The workman takes the substance out with a large ladle, and fills the baskets z; these are put one above the other, and pressed by screw presses, the oil escaping into receptacles. The whole of the paste or doughy water is not taken away during the operation. It is necessary to leave a certain quantity at the bottom of the boiler, in order that the boiler should not be burned, and that there should be time to fetch some water from the tubs.
As soon as the press acts on the baskets, boiling water is sprinkled on the outside of them. This helps to detach from the outside those particles of oil which otherwise would not drop down. They flow with the other oil into the same tubs. The whole is then put into jars ; and as water is heavier than the oil, the former goes to the bottom, and the latter floats. The whole is allowed to rest for a few days, during which all the sediment separates from the oil and goes to the bottom of the water. The jars are opened by a tap at the bottom, when the sediment is the first to come out, and it is carried to the boiler to be re-boiled ; afterwards comes the water. Then, when the oil begins to show, the tap is shut. This oil is put into casks ; but sometimes again into other jars, which operation naturally purifies it still more.
Reverting to the tanks containing the different kinds of crusts. After having gathered as much as possible of the oleaginous part, and the different particles of fruit, a workman armed with another scraper agitates the bottom of the basins, towards where the sediment with the other particles has been precipitated; then all the oleaginous and light particles that float on the top are taken away. This operation is repeated often, and when it appears that there is nothing more to be taken away from the tanks p s t x, the valve is opened in the basin x, to allow the water and sediment to flow away. Even this sediment could be boiled over again, and would give a little oil, for if there were basins for half a mile, the last would give some particles.
The husks, after having been taken away from the press, are made use of to keep up the fire under the boiler. They form also an excellent kind of grease. As to the white crust, or remainder of the kernels that remain in the tanks h j u, they have to undergo the same operations as the black crust. Finally, the valve is opened; but, as this tank is furnished with an iron grate, it is only the water that can escape, and the white crust remains dry. This crust is sometimes sold for heating the furnaces, and the profit derived from it is sufficient to pay the wages (in Spain and Italy) of the men employed in the refinery. Husks and various oily crusts and residues are now exhausted of their oil by the carbon bisulphide process (described on p. 1454) in many places on the Mediterranean coasts. Such oil is usually dark-green and stronger in stearine than the other oil ; it is used for soap-making. The only purification of the oil generally adopted in S. Europe is by allowing it to stand for a long time, and deposit its sediment. More elaborate processes of
purification are described under a separate heading of this article (see p. 1458).
Statistics of Production and Commerce.—The olive is grown in 12 departments of France, all situated in the S.; they are chiefly Var, Vaucluse, Bouches du Rhone, Gaud, and Alpes Maritimes. The area occupied by it was stated at 317,800 acres in 1877; the production of fruit in that year was 7,318,352 bush., and of oil, 392,618 cwt. Nantes exported 4636 kilo. in 1879 to England, Mexico, Venezuela, and Brazil. Lisbon exported 267,073 decal. (of 26 gal.), value 83,5551., in 1876. The Portuguese oil is very carelessly prepared, but of fuller and richer flavour than those of France and Italy. Spain is calculated to have 1 million hectares (of 2i acres) planted in olives. The chief oil producing districts of the province of Cordoba are Aguilar, Baena, Bujalance, Cabra, Castro del Rio, Fueute Obijuna, Hinojosa, Lucena, Montoro, Posadas, Pozoblanco, Priego, Ramble, and Bute, which havo a total of 468,335 acres covered with olives, and produce an annual average of over 2 million gal. of oil. The oil from Bujalance and Montoro finds a ready market in La Mancha and Madrid ; whilst Aguilar, Cabra, and Lucena send their surplus to Malaga. The oil from the other districts goes mostly to Seville for exportation ; but the Spanish oils are unable to compete with Italian and French in the foreign market, owing to their strong odour and flavour. The exports of olives and olive-oil from Cadiz in 1878 were :-Olives : 14,596 kilo. to Germany, 13,060 to Brazil, 458,202 to Spanish colonies, 1946 to Denmark, 7280 to United States, 6729 to France, 4112 to Holland, 50,263 to England, 1750 to Italy, 52,712 to Mexico, 4112 to Portugal, 112,956 to Argentine Republic, total, 727,718 kilo.; olive-oil : 269 kilo. to Germany, 930,578 to Spanish colonies, 4020 to United States, 20,618 to France, 13,382 to England, 1150 to Morocco, 73,975 to Mexico, 20,566 to Argentine Republic, 440 to British Colonies, total, 1,064,998 kilo. Santander, in 1879, shipped 50,000 lb. of olive-oil to France. Seville, in 1877, exported olives and oil as follows :-Olives : 140,000 kilo., value 2800l., to England ; 145,000 kilo., 29001., to France ; 30,000 kilo., 600/. to United States ; 1,792,000 kilo., 35,840l., to Spanish colonies and coast wise ; total, 2,107,000 kilo., 42,140l.; oil : 1,230,000 kilo., 49,200/., to Great Britain; 309,000 kilo., 12,3601., to France; 15,358,000 kilo., 614,320/., to Spanish colonies and coastwise ; total, 16,897,000 kilo., 675,880/. ; the olive-refuse shipped from this port in 1877 was 400,000 kilo., 800l., to Great Britain ; 1,766,000 kilo., 35321., to France; total, 2,166,000 kilo., 4332/. ; the olive-refuse exported to France in 1878 amounted to 7400 tons. Malaga exported 3,108,000 gal, of olive-oil in 1878, and 1,400,000 gal. in 1879 ; it goes mostly to the Baltic. The total Spanish exports of olive-oil were 52,356,000 kilo. in 1873, 4,992,000 in 1876, and 24,612,000 in 1878.