The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-05-27
THE OLIVE IN CALIFORNIA.
GROVES PLANTED BY THE PA-
 DRIES.
Modern Method of Growing thc Trees
 for Fruit and OiI.

for Fruit and OlI.
 In the wide valley of San Fernando, down by the crunlbing mission of San Diego, or in the shadow of the pictur- esque pile of Santa Barbara, the stdol- Ter finds some of the oldest olive groves in California. They were planted by the old padres, inspired by the old and true Italian proverb, An olive orchard is gold mine on the face of the earth. He who plants an olive orchard plants for the centuries a perpetual income" Whether it is the associations or the: charm of the climate, that is one of eternal summer so far as real winter is concerned, there is fascination about the olive fruit and tree that in- duces many to attempt its culture aside from the merely commercial reasons. We see the old grove at San Diego from the mesa on which stands the fast-crumbiing mission. It lies in the valley against low hills through which arroyos have broken. Along this old kings highway are some of the oldest date palms in America, and among them is a modern windmill startling in it's incongruity.
 There is something particularly at- tractive about the olive tree; its very shape tells of thrift; its upright growth, graceful and pointed leaves, olive-hued now, but turned by the gen. tie wind, glisten like silver. It is gen. erally supposed that the home of the in foIf yxrba Hoc known for ages, and where the growth is so low that it is a common saying that man plants olives for his grand children; but on the foothills near EliZ- abeth lake wild olive has been found, large and thrifty tree. It appealed to the early Californians because it came into early bearing and practical ly never died. The old trees of San Fernando which have been deserted are now being cared for, and are rap idly throwing out branches and assurl- ing their normal shape and beauty, and bid fair to equal the fomous trees of Europe and Asia, which have been
 bearing fruit for a thousand years. The enthusiast, if he is the man to succeed, does not come to Califonia to sit in the sun and watch things grow,
 but comes prepared to concentrate all his intelligence upon the work in hand.
 The successful culture of the olive, or any other fruit, in California requires intelligence and work as elsewhere, de- spite the fact the nature invites, in-
 deed urges, onestp rest by the wayside. It is the land of dolce far niente; but not to the successful orchardists he must be man ief vig0r and energy,
 and eaernal vigilance his watchword.
 Having secured his land. he buys from some reliable dealer cuttings taken from good, sound trees. These are three-fourths of an inch in diameter and two-thirds of a foot in length slender material one might think from which to produce a bearing tree ill four years. These cuttings have been taken from the parent tree in Decem- Der or January, and are planted in | rows in sandy soil, being replanted per- | manently in February and March at a distance of about twenty feet apart. These vii grow readily, and for a year the ground is kept well turned, the bush then being trimmed into a tree by cutting all the shoots but one, | and in succeeding years the grower | watches the tree and prunes it, with the idea in view of making lusty tree. | In four years some berries will be ob- l tained, and the orchardist is delighted at the luxuriant growth and the rich
 green olives, which hang sa gracefully, but yet not sufficiently abundant to be | of commercial value. In the sixth year
 the trees should produce thirty gallons ! each and in eight years the grower 1 finds himself in possession of beauti- | ful and productive grove. The trees have grown so wide that they fill the entire space and meet, and each tree under the most favorable conditions should produce forty gallons of olives. The orchardist figures that with one ] hundred trees to an acre, and forty gall | Ions per tree, he will have four thou
 sand gallons; but there are pests and
 other enemies which materially reduce this estimate. Indeed, if the grove
 produces fourth of this. he is doing well.
 | In November, when the first rains
 come, the olives ripen, and as soon as the berries begin to turn purple the picking begins; and if five bounded
 acres have been planted and are in bearing, gang of Mexicans and ,oth-
 CTS may be seen on the ground. Each picker carries 8 canvas oupen bag sus- pended in front of him, about the neck,
 and good picker should pick four
 hundred pounds per day. Some use | ladders; others pick from platforms on 1 the wagons which are driven along. 1 After the picking the olives are sub- 1 jected to a drying or evaporating pro- cess, and now the orchardist is con-
 fronted with the most delicate part of l his work, the making of olive oil. in the olden days the crusher or mill was
 conspicuous feature of every mission, and that of San Fernando IS still in 1 good condition, while the ruin of the old mill of San Gabriel is one of the points of interest in the San Gabriel
 valley. The temperature of the drier is
 not over one hundred and thirty de-
 grees, and so arranged that the work
 Is completed in two days. The drier it.
 self has capacity equal to the produc-
 ton of the grove. that of one orchard
 being five hundred square feet of sur
 face, and hodlng about two thousand
 pounds of olives; five pickers at four