Page:The Olive Its Culture in Theory and Practice.djvu/37

Rh much oil of a fine quality. It ripens early, but needs careful pruning as its fruit shoots are somewhat sparse.

This is a large tree in a favorable soil, limbs straight and long, twigs abundant. The wood is exceedingly hard. It ripens early, but is sensitive to cold and needs sheltered situations. It gives abundant fruit and good oil. It needs frequent and severe pruning to compel it to bear.

The Lechin or Picholine has been fully described.

This tree needs a good soil, fertilizers and water if the ground is too dry. Under these conditions it grows to a very large size. The wood is of a dark color. The limbs are long, smooth and curved, but the fruit twigs are apt to shrivel and die after the berries have prematurely fallen. This is apt to occur with the fruit of this tree as the berries are of such very large size and consequently heavy, and so are easily detached. For this reason it is a favorite olive for pickling as then the berries are picked green. The pruning should be limited to frequent trimming and to keeping the tree free from dead twigs and broken branches. It ripens very early and with little heat, requiring only ten thousand, seven hundred and ninety-five degrees of heat from flower to ripened berry.

This olive is cultivated for its rusticity and ability to resist clouds and salt sea winds, and where the Razzo, Grossajo and Morajolo do not thrive, the Mignolo will do well and give abundant crops. Its branches are longer than the Morajolo, less ramified, more rigid and more robust, with a tendency to grow up, on which account its