BOOK XVII. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE CULTIVATED TREES. (continued 2)

(17.) We must not here omit one very singular circumstance. Corellius, a member of the Equestrian order at Rome, and a native of Ateste, grafted a chesnut, in the territory of Neapolis, with a slip taken from the same tree, and from this was produced the chesnut which is so highly esteemed, and from him has derived its name. At a later period again, Etereius, his freedman, grafted the Corellian3037 chesnut afresh. There is this difference between the two; the Corellian is more prolific, but the Etereian is of superior quality.

CHAP. 27.—PLANTS WHICH GROW FROM A BRANCH.

It is accident that has the credit of devising the other methods of reproduction, and has taught us how to break off a branch of a tree and plant it in the earth, from seeing stakes, when driven in the earth, take root, and grow. It is in this way that many of the trees are reproduced, and the fig more particularly; which may be propagated also by all the methods previously stated, with the exception, indeed, of that by cuttings. The best plan, however, is to take a pretty large branch, and, after sharpening it like a stake,3038 to drive it to a considerable depth in the earth, taking care to leave only a small portion above ground, and then to cover it over with sand. The pomegranate, too, may be planted in a similar manner, the hole being first widened with a stake; the same, too, with the myrtle. For all trees of this nature a branch is required three feet in length, and not quite the thickness of the arm, care being taken to keep the bark on, and to sharpen the branch to a point at the lower end.

CHAP. 28.—TREES WHICH GROW FROM CUTTINGS; THE MODE OF PLANTING THEM.

The myrtle, too, may be propagated from cuttings, and the mulberry is grown no other way, the religious observances relative to lightning3039 forbidding it to be grafted on the elm;3040 hence it would appear that the present is a fitting opportunity for speaking of reproduction from cuttings. Care should be taken more particularly to select the slips from fruitful trees, and it should be seen that they are neither bent, scabbed, nor bifurcated. The cuttings, too, should be thick enough to fill the hand, and not less than a foot in length: the bark, too, should be uninjured, and the end which is cut and lies nearest the root should always be the one inserted in the earth. While the work of germination is going on, the slip should be kept well moulded up, until such time as it has fully taken root.

CHAP. 29. (18.)—THE CULTIVATION OF THE OLIVE.

Cato3041 has treated so well of the precautions that are necessary in cultivating the olive, that we cannot do better than employ his own words on the subject. “Let the slips of olive,” says he, “which you are about to plant in the hole, be three feet long, and be very careful in your treatment of them, so as not to injure the bark when you are smoothing or cutting them. Those that you are going to plant in the nursery, should be a foot in length; and you should plant them the following way: let the spot be turned up with the mattock, and the soil be well loosened. When you put the cutting in the ground, press it down with the foot only. If there is any difficulty in making it descend, drive it down with a mallet or the handle of the dibble, but be careful not to break the bark in doing so. Take care, too, not to make a hole first with the dibble, for the slip will have the better chance of surviving the other way. When the slip is three years old, due care must be taken to observe the direction in which each side of the bark is situate. If you are planting in holes or furrows, you must put in the cuttings by threes, but be careful to keep them separate. Above ground, however, they should not be more than four fingers distant from one another, and each of them must have a bud or eye above ground. In taking up the olive for transplanting, you must use the greatest caution, and see that there is as much earth left about the roots as possible. When you have covered the roots well up, tread down the earth with the foot, so that nothing may injure the plant.”

CHAP. 30.—TRANSPLANTING OPERATIONS AS DISTRIBUTED THROUGHOUT THE VARIOUS SEASONS OF THE YEAR.

If the enquiry is made what is the proper season for planting the olive, my answer will be, “where the soil is dry, at seed-time; where it is rich, in spring.” The following is the advice given by Cato3042 on the subject: “Begin pruning your olive-yard fifteen days before the vernal equinox; from that period for forty days will be a good time for doing so. In pruning, adopt the following rules: when the ground is extremely productive, remove all the dry branches or such as may have been broken by the wind; where it is not so prolific, you must cut away still more, then tie them well up, and remove all tangled branches, so as to lighten the roots. In autumn clear away the roots of the olive, and then manure them. The man who labours most assiduously and most earnestly will remove the very smallest fibres that are attached to the roots. If, however, he hoes negligently, the roots will soon appear again above ground, and become thicker than ever; the consequence of which will be, that the vigour of the tree will be expended in the roots.”

We have already stated, when speaking on the subject of oil,3043 what are the different varieties of the olive, in what kind of soil it ought to be planted, and what is the proper aspect for the olive-yard. Mago recommends that the olive should be planted on declivities and in dry spots, in an argillaceous soil, and between autumn and the winter equinox. If, on the other hand, the soil is thick, humid, or somewhat damp even, it ought to be planted between harvest and the winter solstice; advice, however, it should be remembered, applicable to Africa more particularly. At the present day, it is mostly the custom in Italy to plant the olive in spring, but if it is thought desirable to do so in the autumn as well, there are only four days in the forty between the equinox and the setting of the Vergiliæ that are unfavourable for planting it.3044 It is a practice peculiar to Africa, to engraft the olive on the wild olive only, a tree which is made to be everlasting, as it were; for when it becomes old the best of the suckers are carefully trained for adoption by grafting, and in this way in another tree it grows young again; an operation which may be repeated continuously as often as needed; so much so, indeed, that the same olive-yard will last for ages.3045 The wild olive also is propagated both by insertion and inoculation.

