The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-11
OLIVE CULTURE
 IN OLO COUNTRY
How Ancient Fruit Is Gathered
 and Oil Extracted
ANTIQUATED METHODS
The Italian Government Is Taking Steps to Introduce Modern Improvements Into the
 Industry
From the Queen, London.

From the Queen, London.
 For many hundreds of years the in. habitants of Che little town of Grasse on the slopes of Rocquevignon, have devoted the winter months to gather ing in the 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 gardening ancestors behind them, for the olive is supposed to have been introduced into the south of France from Greece by Phonecian traders who landed In the country and founded Marseilles. 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 consid- erable wealth to the inhabitants of the neighborhood. Though 30 species of ovile are cultivated at the present day in France and Italy, only four are grown in Provence; and of these but one. the cailletier, in the district of Grasse, the headquarters of the French olive trade.
 Drouth Means Ruin
 Great care is taken of the trees dur ing the spring and summer months; the ground is well loosened; they are ire quently and judiciously pruned, and it mas been found that wooden rags are the best manure. But, in spite of every care, the success of the harvest de- bends upon the weather; a good rain fall while the fruit is swelling will in- sure 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 hundreds of years ago. The inhabitants sally forth with long poles and beat the trees till all the ripe ber- ries are off; those that are not yet remain on the boughs till the spring, and the oil obtained from them $ of much finer quality and is great CT in quantity than from those gathered during the winter. The amount of oil in an olive berry differs ac- cording to the species but averages 10 to 12 per cent on a measure of olives, and it is generally estimated that 240 litres of good berries produce 24 litres 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 50 oil mills in the commune, and each pro- duced about f0o0 kilos of oil a week. The The French olive growers are hard working, economical and thrifty people; they rarely spend more than 12 cents a day on food, living principally on bread and vegetables, with goats meat once a week for a treat, and they regularly de- posit all then can spare in the savings bank.
 The Industry in Italy
 The olive season in Italy is as impor- tant an institution as it is in the south of F ance, and it lasts from November till February. Olive trees grow all over the Tuscan plains and valleys, and the slopes of the hills are covered with olive yards, built one above the other In stone-banked many hundreds of years old The slender branches of the trees bend be- meath the weight of the shining black ber- ries 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 Der. ries 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 say ing which describes their condition: La prima oliva a orc, la seconda argento, la terza non val nienti' (The first olive is golden, the second silver and the third Is worthless').
 AS soon as enough berries have been gathered the peasants take them home, place them in a stone basin containing an od-fashoned millstone, such as has been in use for centuries, when they are reduced to a thick, dark green pulp. This pulp is shoveled into baskets with hole Tn the middle, and piled one above the other in a press, which is well worked till 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 tin scoop. passed through a funnel into clean wooden bar rel, and finally placed in terra cotta vases glazed inside and stored for household use or for sale. This oil Is the golden 1il' of the Tuscan proverb. An Inferior quality is obtained by passing the pulp through the press a second time; and the refuse, a dry, gritty and nearly black mass is quite worthless and Is sold at the rate of or cents for 45 pounds weight for making cheap soap.
 Guard Against Frost
 Great care is taken of the oil during the winter months The temperature of of storeroom is kept as equal as possible, ana m very cOlU weather a DraZler IS lighted to prevent 1t from freezing, for when once the frost touches it It's appear ance is ruined: 1t becomes thick and opaque and loses its beautiful golden Him. pid appearance, and, though it's flavor and quality are not diminished it's value as an article of commerce has consider ably depreoiated.
 The Italian government is taking steps to introduce modern improvements into the olive oil industry, for inferior and an- tiquated methods, which have been n vogue for centuries, are still in use among the peasantry. There are 30 schools of ag- riculture, which are maintained at the public expense, and at these schools spe- cial classes are devoted to the olive oil n- dustry, where the latest inventions and are taught to the people with the hope that they will in time con siderably increase the already large out put from the olive yards of Italy.
 
 Cholera in Italy
 Rome, December 10.-Sx new cases of cholera and one death were officially re- ported during the last "A hours.