290 THE TOURIST'S CALIFORNIA
San Fernando which are given to the cultivation of the olive comprise one of the largest single orchards known.[1] The first of these trees to thrive in California were set out by the padres at San Diego and are still bearing. In all the State there are about 20,000 acres devoted to olive culture. Pickling olives bring $100 to $125 a ton, those used for oil about half as much. More than half the olives grown are crushed for their oil, 35 gallons being produced ordinarily from a ton of ripe fruit. About 1,000,000 gallons are pickled annually. The ripe black olive is preferred in California to the green product preserved in brine. The crop begins to mature in December and is harvested in May.
A short distance from Mission San Fernando is the storage reservoir which daily receives from the Owens River aqueduct 260,000,000 gallons of water for distribution to Los Angeles, 30 miles away.
The Pacific Electric makes connection between San Fernando village and Mission and Los Angeles via Van Nuys, Lankershim, Cahuenga Pass and Hollywood. The route of the Southern Pacific is via Burbank and the strawberry fields of Tropico.
- ↑ This has been called the most extensive planting of olive trees in the world. But there is a Tunisian orchard which numbers 2000 acres.
