Page:Travels & discoveries in the Levant (1865) Vol. 1.djvu/111

Rh as in Italy, the olives are ground first with stones set wide apart, so as not to crush the kernels ; by a second grinding the kernels are crushed, and a rank, inferior oil is produced. These two oils are kept separate. In Mytilene the kernels are always ground in the first grinding ; and the object being the quan- tity, not the quahty of the oil, one inferior kind is produced instead of the two separate products. Lastly has to be mentioned, the mode of pressing the olives when ground or reduced to pulp. In Mytilene the pulp is pressed in hair bags with warm water; in Italy the bags are made of rushes, and cold water only is employed. The Italian bags have been tried in Mytilene, but the old process is pre- ferred. In Mytilene the same pulp is pressed several times through the same bags, each time producing a coarser kind of oil. The produce of these succes- sive squeezings is all mixed together. In Italy, the pulp, after one pressure, is thrown out into large tanks, so as to produce what is called huile larée.

For the pressure of the pulp in Italy, an hydraidic press has been introduced; in Mytilene the primitive hand-press is still employed. Steam-power has been tried, but does not seem to be approved. In Italy the greatest care is observed in washing the mill and press after use, in Mytilene none.

The oil produced in Mytilene is partly consumed in the island, in the manufacture of soap and for lamps, the remainder is exported to Europe for oiling machinery. Formerly the quantity of oil exported ranged from 200,000 to 220,000 quintals, or 10,800 to 11,900 tons. The severe winter of