It is not advisable to plant the olive in a site where the quercus has been lately rooted up; for the earth-worms, known as “raucæ,” which breed in the root of the quercus, are apt to get into that of the olive. It has been found, from practical experience, that it is not advisable to bury the cuttings in the ground nor yet to dry them before they are planted out. Experience has also taught us that it is the best plan to clean an old olive-yard every other year, between the vernal equinox and the rising of the Vergiliæ, and to lay moss about the roots; to dig holes also round the trees every year, just after the summer solstice, two cubits wide by a foot in depth, and to manure them every third year.

Mago, too, recommends that the almond should be planted between the setting of Arcturus3046 and the winter solstice. All the varieties, however, of the pear, he says, should not be planted at the same time, as they do not all blossom together. Those with oblong or round fruit should be planted between the setting of the Vergiliæ and the winter solstice, and the other kinds in the middle of the winter, after the setting of the constellation of the Arrow,3047 on a site that looks towards the east or north. The laurel should be planted between the setting of the Eagle and that of the Arrow; for we find that the proper time for planting is equally connected with the aspect of the heavenly bodies. For the most part it has been recommended that this should be done in spring and autumn; but there is another appropriate period also, though known to but few, about the rising of the Dog-star, namely; it is not, however, equally advantageous in all localities. Still, I ought not to omit making mention of it, as I am not setting forth the peculiar advantages of any one country in particular, but am enquiring into the operations of Nature taken as a whole.

In the region of Cyrenaica, the planting is generally done while the Etesian3048 winds prevail, and the same is the case in Greece, and with the olive more particularly in Laconia. At this period, also, the vine is planted in the island of Cos; and in the rest of Greece they do not neglect to inoculate and graft, though they do not3049 plant, their trees just then. The natural qualities, too, of the respective localities, exercise a very considerable influence in this respect; for in Egypt they plant in any month, as also in all other countries where summer rains do not prevail, India and Æthiopia, for instance. When trees are not planted in the spring they must be planted in autumn, as a matter of course.

There are three stated periods, then, for germination;3050 spring, the rising of the Dog-star, and that of Arcturus. And, indeed, it is not the animated beings only that are ardent for the propagation of their species, for this desire is manifested in even a greater degree by the earth and all its vegetable productions; to employ this tendency at the proper moment is the most advantageous method of ensuring an abundant increase. These moments, too, are of peculiar importance in relation to the process of grafting, as it is then that the two productions manifest a mutual desire of uniting. Those who prefer the spring for grafting commence operations immediately after the vernal equinox, reckoning on the fact that then the buds are just coming out, a thing that greatly facilitates the union of the barks. On the other hand, those who prefer the autumn graft immediately after the rising of Arcturus, because then the graft at once takes root in some degree, and becomes seasoned for spring, so as not to exhaust its strength all at once in the process of germination. However, there are certain fixed periods of the year, in all cases, for certain trees; thus, the cherry, for instance, and the almond, are either planted or grafted about the winter solstice. For many trees the nature of the locality will be the best guide; thus, where the soil is cold and moist it is best to plant in spring, and where it is dry and hot, in autumn.

Taking Italy in general, the proper periods for these operations may be thus distributed:—The mulberry is planted at any time between the ides of February3051 and the vernal equinox; the pear, in the autumn, but not beyond the fifteenth day before the winter solstice; the summer apples, the quince, the sorb, and the plum, between mid-winter and the ides of February; the Greek carob3052 and the peach, at any time in autumn before the winter solstice; the various nuts, such as the walnut, pine, filbert, almond, and chesnut, between the calends of March3053 and the ides of that month;3054 the willow and the broom about the calends of March. The broom is grown from seed, and in a dry soil, the willow from plants, in a damp locality, as already stated on former occasions.3055

(19.) That I may omit nothing to my knowledge of the facts that I have anywhere been able to ascertain, I shall here add a new method of grafting, which has been discovered by Columella,3056 as he asserts, by the aid of which trees even of a heterogeneous or dissociable nature may be made to unite; such, for instance, as the fig and the olive. In accordance with this plan, he recommends that a fig-tree should be planted near an olive, at a distance sufficiently near to admit of the fig being touched by a branch of the olive when extended to its full length; as supple and pliant a one as possible being selected for the purpose, and due care being taken all the time to render it seasoned by keeping it constantly on the stretch. After this, when the fig has gained sufficient vigour, a thing that generally happens at the end of three or five years at most, the top of it is cut off, the end of the olive branch being also cut to a point in the manner already stated.3057 This point is then to be inserted in the trunk of the fig, and made secure with cords, lest, being bent, it should happen to rebound: in this way we find the method of propagating by layers combined with that of grafting. This union between the two parent trees is allowed to continue for three years, and then in the fourth the branch is cut away and left entirely upon the tree that has so adopted it. This method, however, is not at present universally known, at all events, so far as I have been able to ascertain.

CHAP. 31.—CLEANING AND BARING THE ROOTS, AND MOULDING THEM.

