Danny Moyer, age 9, of Redding, Calif., for his question:
WHERE DID THE OLIVE COME FROM?
Men have been growing olives even longer than they have been recording their history. This fruit was first grown in the Eastern Mediterranean basin where the olive trees grow wild.
Hundreds of years ago man discovered that it was easy to transplant and grow olive trees. So he started by planting them all around the Mediterranean Sea.
The Spaniards brought the olive to America and it reached California in 1769.
Olive trees seem to live longer than most other fruit trees. Some of the trees brought by the Spaniards to California are still alive.
And there are olive trees in Palestine which probably date back to the beginning of the Christian Era.
An olive tree will grow many small flowers. They give off a great deal of pollen and, as a general rule, the wind carries the pollen from flower to flower. In all the varieties of olive, a tree can fertilize its flowers with its own pollen.
In occasional seasons there is evidence that the trees benefit if they receive pollen from other trees. Most varieties do not bear large crops one season after another, but have a slack season in between good ones. This is called alternate bearing.
The olive itself is a drupe, which is the type of fruit with a pit. It is apple shaped to plum shaped, and the ripe fruit is purple to black.
The most important material in it is the olive oil. Both seed and flesh contain much oil, which makes up 15 to 30 percent of the weight of the fruit.
Fresh olives have a bitter substance which makes them unpleasant to eat. The substance is largely or entirely removed when they are prepared for market.
To produce large fruit, an olive grower must irrigate and prune the trees and thin the fruit. Early harvesting partially overcomes alternate bearing. Fertilizers that add nitrogen to the soil also give a larger yeild.
Parts cut off from an olive tree will readily take root and grow into new trees. The young trees will grow in many different types of soil, but need good drainage.
The olive trees grow especially well where the climate is very hot and dry. But for bearing good fruit, it needs a moderate supply of water.
The fruit on an olive tree matures from October to January. The trees can be injured if the temperature falls below 26 degrees Fahrenheit. But the tree is not seriously injured until the temperature falls to 16 degrees Fahrenheit.
Italy today is the world's leading olive growing country. Following in order of importance are Spain, Greece, Turkey, Tunisia, Portugal, Morocco, Algeria, Syria and Libya.
In the United States, a large part of the industry is based on preparing the fruit for eating. Oil is a sideline.
Harvesting olives requires careful handling.