working in Pomona nursery FOR u % DAY
The cuttings that come by the hundreds from "A fu
sized tree are about the size OF toothpicks Tn" ne"
method OF propaeatng requires the most constant
attention and much experience but the plants are
grown on such an enormous scale that the cost
~ oach ~ very low When the cuttings are rooted
they are transferred. In the warmer months o
spring TO the out-of-door nursery where they be
como trees Of three and four feet In height In twelve
eighteen months.
The practical California fruitgrower plants fh'
trees I'm his olive orchard forty feet apart. &
that there will be ample room for the roots Il
spread over large area and 10 get all th'
sustenance possible from the soil. The OLIVE
has almost human gift OF adaptation to On
vironment. II nourshcs in temperature tina
fails TO II degrees above zero. ana In the inanC
valleys OF California. where the thermometer reache