In addition to these particulars, the same considerations that I have already3058 mentioned in reference to warm or cold, moist or dry soils, have also taught us the necessity of trenching around the roots. These trenches, however, in a moist, watery soil, should be neither wide nor deep; while the contrary is the case where the ground is hot and dry; it being the object, in the latter instance, to let them receive and retain as much water as possible. This rule is applicable to the culture of old trees as well; for in very hot places the roots are well moulded in summer, and carefully covered up, to prevent the heat of the sun from parching them. In other places, again, the ground is cleared away from the roots, in order to give free access to the air, while in winter they are carefully moulded to protect them from the frost. The contrary is the case, however, in hot climates, for there they bare the roots in winter for the purpose of ensuring a supply of moisture to the parched fibres.

In all places the rule is to make a circular trench three feet in width at the foot of the tree; this, however, it is not possible to do in meadows, where the roots, in their fondness for the sun and showers, range near the surface far and wide. Such, then, are the general observations that we have to make in reference to the planting and grafting of trees that we value for their fruits.

CHAP. 32. (20.)—WILLOW-BEDS.

It now remains to give an account of those trees which are planted for the sake of others—the vine3059 more particularly—and the wood of which is cut from time to time. Holding the very first rank among these we find the willow, a tree that is always planted in a moist soil. The hole, however, should be two feet and a half in depth, and the slip a foot and a half only in length. Willow stakes are also used for the same purpose, and the stouter they are the better: the distance left between these last should be six feet. When they are three years old their growth is checked by cutting them down within a couple of feet from the ground, the object being to make them spread out, so that by the aid of their branches they may be cleared without the necessity of using a ladder; for the willow is the more productive the nearer its branches are to the ground. It is generally recommended to trench round the willow every year, in the month of April. Such is the mode of cultivation employed for the osier willow.3060

The stake willow3061 is reproduced both from suckers and cuttings, in a trench of the same dimensions. Stakes may be cut from it at the end of about three years mostly. These stakes are also used to supply the place of the trees as they grow old, being fixed in the ground as layers, and cut away from the trunk at the end of a year. A single jugerum of osier willows will supply osiers3062 sufficient for twenty-five jugera of vines. It is for a similar purpose that the white poplar3063 is grown; the trenches being two feet deep and the cutting a foot and a half in length. It is left to dry for a couple of days before it is planted, and a space is left between the plants a foot and a palm in width, after which they are covered with earth to the depth of a couple of cubits.

CHAP. 33.—REED-BEDS.

The reed3064 requires a soil still moister even than that employed for the willow. It is planted by placing the bulb of the root, that part which some people call the “eye,”3065 in a trench three quarters of a foot in depth, at intervals of two feet and a half. A reed-bed will renew itself spontaneously after the old one has been rooted up, a circumstance which it has been found more beneficial to take advantage of than merely to thin them, as was formerly the practice; the roots being in the habit of creeping and becoming interlaced, a thing that ends eventually in the destruction of the bed. The proper time for planting reeds is before the eyes begin to swell, or, in other words, before the calends of March.3066 The reed continues to increase until the winter solstice, but ceases to do so when it begins to grow hard, a sign that it is fit for cutting. It is generally thought, too, that the reed requires to be trenched round as often as the vine.

The reed also is planted in a horizontal position,3067 and then covered with earth to a very great depth; by this method as many plants spring up as there are eyes. It is propagated, also, by planting out in trenches a foot in depth, care being taken to cover up two of the eyes, while a third knot is left just on a level with the ground; the head, too, is bent downwards, that it may not become charged with dew. The reed is usually cut when the moon is on the wane.3068 When required for the vineyard, it is better dried for a year than used in a green state.

CHAP. 34.—OTHER PLANTS THAT ARE CUT FOR POLES AND STAKES.

The chesnut is found to produce better stays3069 for the vine than any other tree, both from the facility with which they are worked, their extremely lasting qualities, and the circumstance that, when cut, the tree will bud again more speedily than the willow3070 even. It requires a soil that is light without being gravelly, a moist, sandy one more particularly, or else a charcoal earth,3071 or a fine tufa3072 even; while at the same time a northern aspect, however cold and shady, and if upon a declivity even, greatly promotes its growth. It refuses to grow, however, in a gravelly soil, or in red earth, chalk, or, indeed, any kind of fertilizing ground. We have already stated,3073 that it is reproduced from the nut, but it will only grow from those of the largest size, and then only when they are sown in heaps of five together. The ground above the nuts should be kept broken from the month of November to February, as it is at that period that the nuts lose their hold and fall of themselves from the tree, and then take root. There ought to be intervals of a foot in width left between them,3074 and the hole in which they are planted should be nine inches every way. At the end of two years or more they are transplanted from this seed plot into another, where they are laid out at intervals of a couple of feet.

Layers are also employed for the reproduction of this tree, and there is none to which they are better3075 adapted: the root of the plant is left exposed, and the layer is placed in the trench at full length, with the summit also protruding from the earth; the result being, that it shoots from the top as well as the root. When transplanted, however, it is very hard to be reconciled, as it stands in dread of all change. Hence it is, that it is nearly two years before it will begin to shoot upward; from which circumstance it is generally preferred to rear the slips in the nursery from the nut itself, to obtaining them from quicksets. The mode of cultivation does not differ from that employed with the plants already mentioned.3076 It is trenched around, and carefully lopped for two successive years; after which it is able to take care of itself, the shade it gives sufficing to stifle all superfluous suckers: before the end of the sixth year it is fit for cutting.

