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<pre>There is one fly in the ointment - fruit fall. I don't doubt the figure
for oil percentage produced by "Vulture" but it is plain wrong to say
the more the olives ripen the more oil you get. You get a higher
percentage but many can drop on the ground. You have to take these into
account. The difficulty with Vulture's experiment is the harvest dates
are far apart. I believe that the January date actually gave less oil.
The percentage was impressive but fruit fall by that time can reach
very high levels and the total amount of oil is not any higher than
earlier picking.
Of course different climates have different picking dates but here in
this part of Italy the experimental centres have conducted careful
research on oil percentage AND fruit fall. For most cultivars the
highest yield of oil in about the end of November. After that the
percentage continues to climb steadily but the fruit fall is even more
rapid and the total amount of oil harvested falls.

Cheers Brian Chatterton.
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