El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-03-05
Olives Viii Grov In the Southwest
Results Of Experiments Conducted In Arizona
By
Results Of Experiments {


From time immemorial the olive tree
has been cultivated in countries border
ing on the Mediterranean sea. From
this region. where it is native, IL mas
spread TO other countries in various
parts of the world where the climatic
conditions approximate those of its ma
tive habitat For % years or more ollFe
trees have been grown IN southern Ar
IONA, and their state of health, vigor
aud pToductiveness today proves that
the climatic and soil conditions OF the
inland arid southwest are emlnently
suited to their culture. In general, TOT
best development, the olive requires
hot, dry climate. where the temperature
does not fall below 20 degrees r A
temperature of "A degrees +. will usually
injure the fruit, while il to is degrees
viii often do serious damage 70 the tree
These conditions are met in most Of the
valleys of southern Arizona where the
elevation is less than 5000 feet At the
station farm, in Salt River valley, the
trees are never injured by cold and II
is rare that the fruit is frosted.
Milton Munger, Of Phoenix writes
that on December :, 1909. the thermom-
eter registered 25 degrees in his oilVe
orchard with the following results:
The ManzaniIlo olives were frozen so
that we had to stop picking The ripe
ones were only shrivelled 4 little but the
green Manzanillo olives rotted on the
trees. Mission olives were only slightly
frosted and picked up well after the
freeze. The Navadillo were not affected
by the freeze. About One-half of the
Columbella olives were frozen. All the
other varieties were frozen. the ripe ones
shrivell;ng badly and the green ones
TO: ing
Soil and Irrigation.
In its ability TO Withstand desert con-
tiohs the olive surpasses any other
fT.it tree. with the possible exception
of the date. Many instances are known
o. well started olive trees being aban-
doned for lack of water; and yet, al
though subject to desert conditions and
the browsing of cattle for years, they
still live and make a small growth each
year. In Salt River valley in particu-
lar many isolated trees and one small
grove Of the Mission variety have per-
sisted for five or six years with no cul-
tiVation end with no water except the
naturai rainfall. These trees still have
q fairly good appearance, except that
tkeiI tops are thin and very little
growth * made Practically no fruit is
borne by our common varieties under
these conditions. The fact, however. that
they are alive and capable of being
easily brought back into a state Of
profitable productiveness demonstrates
the lack of water for year usually
means the loss Of trees which it has
arid country, where the water supply
is TOO often subject to interruption. In
the case of citrus and deciduous fruits,
the lack OF water for a year usually
means the loss of trees which il has
taken years to grow But the olive tree
under such conditions simply drops its
croI of fruit and awaits the return OF
fbcT
crop.
Tt is possible that in the years TO come,
when the economic status Of this region
will have more nearly reached an equi-
librium and the cost of unskilled labor
viii have been lowered by greater COM
petition. that considerable areas of our
fertile desert land may be utilized by
dry land olive culture without irrigation.
This will mean, Of course. careful cul-
tisafion skillful conservation of the
''run-off," and the utilization of such
drouth resistant varieties as the Chem
lali, and perhaps others, introduced
from northern Africa (-See Dry Land
Olive Culture in Northern Africa by T.
H. Kearney, bulletin u, Bureau of Plant
Industry, L s. D. A.
However this may be, it is fairly GER
tain that for quite a number of years TO
come, the chief concern OF the olive
growers Of Arizona will be TO raise the
best varieties which we have at hand
on valley lands, and under an establish
ed system Of irrigation
The olive prefers a well drained, light
sandy or graTelly soil. It will thrive
On almost any Of the valley soils, except, |
perhaps. a very heavy adobe. A supply
Of water sufficient for a deciduous
orchard is hardly necessary for an olive !
grove, but the water used should be
evenly distributed throughout the sea-
SON. and each irrigation followed by !
thorough cultivation to retard evapora- !
ton from the soil. Occasional winter |
cover crops of sour clover or biennial |
cover crops OF alfalfa will keep the soil |
spongy and in the proper physical con- !
dition to hold water
Propagation
Like most of the deciduous fruits the |
olive falls 10 come true from seed but /
reverts 70 more or less wild and worth |
less type. From earliest times the olive |
has been associated with the more civ |
LIKED peoples inhabiting the countries /
bordering on the Mediterranean, and 1
consequently the selection and propa-