A single jugerum of chesnuts will provide stays for twenty jugera of vineyard, and the branches that are taken from near the roots afford a supply of two-forked uprights; they will last, too, till after the next cutting of the tree.

The æsculus,3077 too, is grown in a similar manner, the time for cutting being three years at the latest. Being less difficult, too, to propagate, it may be planted in any kind of earth, the acorn—and it is only with the æsculus that this is done—being sown in spring, in a hole nine inches in depth, with intervals between the plants of two feet in width. This tree is lightly hoed, four times a year. This kind of stay is the least likely to rot of them all; and the more the tree is cut, the more abundantly it shoots. In addition to the above, they also grow other trees for cutting that we have already mentioned—the ash for instance, the laurel, the peach, the hazel, and the apple; but then they are of slower growth, and the stays made from them, when fixed in the ground, are hardly able to withstand the action of the earth, and much less any moisture. The elder, on the other hand, which affords stakes of the very stoutest quality, is grown from cuttings, like the poplar. As to the cypress, we have already spoken of it at sufficient length.3078

CHAP. 35. (21.)—THE CULTURE OF THE VINE AND THE VARIOUS SHRUBS WHICH SUPPORT IT.

Having now described what we may call the armoury3079 of the vine, it remains for us to treat with a particular degree of care of the nature of the vine itself.

The shoots of the vine, as also of certain other trees, the interior of which is naturally of a spongy quality, have certain knots or joints upon the stem that intercept the pith. The intervals between these joints in the branches are short, and more particularly so towards the extremities. The pith, in itself the vivifying spirit of the tree, is always taking an onward direction, so long as the knot, by being open in the centre, allows it a free passage. If, however, the knot should become solidified and deny it a passage, the pith is then thrown downward upon the knot that lies next below it, and making its escape, issues forth there in the shape of a bud, these buds always making their appearance on each side alternately, as already mentioned in the case of the reed and the giant-fennel;3080 in other words, where one bud makes its appearance at the bottom of a knot to the right, the next one takes its place on the left, and so on alternately. In the vine this bud is known as the “gem,”3081 as soon as the pith has formed there a small round knob; but before it has done this, the concavity that is left upon the surface is merely called the “eye:”3082 when situate at the extremity of the shoot, it is known as the “germ.”3083 It is in the same way, too, that the stock branches, suckers, grapes, leaves, and tendrils of the vine are developed: and it is a very surprising fact, that all that grows on the right3084 side of the tree is stronger and stouter than on the left.

Hence it is, that when slips of this tree are planted, it is necessary to cut these knots in the middle, in order to prevent the pith from making its escape. In the same way, too, when planting the fig, suckers are taken, nine inches in length, and after the ground is opened they are planted with the part downwards that grew nearest to the tree, and with a couple of eyes protruding from the earth—in slips of trees, that part is properly called the eye which is to give birth to the future bud. It is for this reason that, in the seed-plots even the slips that are thus planted sometimes bear the same year the fruit that they would have borne if they had remained upon the tree: this takes place when they have been planted in good seasons and are replete with fecundity, for then they bring to maturity the fruits the conception of which was commenced in another spot. Fig-trees that are thus planted may very easily be transplanted in the third year. As some compensation for the rapidity with which this tree becomes3085 old, it has thus received the privilege of coming to maturity3086 at a very early period.

The vine throws out a great number of shoots. In the first place, however, none of them are ever used for planting, except those which are useless, and would have been cut away as mere brushwood; while, on the other hand, every part is pruned off that has borne fruit the previous year. In former times, it was the custom to plant the slip with a head at the extremity, consisting of a piece of the hard wood on each side of it, the same, in fact, that is called a mallet shoot3087 at the present day. In more recent times, however, the practice has been adopted of pulling it off merely with a heel attached to it, as in the fig;3088 and there is no kind of slip that takes with greater certainty. A third method, again, has been added to the former ones, and a more simple one as well, that of taking the slip without any heel at all. These slips are known by the name of arrow-3089shoots, when they are twisted before planting; and the same, when they are neither cut short nor twisted, are called three-budded3090 slips. The same sucker very often furnishes several slips of this kind. To plant a stock-shoot3091 of the vine is unproductive, and, indeed, no shoots will bear unless they are taken from a part that has borne fruit already. A slip that has but few knots upon it, is looked upon as likely not to bear; while a great number of buds is considered an indication of fruitfulness. Some persons say that no suckers ought to be planted, but those which have already blossomed. It is far from advantageous3092 to plant arrow-slips, for after being twisted, they are apt to break in transplanting. The slips when planted should be a foot in length,3093 and not less, and they ought to have five or six knots upon them; with the dimensions above stated, they cannot, however, possibly have less than three buds. It is considered the most advantageous plan to plant them out the same day that they are cut; but if it is found necessary to plant them some time after, they should be kept in the way that we have already mentioned;3094 particular care being taken not to let them protrude from the earth, lest they should become dried by the action of the sun, or nipped by the wind or frost. When they have been kept too long in a dry place, they must be put in water for several days, for the purpose of restoring their verdancy and freshness.

