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<pre>BARNEA

New Zealanders have had considerable experience of Barnea as it has
been widely planted around Blenheim.
The problem with the early planting was it was recommended that the
variety was self pollinating. This is not the case and pollinators are
essential (as with all varieties).
I am interested that it is claimed that the quality of the oil is
good. That has not been our experience and in our book on olives and oil we
call it the sultana of the olive oil industry.
With the yield and early maturity one needs to make sure that the
results come from properly controlled experiments. A yield of olives in two
years is not that surprising. We had 20 to 30 olives off each of our
Moraiolo trees which are only two years old (or at least two years in our
grove) but it is hardly a significant yield. One of the reasons that olives
have such a reputation for slow growth is that in Italy (and many other
Mediterranean countries) that have been planted on poor soil. The best land
is used for cereals, the next for vines, the third for olives and the last
for forest. Now with cereal land quarantined under "set aside" and the
general surplus of agricultural land in Europe olives are moving up a
couple of grades and I have seen some remarkably productive olive groves
near here which have been planted on good land with the classic Umbrian and
Tuscan varieties.

Cheers Brian Chatterton.
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