The San Francisco call., 1910-12-20
Olive CULTURE in
EUROPE IMPORTANT
Antiquated Methods Used in
Gathering Fruit and Ex=
tracing Its Oil

For many hundreds of years the in
Habitants OF the little town Of Grasse
on the scopes Of Rocquevignon. have
dropped the winter months to gather
ing in the rich olive harvest and TO pre-
pairing the oil which is now renowned
the world over. The trade is one Of
the most ancient in Europe. and the
olive growers have a long line Of gar
dening ancestors behind them, for the
olive is supposed to have been intro
duced into the south Of France from
Greece by Phoenician traders who land
ed IN the country and founded Mar
seilles, says a writer in the Queen. The
soil proved admirably suited to its cul-
ture and it soon became one Of the
recognized industries Of the country
and brought good trade and consider
able wealth 10 the inhabitants Of the
neighbOrhood. Though 30 species OF
olive are cultivated at the present day
IN France and Italy. only four are
grown IN Provence. and of these but
one, the cailetier, in the district of
Grasse, the headquarters of the French
olive trade, says the indianapolis News.
DROUGHT MEANS RUIN
Great care is taken Of the trees dur
ing the spring and summer months; the
ground is well loosened; they are fire.
quently and jsdiciously pruned, and 1t
has been found that woolen rags are
the best manure. But in spite OF every
care the success Of the harvest depends
upon the weather; a good rainfall while
the fruit is swelling viii insure a fine
crop, but absence of rain and dry winds
destroy all chance Of one. The harvest
lasts many weeks. and the gathering
Of the fruit is carried on in the same
primitive fashion which obtained hun
,F-s-
sally forth with long poles and beat
the trees till all the ripe berries are of.
Those that are not yet matured remain
on the boughs till the spring. and the
oil obtained from them is Of a much
finer quality and is greater in quantity
than from those gathered during the
winter. The amount Of oil contained
in an olive berry differs according to
the species, but averages 10 to y per
cent on a measure of olives. and ii is
generally estimated that 240 litres of
good berries produce "A ltres of purest
oil
Nice is now the chief market for
French olive oil, though Grasse still
remains the center Of the olive factory
district Of France. In 1901 there were
more than 80 oil mills in the commune
and each produced about 900 kilos of
oil a week The French olive growers
are a hard working, economical and
thrifty people; they rarely spend more
than u cents a day on food, living prin-
cipally on bread and vegetables. with
goats meat once a week for treat
and they regularly deposit all they can
spare in the savings bank.
The olive season in Italy is as inn
pOrtant an institution as il is in the
south of France. and it lasts from No
vember till February Olive trees grow
al over the Tuscan plains and valleys
Il
with olive yards, but one above the
other IN stone banked terraces many
hundreds of years old. The slender
branches Of the trees bend beneath the
weight of the shining black berries
The work of picking them Is tedious
and laborious. and every man, woman
and child is pressed into the service
The men mount the trees and gather
the berries from the branches, while
the women and children pick up those
that strew the ground. The fruit IS
divided into three qualities. and there
is an old Tuscan saying which describes
their condition: La prina DIVA a oro
Ia seconda argentO, Ia terra non va
nienfiv (''The first olive is golden, the
second silver and the third is worth
less."D
As soon as enough berries have been
gathered the peasants take them home
and place them in a stone basin con-
tanning an old fashioned millstone. such
as has been in use for centuries, when
they are reduced to a thick, dark green
pulp. This pulp is -shoveled into bas-
kets with a bole in the middle and
piled one above the other IN a press
which is well worked until the oil is
extracted. The Italian olives contain
third Of oil to two-thirds Of water
The oil is carefully skinned off the
top with a tin scoop, passed through
a funnel into clean wooden barrel
and finally placed in terra Gotta vases
glazed inside and stored for household
use or for sale. This oil is the COLDER
oil" Of the Tuscan proverb. An in
ferior quality is obtained by passing
the pulp through the press a second
time; and the refuse, dry, gritty and
nearly black mass, Is quite worthless
and is sold at the rate Of or cents
for 55 pounds weight for making cheaI
soap
GUARD AGAINST FROST
Great care is taken Of the oil dur.
ing the winter months. The tempera
ture Of the storeroom is kept as equa
rs possible and in very cold weather
brazier is lighted TO prevent it from
freezing. for when once the frOs
touches il its appearance is ruined; j
becomes thick and Opaque and loses it,
beautiful golden. limpid appearance
and. although its fiavor and quality are
not diminished its value as an article
of commerce has considerably depre
ciated.
The Italian government is takins
steps TO Introduce modern improve
ments into the olive oil industry, foi
inferior and sntiquated methods. which
have been in vogue for centuries. ar
stiU in use among the peasantry. There
are 80 schools OF agriculture, which
os-e int a he
and at these schools special classes
are devoted to the olive oil industry
where the latest inventions and i'm
provements are taught to the people
with the hope that they will in time
considerabl increase the already larg,
output from the olive yards Of Italy.