The spot selected, whether for nursery or vineyard, ought to be exposed to the sun, and of as great extent as possible; the soil being turned up to a depth of three feet with a two-pronged fork. The earth, on being thrown up with the mattock,3095 swells naturally,3096 and ridges are formed with it four feet in height, intersected by trenches a couple3097 of feet in depth. The earth in the trenches is carefully cleansed and raked out,3098 so that none of it may be left unbroken, care being taken also to keep it exactly level; if the ridges are unequal, it shows that the ground has been badly dug. At the same time the breadth should be measured of each ridge that lies between the trenches. The slips are planted either in holes or else in elongated furrows, and then covered with very fine earth; but where it is a light soil, the grower will lose his pains should he neglect to place a layer of richer mould beneath. Not less than a couple of slips should be planted together, keeping them exactly on a level with the adjoining earth, which should be pressed down and made compact with the dibble. In the seed-plot there should be intervals left between each two settings a foot and a half in breadth and half a foot in length: when thus planted, it is usual, at the end of two years, to cut the mallet-shoots at the knot nearest the ground, unless there is some good reason for sparing them. When this is done, they throw out eyes, and with these upon them at the end of three years the quicksets are transplanted.

There is another method, also, of planting3099 the vine, which a luxurious refinement in these matters has introduced. Four mallet-shoots are tightly fastened together with a cord in the greenest part, and when thus arranged are passed through the shank-bone of an ox or else a tube of baked earth, after which they are planted in the ground, care being taken to leave a couple of buds protruding: in this way they become impregnated with moisture, and, immediately on being cut, throw out fresh wood. The tube is then broken, upon which the root, thus set at liberty, assumes fresh vigour, and the clusters3100 ultimately bear upon them grapes belonging to the four kinds thus planted together.

In consequence of a more recent discovery, another method has been adopted. A mallet-shoot is split down the middle and the pith extracted, after which the two portions are fastened together, every care being taken not to injure the buds. The mallet-shoot is then planted in a mixture of earth and manure, and when it begins to throw out branches it is cut, the ground being repeatedly dug about it. Columella3101 assures us that the grapes of this plant will have no stones, but it is a more surprising thing that the slip itself should survive when thus deprived of the pith.3102 Still, however, I think I ought not to omit the fact that there are some slips that grow without the ordinary articulations of trees upon them; thus, for instance, five or six very small sprigs of box,3103 if tied together and put in the ground, will take root. It was formerly made a point to take these sprigs from a box-tree that had not been lopped, as it was fancied that in the last case they would not live; experience, however, has since put an end to that notion.

The culture of the vineyard naturally follows the training of the nursery. There are five3104 different kinds of vine: that with the branches running3105 along the ground, the vine that stands without support,3106 the vine that is propped and requires no cross-piece,3107 the vine that is propped and requires a single cross-piece, and the vine that requires a trellis of four compartments.3108 The mode of cultivation requisite for the propped vine may be understood as equally adapted to the one that stands by itself and requires no support, for this last method is only employed where there is a scarcity of wood for stays. The stay with the single cross-piece in a straight line is known by the name of “canterius.” It is the best of all for the wine, for then the tree throws no shadow, and the grape is ripened continuously by the sun, while, at the same time, it derives more advantage from the action of the wind, and disengages the dew with greater facility: the superfluous leaves and shoots, too, are more easily removed, and the breaking up of the earth and other operations about the tree are effected with greater facility. But, above all, by the adoption of this method, the tree sheds its blossoms more beneficially than under any other circumstances. This cross-piece is generally made of a stake, or a reed, or else of a rope of hair or hemp, as is usually the case in Spain and at Brundisium. When the trellis is employed, wine is produced in greater quantities; this method has its name of “compluviata” from the “compluvium” or square opening in the roofs of our houses; the trellis is divided into four compartments by as many cross-pieces. This mode of planting the vine will now be treated of, and it will be found equally applicable to every kind, with the only difference that under this last method the operation is somewhat more complicated.

The vine is planted three different ways; in a soil that has been turned up with the spade—the best of the three; in furrows, which is the next best; and in holes, the least advisable method of all: of the way in which ground is prepared by digging, we have made sufficient mention already. (22.) In preparing the furrows3109 for the vine it will be quite sufficient if they are a spade in breadth; but if holes are employed for the purpose, they should be three feet every way. The depth required for every kind of vine is three feet; it should, therefore, be made a point not to transplant any vine that is less than three feet in length, allowing then two buds to be above the ground. It will be necessary, too, to soften the earth by working little furrows at the bottom of the hole, and mixing it up with manure. Where the ground is declivitous, it is requisite that the hole should be deeper, in addition to which it should be artificially elevated on the edge of the lower side. Holes of this nature, which are made a little longer, to receive two vines, are known as “alvei,” or beds. The root of the vine should occupy the middle of the hole, and when firmly fixed in the ground it should incline at the top due east; its first support it ought to receive from a reed.3110 The vineyard should be bounded by a decuman3111 path eighteen feet in width, sufficiently wide, in fact, to allow two carts to pass each other; others, again, should run at right angles to it, ten feet in width, and passing through the middle of each jugerum; or else, if the vineyard is of very considerable extent, cardinal3112 paths may be formed instead of them, of the same breadth as the decuman path. At the end, too, of every five of the stays a path should be made to run, or, in other words, there should be one continuous cross-piece to every five stays; each space that is thus included from one end to the other forming a bed.3113

