Aristotle wrote into the Constitution of the Athenians that anyone who uprooted or felled an olive tree should be taken to court and, if found guilty, given the chop themselves. I thought of this as I read that Puglia has taken the first step to passing a law against old olive trees being uprooted, from that region, and shipped off as a fashion accessory to Northern European gardens.
The going rate for an old tree has apparently risen from 1200 euros to 12000 euros in the last 10 to 15 years. Vendors say the olive trees are at the end of their productive life but this is countered by people who argue they are a heritage part of the landscape and still producing. For its part Paglia intends to limit the sale to centuries old tree to no more than five per farm and to encourage the branding of olive oil made from such trees.
Anyone who would like to know more about the trade, in ancient olive trees, could read Alex Dingwall-Main's book "The Angel Tree" on the subject. Its top left among the Olive Blogs list of Amazon books. Plato's olive tree is written up here.
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