Bisbee daily review., 1914-02-15
PASS AN
 ARIZONA OLIVE
Dr. A. E. Vinson Tells of the
 Excellence of Fruit and How
 to Raise it in This Country

tion, who has made stuuy or the olives in Arizona and Northern Afri- ca. is receiving numerous inquiries re- garding the possibilities of the fruit in this country, the best varieties to plant. and how to obtain them. He says: Oils and fats Of edible quality are the highest priced food products, and oil experts are of the opinion that the price will not be reduced mater lally in the near future. The increas- ing popularity of vegetable diets Is demanding the supplementing of those generally fat-poorl articles of food with vegetable oils to replace the Tat formerly consumed with meats. For this purpose the piclsled ripe olive is excellent, and it is destined to occu- py the place on the American table that it's food value warrants. There Is even now a good demand for ripe olives for home picking in the cities of the olive belt. The process Is so simple and the product so delicious and healthful that this adjunct to home economics needs but little fps tering to make it universal. Cotton seed and cocoanut oils are the chief competitors of olive oil; but connoi- seurs. whose . name is legion, will stand by the sweet. smooth ol of the scriptures as long as the human fam fly endures The market for the pro duct is assured.
 The variety that recommends It. self most highly for Arizona is the Mission. This excellent olive is med ium in size, although a larger olive with otherwise desirable characters Is needed. especially for the pickling industry. Most large varieties are suited only for green pickles, since they tend to become watery when ripe The Mission is unsurpassed in the flavor both Of its oil and of its ripe pickles. It Is extremely frost re- sistant. having passed a minimum of 5.5 degree F. at Tucson last winter without serious Injury Mission trees, however. are partly self-sterile and do not produce the'r maximum yields unless other varieties are grown with them. For this purpose the Manzan. illo would be excellent on account of its large fruit for picking. but unfor- tunately it is one of the most sensi- | tive to frost, and for this reason some growers in Salt River valley have eliminated it from their groves. ! The SeWllano. otherwise called Royal or Queen olive. is very desirable. but no one has had vide experience with | it in Arizona. In general, l believe i the safest olives for Arizona are those that ripen before Christmas, since the fruit, which is more sensitive to frost than the wood. is less apt to be | lost during severe winters. They have the further advantage of ripen. ing at about the same time as the Mission. which will probably always determine the pressing season in this district. Varieties that have been grown in Arizona and seem to meet this condition are: Cajon, ripening in December; Grossia. ripening un- evenly in November and December: Neyadillo, ripening in November and
 December; Pendulina. ripening in November and December: Razza. a little later ripening, but mentioned by Dr. Colt as a good oil olive for Ari. zona; Rubra, ripening in December and January; Uvaria, ripening in No. vember. The Chamlali, or dry land olive of Tunis. has now been. placed on the market and gives much prom ise for dry-farming purposes. The
 Abrekan, or non-bltter olive of Al geria, although not now available in America, may eventually prove of value under our conditions, as may also several other yarities of large
 pickling olives from Northern Africa.
 The time is now at hand when the
 woody cuttings so convenient for
 starting new trees should bc taken
 Pieces of wood three or four years
 old and the thickness of the thumb
 or more if possible. should be cut 1z
 to IS inches long and laid horizon
 tally in damp. well-drained soil until
 danger of freezing has passed They
 are then placed fin the ground at an
 angle of 45 degrees and allowed tc pTOJecl or lncneS dDONt tle sur face. The upper end of the stick i'
 completely covered with a mound oi ridge of soil to asdepth of an incl
 to prevent evaporation. The soil i' kept moist Roots will start from thu lower buds and a group of shoots wll , push up from the upper pair of buds
 All the shoots should be allowed t' grow the first year. but the secon'
 year only the strongest shoot is al
 lowed to remain. They may be car
 ried in nursery rows, 12 inches apar in the row, and set out in the or 5 chard at the end of the second year Y or the cuttings may be started wher
 the tree is desired to stand. In fact 1t is not much more difficult to star the cutting than to transplant tn
 young tree.
 There are other ways of propagai v ing the olive, such as by herbaceou t cuttings, but now is the opportun
 time for taking woody cuttings. On will often succeed with the wood c " recent water sprouts. but this is nc so good as the older wood recon