Where the soil is dense and hard it must be turned up only with the spade, and nothing but quicksets should be planted there; but where, on the other hand, it is thin and loose, mallet-shoots even may be set either in hole or furrow. Where the ground is declivitous it is a better plan to draw furrows across than to turn up all the soil with the spade, so that the falling away of the earth may be counteracted by the position of the cross-pieces.3114 It will be best, too, where the weather is wet or the soil naturally dry, to plant the mallet-shoots in autumn, unless, indeed, there is anything in the nature of the locality to counteract it; for while a dry, hot soil makes it necessary to plant in autumn, in a moist, cold one it may be necessary to defer it until the end of spring even. In a parched soil, too, it would be quite in vain to plant quicksets, and it is far from advantageous to set mallet-shoots in a dry ground, except just after a fall of rain. On the other hand, in moist localities, a vine in leaf even may be transplanted and thrive very well, and that, too, even as late as the summer solstice, in Spain, for example. It is of very considerable advantage that there should be no wind stirring on the day of planting, and, though many persons are desirous that there should be a south wind blowing at the time, Cato3115 is of quite a different way of thinking.

In a soil of medium quality, it is best to leave an interval of five3116 feet between every two vines; where it is very fertile the distance should be five feet at least, and where it is poor and thin eight at the very most. The Umbri and the Marsi leave intervals between their vines of as much as twenty feet in length, for the purpose of ploughing between them; such a plot of ground as this they call by the name of “porculetum.” In a rainy, foggy locality, the plants ought to be set wider apart, but in dry spots nearer to one another. Careful observation has discovered various methods of economizing space; thus, for instance, when a vineyard is planted in shaded ground, a seed-plot is formed there as well; or, in other words, at the same time that the quickset is planted in the place which it is finally to occupy, the mallet-shoot intended for transplanting is set between the vines, as well as between the rows. By adopting this method, each jugerum will produce about sixteen thousand quicksets; and the result is, that two years’ fruit is gained thereby, a cutting planted being two years later in bearing than a quickset transplanted. Quicksets, when growing in a vineyard, are cut down at the end of a year, leaving only a single eye above ground; some manure is then placed upon the spot, and a stay driven in close to the plant. In the same manner it is again cut down at the end3117 of the second year, and from this it acquires additional strength, and receives nutriment to enable it to endure the onerous task of reproduction. If this is neglected, in its over-haste to bear it will shoot up slim and meagre, like a bulrush, and from not being subjected to such a training, will grow to nothing but wood. In fact, there is no tree that grows with greater eagerness than the vine, and if its strength is not carefully husbanded for the bearing of fruit, it will be sure to grow to nothing but wood.

The best props for supporting the vine are those which we have already mentioned,3118 or else stays made of the robur and the olive; if these cannot be procured, then props of juniper, cypress, laburnum, or elder,3119 must be employed. If any other wood is used for the purpose, the stakes should be cut at the end each year: reeds tied together in bundles make excellent cross-rails for the vine, and will last as long as five years. Sometimes the shorter stock-branches of the vines are brought together and tied with vine-cuttings, like so many cords: by this method an arcade is formed, known to us by the name of “funetum.”

The vine, by the end of the third year, throws out strong and vigorous stock-branches with the greatest rapidity, and these in due time form the tree; after this, it begins to mount the cross-piece. Some persons are in the habit of “blinding” the vine at this period, by removing the eyes with the end of the pruning-knife turned upwards, their object being to increase the length of the branches—a most injurious practice, however; for it is far better to let the tree become habituated to grow of itself, and to prune away the tendrils every now and then when they have reached the cross-rail, so long as it may be deemed proper to add to its strength. There are some persons who forbid the vine to be touched for a whole year after it has been transplanted, and who say that the pruning-knife ought never to be used before it is five years old; and then at that period they are for cutting it down so completely as to leave three buds only. Others, again, cut down the vine within a year even after it has been transplanted, but then they take care to let the stem increase every year by three or four joints, bringing it on a level with the cross-piece by the fourth. These two methods, however, both of them, retard the fruit and render the tree stunted and knotty, as we see the case in all dwarf trees. The best plan is to make the parent stem as robust and vigorous as possible, and then the wood will be sure to be strong and hardy. It is far from safe, too, to take slips from a cicatrized stem; such a practice is erroneous, and only the result of ignorance. All cuttings of this nature are sure to be the offspring of acts of violence, and not in reality of the tree itself. The vine, while growing, should be possessed of all its natural strength; and we find that when left entirely to itself, it will throw out wood in every part; for there is no portion of it that Nature does not act upon. When the stem has grown sufficiently strong for the purpose, it should at once be trained to the cross-piece; if, however, it is but weak, it should be cut down so as to lie below the hospitable shelter of the cross-piece. Indeed, it is the strength of the stem, and not its age, that ought to decide the matter. It is not advisable3120 to attempt to train a vine before the stem has attained the thickness of the thumb; but in the year after it has reached the frame, one or two stock-branches should be preserved, according to the strength developed by the parent tree. The same, too, must be done the succeeding year, if the weakness of the stem demands it; and in the next, two more should be added. Still, however, there should never be more than four branches allowed to grow; in one word, there must be no indulgence shown, and every exuberance in the tree must in all cases be most carefully repressed; for such is the nature of the vine, that it is more eager to bear than it is to live. It should be remembered, too, that all that is subtracted from the wood is so much added to the fruit. The vine, in fact, would much rather produce shoots and tendrils than fruit, because3121 its fruit, after all, is but a transitory possession: hence it is that it luxuriates to its own undoing, and instead of really gaining ground, exhausts itself.

