Page:A Practical Treatise on Olive Culture, Oil Making and Olive Pickling.djvu/14

 p. 139.: It will grow up to an altitude of 1200, 1800, and even of 2300 feet, in some instances.

Fabien speaks of the necessity of temperate climates for the olive tree. It prefers the neighborhood of the sea, and it is more fertile in proportion as it approaches salt water, to enjoy the sea breezes.

There are still at Jerusalem olive trees, that M. Bove estimates to be possibly over 2,000 years old, that have witnessed the great scenes of the Savior's Passion.

M. Enault affirms that he has seen the finest trees in existence at Mount Carmel, in Galilea and in Samaria, and that he has seen none anywhere presenting an appearance of extreme age so striking as those of Gethsemane found in arid and rocky situations.

Finally Delille affirms that he picked a branch of the famous olive tree of Athens, the age of which is admitted to be about forty centuries.