Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 305, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 December 1919 — Olive Tree Introduced in Golden State by Priests; Mission Variety Popular [ARTICLE]

Olive Tree Introduced in Golden State by Priests; Mission Variety Popular

The ancient scrap between Minerva, who gave the olive, and Apollo, who bestowed the horse upon mankind, was decided, as will be remembered, in favor of the lady—the dispute being as to which of the two gifts was the more valuable. To understand the reason for this decision, one ought to live in the Mediterranean region, where the olive is a vital factor in the lives of the people. They could much more easily spare the equine quadruped. Olive culture has already assumed great importance in our own country. In 1916 (the latest year for which figures are available) there were in California 834,938 olive trees in bearing, and 515,221 not yet- old enough to yield fruit. The state’s production in that year was 1,000,000 gallons of olive oil and 1,800,000 gallons of pickled olives. The olive tree was introduced in California by Spanish priests, the first grove being planted in San Diego in 1769. From those trees is descended what is today the most popular variety, the so-called Mission olive.