The nature, too, of the soil will afford some very useful suggestions. Where it is thin and hungry, even though the vine should display considerable vigour, it should be pruned down below the cross-piece and kept there, so that all the shoots may be put forth below it. The interval, however, between the top of the vine and the cross-piece ought to be but very small; so much so, indeed, as to leave it hopes, as it were, of reaching it, which, however, it must never be suffered to do; for it should never be allowed to recline thereon and spread and run on at its ease. This mode of culture ought, in fact, to be so nicely managed, that the vine should show an inclination rather to grow in body than to run to wood.

The main branch should have two or three buds left below the cross-piece that give promise of bearing wood, and it should be carefully trained along the rail, and drawn close to it in such a manner as to be supported by it, and not merely hang loosely from it. When this is done, it should be tightly fastened also with a binding three buds off, a method which will greatly contribute to check the too abundant growth of the wood, while stouter shoots will be thrown out below the ligature: it is absolutely forbidden, however, to tie the extremity of the main branch. When all this is done, Nature operates in the following way—the parts that are allowed to fall downward, or those which are held fast by the ligature, give out fruit, those at the bend of the branch more particularly. On the other hand, the portion that lies below the ligature throws out wood; by reason, I suppose, of the interception of the vital spirit and the marrow or pith, previously mentioned:3122 the wood, too, that is grown under these circumstances will bear fruit in the following year. In this way there are two kinds of stock branches: the first of which, issuing from the solid stock, gives promise of wood only for this year, and is known as the leaf stock-branch;3123 while that which grows beyond the mark made by the ligature is a fruit stock-branch.3124 There are other kinds, again, that shoot from the stock-branches when they are a year old, and these are in all cases fruit stock-branches. There is left, also, beneath the cross-piece a shoot that is known as the reserve3125 shoot, being always a young stock-branch, with not more than three buds upon it. This is intended to give out wood the next year, in case the vine by over-luxuriance should happen to exhaust itself. Close to it there is another bud left, no bigger than a wart; this is known as the “furunculus,”3126 and is kept in readiness in case the reserve shoot should fail.

The vine, if enticed to bear fruit before the seventh year from its being planted as a slip, will pine3127 away, become as slim as a bulrush, and die. It is thought equally undesirable, too, to let an old stock-branch range far and wide, and extend as far as the fourth stay from the stem; to such a branch the name of dragon3128-branch is given by some, and of juniculus by others; if these are allowed to spread, they will run to wood only, and make male vines, as they are called. When a vine has become quite hard, it is an extremely bad plan to use it for reproduction by layers. When the vine is five years old the stock-branches are twisted, but each is allowed to throw out some new wood; and so from one to another, care being taken to prune away the old wood. It is always the best plan, however, to leave a reserve shoot; but this should always be very near the main stem of the vine, not at a greater distance, in fact, than that already mentioned.3129 If, too, the stock branches should throw out too luxuriantly, they must be twisted, the object being that the vine may put forth no more than four secondary branches, or even two only, if it happens to be a single cross-railed vine.

If the vine is to be trained to grow without any stay at all, still it will stand in need, at first, of some support or other, until it has learnt to support itself: in all other respects the mode of proceeding will be the same at first. When pruning, it will be necessary that the thumb-branches3130 should be arranged in equal numbers on either side, in order that the fruit may not overload one side of the tree; and we may here remark by the way, that the fruit by its weight is apt to bear down the tree and counteract any tendency to increase in height. The vine, unsupported, when more than three feet in height, begins to bend, but the others do not, until they are five feet high at the least; care should be taken, however, never to let them exceed the height of a man of moderate stature. Growers are in the habit of surrounding the vines that creep along the ground with a low fence3131 for them to lean upon; and round this fence they dig a trench by way of precaution, for fear lest the branches in their range should meet one another and so come into collision. The greater part of the world, in fact, gather grapes at their vintage, grown in this fashion, and lying upon the ground—at all events, it is so in Africa, Egypt, and Syria; throughout the whole of Asia, too, and in many parts of Europe as well, this method prevails. In such cases the vine ought to be kept down close to the ground, and the root should be nurtured at the same time and in just the same way as in the case of the vine that grows on the cross-piece. Care, too, should be taken to leave only the young thumb-shoots, together with three buds, where it is a prolific soil, two where it is poor and thin: it is better, too, that the shoots should be numerous than individually long. The influences of soil, of which we have made mention already, will make themselves felt all the more powerfully the nearer the grapes grow to the ground.

It is a very advantageous plan to separate3132 the various species of vines and to set them in different compartments—for the mixture of different varieties is apt to deteriorate the flavour not only of the must, but the wine even as well. If, again, for some reason or other, the different kinds must be intermingled, it will be requisite to keep all those together which ripen at exactly the same period. The more fertile and the more level the soil, the higher the cross-pieces must be placed.3133 High cross-pieces, too, are best suited to localities that are subject to heavy dews and fogs, but not to those that are exposed to high winds; on the other hand, where the soil is thin, parched, and arid, or exposed to the wind, the cross-pieces should be set lower. The cross-piece should be fastened to the stay with cords tied as tight as possible, while the bindings used for tying the vine should be thin. As to the various species of vines, and the soils and climates requisite for the growth of each, we have already treated3134 of them, when enumerating the several varieties of the vine and the wines which they produce.

