The National tribune., 1901-07-18
CALIFORNIA OLIVES.
An Industry that Promises Large Returns
if Successful.

Los ANGELES, CAL.
Special correspondence to THE NATIONAL TRIBUNE
From time immemorial the olive has
been familiar to the human race. In an
cient days a branch of this tree was con-
sidered typical of peace, and the oil Of the
olive was used by the Israelites for the lu-
brication of their joints after bathing, for
amounting, and probably to lengthen the
life of perfumes used by that remarkable
race. Al that distant period of history as
an embrocation only was the olive used by
the other inhabitants of the then civilized
world, exterior to its typical significance,
for it is not recorded that the ancients
enjoyed picked olives; indeed, only when
Rome had reached the zenith of her power
did the olive become necessary adjunct
to the menu of well-regulated tables of
patricians. 1t was then that picked
olives came into use. increasing in demand
and popularity as the human race has
multiplied.
California, with its Italian sky and
eternal sunshine, ever on the qui vive to
supply the world with products of the
standard markets, has entered the field as
puryeyor of picked olives. While for
some 20 years capital has been lavished
upon this branch of supply, yet it is fully
q sCoio SlhCc Tue OiO hlSSlOH
Fathers, who established that chain Of
vast edifices, each separated a days jour-
ney, some 700 miles, from San Diego to
San Francisco, planted olive trees in Cali
fornia. At the San Fernando Mission
alone, 20 miles from Los Angeles, one of
the two large cities of California, some
500 olive trees were planted in 1900.
Yet, with all the famous California en-
terprise, with Its thousands of acres orna-
mpntpd with of thnuganHS nf ntiya
trees, it is at this writing disputed ques-
ton whether the culture of the olive in
this State is a success or a failure.
At this stage of this expensive expert
ment | cannot join either side of the con-
troversy, but will content myself with a
few observations upon the growth and
preparation of the California olive for the
markets of the world, regardless as to
whether the culture is a remunerative
proposition to the orchardists of Califor-
MIA or not.
Scrubby land, not very far from the
sea, where the dreaded California scale
cannot live, sufficiently distant from the
ocean fogs without being on the desert,
where the winds necessarily howl and all
that groweth is blown away, is the best
location for the olive tree.
The soil most suitable for the olive is
deposit of vegetable mold that has ac-
cumulated for ages, and is leavened by
the powdered granite that for centuries
has blown from the everlasting nights
that surround and indeed almost monopo-
lie the Golden State
In the third year the little olive trees
begin to bear. An acre of trees at eight
years of age should produce a tonsand a
half of olives, and increase as time rolls
on The tree is long lived, some ancient
specimens in the Old World being record
ed of the ripe old age of 80 years. The
olive tree is so tenacious of life that it
will suffer great deal of neglect before
1T dies; but at the same time the young
shoots require great deal of care.
The best California olives for picking
are worth about $100 a ton.
Great care must be taken in removing
the olive from the tree. 1t must not be
bruised. Buckets containing little water
receive the olives as they are one by one
taken ripe from the tree
After the olives are picked they are
placed in shallow pans or vats containing
a mixture of one pound of powdered pot
ash to 10 gallons Of water. The solution
removes the natural bitter taste of the
olive.
The liquid must be kept in motion dur
ing the four hours of immersion; then the
lye-water is drawn off and pure water
substituted, this second bath, becoming
colored from the olives, is drawn off, and
HloFe IreSu water supplied. lnlS process
goes on for two days. The olive curer
then tastes the olives and possibly finds
that the effect of the lye solution has not
penetrated to the interior, when the whole
process is gone over again.
After all traces of lye are removed, the
olives are allowed to soak in water for
two or three days, after which all the
bitterness, if any remains, is removed by
brine. Very weak brine is used at first,
or otherwise the olives will shrivel up;
after remaining a week in this slightly
salted water, a stronger solution, consist
ing of IA ounces of salt to the gallon of
water, covers the olives. A scum that
continually arises must be taken off, This
final sailing finishes the operation of
picking the olives and fits them for the
California market. Varieties of olives,
climatic and atmospheric conditions, vary
the details, but enough has been stated
to explain the culture of the California
olive, an art which, now in its embryonic
stages, even after all this experience and
investment, is more or less a problem to
the great fruit and nut growers of Cali
fornia, and is at this day considered by
the majority a remarkably unsafe com
mercial proposition, or what might be
termed in the technical language of the
insurance world an "extra-hazardous"
risk.
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