Page:The Olive Its Culture in Theory and Practice.djvu/35

Rh which this tree is much inclined. The principal branches are bent over with the weight of the fruit which is generally plentiful.

Contrary to the habit of most olives it does not thrive near the sea. About Marseilles a temperature of sixteen degrees Fahrenheit has been known to be fatal to it where in the interior it had successfully resisted a cold spell of six degrees. This olive needs particular care in pruning, so as not to leave the tree too bare of branches, in order to take advantage of its tendency to give abundant crops, but on the other hand the warts must not be allowed to multiply. This olive seems to be a favorite in France where three varieties of it are known, but is entirely out of favor in Spain on account of its extraordinary tendency to multiply wart excrescences not only on the trunk but even up on the small branches and for which there is no cure but to cut the tree down to the crotch and let it start afresh.

This difference in habit of the same tree in France and Spain would seem to indicate the effect of soil and climate and so much the more so as these warts (which will be noticed in the chapter on diseases) cannot be traced to the attacks of any insect. Still the writer has noticed an olive tree badly afflicted with this disease in the vicinity of San Francisco, but it is doubtful whether it was the Picholine.

The late B. B. Redding, Esq., is credited with the introduction of the Picholine olive into California, after searching Europe for the plant best adapted to our soil and climate. All honor to Mr. Redding for his good intentions. But his knowledge of the olive at that early day must have been limited, and he appears to have fallen into the natural error of supposing that the largest berry was the most desirable; for on his return to this State he transferred a part of his original invoice of "Picholine" olives to Messrs. W. R. Strong & Co. of Sacramento as the Picholine or Queen olive, a large olive for pickling. Thus proving that his intention was to import the large Queen olive of Spain and also that he was imposed upon.