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Show 166 EMIGRANT'S GUIDE. . live into Languedoc. Let that be as it latter colony. mtroiluced th[ ohat the tree is forei gn to the south of may ' there IS . ampflfei p·nr(oJ' ofr otm sev·e re cold .· the winter of 1709 de,. France, from Its su en t? rees in the kingdom. . stroyed nearly .all th.e olive t and of a single piece ;_ the tube ~~1m The flower IS white, small, 1 1 . the corolla is smooth, dlvuled I th as the ca y c e 1 • drical, the same eng th·n(J' concave. the stamma two, oppo· into four' almost oval and smre l b • bed with yellow anthcra, one site supported on the coral af, gharrus} de . the stamina divided into ~ . . ~ 'h bottom o t e cay ' . . d . t. pisttl nsmg I rom. l e 1 1 . gle leaved' divide mto our. two at its summlt ; the cayce ~m le ~eeded first lisse, then green, The fruit furrowe~, a drup~ ~~~fi black,' following the uegree of afterwards brown, ~wlet, an ont;inl~ a soft fruit. . maturity : the shell•.s h~rd, entire an~ lanceolate ; hard, thick, pale The leaves are st~~ e,bel ' plied with a sallient nerve pass· reen above, and whitish e ow, sup ~ng entirely through th~~~af. and horizontal, very long; The bark The roots are. bran bs ~f a li hter colour than other parts of the yellow brown wtt~t!~obranch fro~ the tree above the surface of ~he root. T~e. rot~ts oght that this peculiarity arises from the earth bemg ground ; Jt IS ou . . t is onl seen on hilly places. carried awa~ by accide;t;a~: ~ize ge~erally straight and erect. The . The tree ts of a roo e fi ' d aml scaly when old. The bark is smooth when young!, urf~wein April always in May, and flower bud shows itself ear y' o en d. g' to the particular eli- . h d f May or June accor m blooms m t e en o 1 It'· t d <.IJ"ffer amon<Yst themselves Th · common y cu 1va e - o b mate. e specws . The flower rises from the ot-in their particular tl_owen~g :seabsonshes upon a common peduncle or tom of the leaf, dtsposeu m unc footstalk. . d in a ood classification of the There is a certam means to succee g l r that the in· . . f h r It is necessary 10weve ' o~c~ard ~anetle~ o . t ~i~h~~~· be able to bear tlle expense, and youn~ <hvtdualis suffic•~ntly [I th details of the experiment. Spect· enough to have hme to ollow, e ll the various p aces where the mens ought to be collected fiOm a l t d. d their pro· olive is culh• vateu.l . 'I' l!e:y oug ht t. henu to b. ef lpl an eA n, eanx act compart.· gress, flowe!ing, anl~ f~mtth ex~~~n:dv~~:=(Y~ rh at would result from son of species wou e e . b . tant would be the this mode ; but a second and much more. tmpor . nd that one knowleJge acquired of the most p r o dt~chve spectes, a which would best resist the rigours of wmtcr. f L uedoc would If this precaution had been tak ~ n, some par ts o ang not have been deprived of the ohv~ . . f .1 ; ~ gene· Climate and soil suitable to tile ohv_e.*- T h~ c~lotce 0 ~~~ri:hing in rally very indifferent respecting thts tree : It IS seen · t b determm• e d a t pre~cnt * This is certainly the most important questwn. o e , . . . the oil, m· pr~· by us respecting the olive. The manner of planttn1' exare~~~~~·ienced on tluf serving the fruit, will be best. learned from those a_ rea ~mates, and ranges o subject. If a car fu lreview ts takel of the rcspecttve c1 oz and sequel ~f llills and mountains of t he United Stdtes aud France, (see P· .,l,ow far supcess this treatise,) a very satisfactory estimate can b~ m_adeh utot~r ~ountry can tt in the cultivation of, and the proper place the ohve U.l t e a faiNy expected to vegetate to mo;)t advantage. E1\HGRANT'S GUIDE 167 rocky, stony, sandy, and volcanignes soil. It is on the latter variety of land that the oil is the best. It vegetates also vig0rousJy on strong aJJuv ialland, though the base is argilaceous. T he more or less prosperity in its vegetation, gives the character to the fruit and oil, allowance being made for the clitferent species. It is not then the quality of the soil that need be sought after, when its simple existence as a tree is the subject of inquiry: it is evident that this existence ari es from other causes. Ancient writers have contended that tha olive can exist more th;1n thirty leagues from the sea. This assertion may be true relative to France; but may be considered unfounded relative to all other cmmtrie~, where the tree in every other respect is found in places suitable to its growth. A distance of thirty leagues supposes at once an elevation of soil above the level of the sea;x. and consequently, a diminution in the height of the temperature of the place. If what has been said on the word agriculture, t on the subject of basins, is recalled, a solution of this important problem will be evi- . dent. It will be seen that iu the bailiwick of l'Aigle in Switzerland, that the almond, the pomegranate, and vine, grows in open air, and there enjoys a temperature almost equal to any part Q[ the south of France; whilst in the higher part of the same bailiwick, you find almost the .severity of the climate of Sweden. Bayonne is in 44° N. lat:; Carcassonne, Beziers, Montpe!Jier, Marseille;::;, Aix, Toulon~ and NJ~e, are on the same degree ; nevertheless, the olive never can ~e cultivated al Bayonne, hecause the sheHers are wanting; and beca~ se without these shelters the tree does not find the temperature SUitable to its habitudes. The chain of mountains that traverses Languedoc from east to west, is only di stant from the town of Beziers seven or eight leagues. The southern foot of those mountains are charged with olives ; but traverse the mountains in a distance of not more than two or three leagues, you no more find a shelter against the no~th winds, nor do y ou find the olive tr e ; ne vertheless thi~ in· terval Is only ten or twelve miles from the sea.:f: The exi~tence of the olive, then, depends not upon its relative diso tance from the sea, but to the sheltered position in which it is placed. ~ve~-y one m~y have ~een in the king's garden at Paris the olive growQ lng m open a1r; but It was there placed on the south side of a close i'· H would be impossible for any person, having the most limited knowledge of ~he southern parts of the United States, to read the above, without being as~?, ntsb~d .at _the. gr·eat re~~mblance ?e~ween those part~ and tlte south of France. te Mississtppt, by pos1ttvely admttttug the cold air ot the north to pass along its ~~:~·~nt, pm_duces the same eifect upon the climates ?f places along its bunks, G· lts negatively pr~du?ed by the Pyrenean mouutams upon the basin of the aronnc. The Moblle JS the Rhone of Not'th America. t See page ~7. ±n the 1 ted ~outh of the Blac~ Warrior, \~here the French colony has located, 1 rt an ::,ranted by the Umted States IS about 32Q 30' N. lat., two degrees of ;h1isud~, or ~eal"ly one hundred and forty miles distant from the gulf of Mexico. fores/ bee Is shelte1·eu ft·om the north by tolerable high hills and a th ick of M 'b.1ut as no settlement of long continuance has been made in the valley lVith ~ 1 e so ~ar north, the vi~issitude!i of tbe sea~ow cannot ~e dcter~it1ed ny certatnty ut preser!.t. · |
