Olive Trees

Historic olive grove at Smugglers Cove, Santa Cruz Island

Historic olive grove at Smugglers Cove, Santa Cruz Island

Olive trees were planted on the east end of Santa Cruz Island under the direction of Justinian Caire in the 1880s. Caire’s intent was to make maximum use of the island’s resources. By 1917 olives were still being harvested, and by 1922 picking was abandoned. [See letter book. 1922 abandoned. See Symes.]

Redding Picholine: "This tree is of small dimensions. The fruit is very small, as shown in the illustration, and is of deep blue-black color; it makes very good oil and a very sweet pickle (ripe and green), but is best suited as a stock to bud and graft upon. THis little olive was introduced several years ago under the name of Picholine, which name it bore until it came into fruiting. I have seen some of the original trees that were imported at that time. There is more than one variety. The tops of the trees supposed to be the Picholine died down to the graft, and they put forth many shoots, from which this little olive originated. It is no doubt a wild species; it belongs to that type....THe wild olive has only one, as shown in the illustration of the Redding Picholine (Cal.). The fruit of the Redding Picholine being so small, makes it difficult of gathering. In the gathering the fruit the best process in use is to lay on the ground under the tree large cloths, and the fruit is then stripped from the limbs with a wooden hand comb; they are then passed through a blower, to separate all the leaves, etc., from the fruit." [Annual Report of the State Board of Horticulture of the State of California for 1889. Sacramento: California Department of Agriculture (1890:93) ].

"...At any rate, what has been said about the Redding Picholine being nearly allied to the wild olive, and comparatively worthless, has created alarm amongst the growers.This variety has been planted by the thousands. It is important and necessary that we should investigate these statements, so as to prevent the planting of new orchards of worthless varieties, or should the publications have no foundation in fact, then to allay the alarm created by them..." [Annual Report of the State Board of Horticulture of the State of California for 1889. Sacramento: California Department of Agriculture (1890:290) ].

Ellwood Cooper, 19th century Santa Barbara olive grower states: "The numerous discouraging reports upon the Redding Picholine has disheartened those who have planted this variety, and left thousands of the young trees in the nurseries unsalable. The demand for the Mission cannot be supplied..." [Annual Report of the State Board of Horticulture of the State of California for 1889. Sacramento: California Department of Agriculture (1890:341) ].

"The Redding Picholine was imported from France by the late B. B. Redding. It was imported for the very large pickling olive known in France as the Picholine, and very highly esteemed there for that purpose, as well as for the small quantity of high-grade oil it yielded. For a long time it was supposed that the Redding Picholine was after all the true Picholine of Europe. Reference to the true Picholine will show that this is an error, the fruit being very much smaller, as well as different in shape... Having gained a place in the olive orchards of the State by being mistaken for the true Picholine of Europe, it only remains to speak of the use that may be made of, and this is best given, perhaps, in the following statement: The tree is such an excellent grafting stock that it can readily be grafted into just as prolific varieties, which do not possess the same faults. " [Report of work of the Agricultural Experiment Station of the University of California for the year 1897-8 (1900:271-272)]

• 1892. Cooper, Ellwood. The Olive in California Californian Illustrated Magazine 1(2):51-57, January 1892

[original in SCIF archives]

Map of the Historic Olive Grove, Smugglers Cove, Santa Cruz Island

Olive Information from SCI Company Historic Records at Santa Cruz Island Foundation

In the News~

July 9, 1891 [LAT]: “The olive growers. They meet at San Francisco and organize…The following officers were elected: Ellwood Cooper, Santa Barbara, president; John Bidwell, Cuico, vice-president; Justinian Caire, San Francisco, treasurer; B. M. Lelong, San Francisco, secretary…The association will be known as the Olive Growers’ Association of San Francisco…”

July 22, 1892 [SBMP]: “Olive Growers. The Association in Annual Session at San Francisco. President [Ellwood] Cooper Re-Elected. San Francisco, July 21. The convention of olive growers opened here today, Ellwood Cooper presiding. In his annual address he urged the necessity of additional legislation for the prevention of the adulteration of olive oil... At a meeting of the directors, Ellwood Cooper was elected President, Frank Kimball Vice-President, Justinian Caire of San Francisco Treasurer, B. M. DeLong of San Francisco Secretary.”

1905: “Grapes, olives, wine, poultry, sheep and wool are shipped in large quantities…” [Sunset Magazine, Another Treaasure Island by Heatherwick Kirk, 1905 (239)

February 14, 1917 [SCICo]: “At Scorpion there are but two men and the cook. They are engaged in picking olives at Smuggler’s and repairing fence.”

July 3, 2017: “ ...Such studies may appear purely academic; however, they can also address more timely questions and assist in characterizing cultivars. For example, a 2010 study in California made genotypic comparisons between historic olive plantings in Santa Barbara, CA and at Santa Cruz Island, CA. The study elucidated that the olives on Santa Cruz Island, planted in the late 19th century are different than other historic olive plantings in Santa Barbara, CA. Olives planted at the Santa Barbara Mission in the late 18th century are the ‘Mission' cultivar, whereas those on Santa Cruz Island (Figure 3) are generally ‘Redding Picholine.' Interestingly, the olives on Santa Cruz Island are thought to have been planted for oil production, but there are no historic reports of harvest or sale of a crop. Additionally, the Santa Cruz Island olives have become somewhat invasive on the island due to their propensity to establish from seed. As a result of genotypic analysis of these populations and the fact that ‘Picholine' makes an excellent rootstock due to its ease of propagation from seed, it is hypothesized that the ‘Picholine' variety was intended as a rootstock, but the grafts never took. Consequently, maturation of a ‘Picholine' orchard may have just been an accident, a mistake, or simply bad luck. The completion of this local population genetics study may have helped explain the unsolved mystery of the historically unharvested trees on Santa Cruz Island. [Fichtner, Elizabeth. California Olives and the Mystery of Santa Cruz Island Topics in Subtropics blog: https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=24204]”