With reference to other points connected with the culture of the vine, there are very considerable doubts. Many persons recommend that the vineyard should be turned up with the spade after every dew that falls in the summer. Others, again, forbid this practice when the vine is in bud; for the clothes, they say, of the people coming and going to and fro are apt to catch the buds, and either knock or rub them off; it is for this reason, too, that they are so careful to keep all animals away from the vines, those with long wool in particular, as it is very apt to pull off the buds. Raking, too, they say, is very injurious to the vine while the grape is forming; and it will be quite sufficient, they assure us, if the ground is turned up three times in the year, after the vernal equinox—first, at the rising of the Vergiliæ,3135 the second at the rising of the Dog-star, and the third time just as the grape is turning black. Some persons make it a rule that an old vineyard shall have one turning up between the time of vintage and the winter solstice, though others, again, are of opinion that it is quite sufficient to bare the roots and manure them. They turn up the ground again after the ides of April,3136 but before the time for germination, or, in other words, the sixth of the ides of May;3137 then again before the tree begins to blossom, after it has shed its blossom, and, last of all, when the grape is just on the turn. The most skilful growers say that if the ground is dug up oftener than necessary, the grapes will become so remarkably thin-skinned as to burst. When the ground is turned up, care should be taken to do it before the hot hours of the day; a clayey soil, too, should never be ploughed or dug. The dust that is raised in digging is beneficial3138 to the vine, it is said, by protecting it from the heat of the sun and the injurious effects of fogs.

The spring clearing ought to be done, it is universally admitted, within ten days after the ides of May,3139 and before the blossoming begins; in addition to which, it should always be done below the cross-piece. As to the second clearing, opinions differ very considerably. Some think it ought to be done when the blossoming is over, others, again, when the grapes are nearly at maturity. This point, however, may be decided by following the advice of Cato on the subject; for we must now pass on to a description of the proper mode of pruning the vine.

Immediately after3140 the vintage, and while the weather is still warm, the work of pruning3141 begins; this, however, ought never to be done, for certain physical reasons,3142 before the rising of the Eagle, as we shall have occasion to explain in the following Book. Nor should it be done either when the west winds begin to prevail, for even then there is great doubt whether a fault may not be committed by being in too great haste to commence the work. If any return of wintry weather should chance to nip the vines, while still labouring under the wounds recently inflicted on them in pruning, there is little doubt that their buds will become quite benumbed with cold, the wounds will open again, and the eyes, moistened by the juices that distil from the tree, will become frost-bitten by the rigour of the weather. For who is there,3142 in fact, that does not know that the buds are rendered brittle by frost? All this, however, depends upon accurate calculations in the management of large grounds, and the blame of precipitation cannot with any justice be laid upon Nature. The earlier the vine is pruned, in suitable weather, the greater is the quantity of wood, while the later the pruning, the more abundant is the fruit. Hence it is that it is most advisable to prune the poor meagre vines first, and to defer pruning the more thriving ones to the very last. In pruning, due care should always be taken to cut in a slanting direction, in order3143 that the rain may run off with all the greater facility. The wounds, too, should look downwards towards the ground, and should be made as lightly as possible, the edge of the knife being well-sharpened for the purpose, so as to make a clean cut each time. Care should be taken, too, to cut always between two buds, and that the eyes are not injured in the operation. It is generally thought that wherever the vine is black, all those parts may be cut off, the healthy parts not being touched; as no useful shoots can be put forth by wood that is bad in itself. If a meagre vine has not good stock-shoots, the best plan is to cut it down to the ground, and then to train new ones. In clearing away the leaves, too, those leaves should not be removed which accompany the clusters, for by so doing the grapes are made to fall off, except where the vine happens to be young. Those leaves are regarded as useless which grow on the sides of the trunk and not from an eye; and so, too, are the bunches which shoot from the hard, strong wood, and are only to be removed by the aid of the knife.

Some persons are of opinion that it is a better plan to fix the stay midway between two vines; and, indeed, by the adoption of this method the roots are cleared with greater facility. It is best, however, where the vine needs but a single cross-rail, due care being taken that the rail is a strong one, and the locality not exposed to high winds. In the case of those vines which require trellissed cross-rails, the stay should be placed as near as possible to the burden it has to support; in order, however, that there may be no impediment thrown in the way of clearing the roots, it may be placed at the distance of one cubit from the stock, but not more. It is generally recommended to clear the roots before the pruning3144 is commenced.

Cato3145 gives the following general precepts in relation to the culture of the vine:—“Let the vine grow as high as possible, and fasten it firmly, but not too tight. You should treat it in the following manner. Clean the roots of the vine at seed-time, and after pruning it dig about it, and then begin to labour at the ground, by tracing with the plough continuous furrows every way. Plant the young vines in layers as early as possible, and then break up the ground about them. If the vine is old, take care and prune it as little as possible. In preference, bend the vine into the ground for layers, if necessary, and cut it at the end of two years. The proper time for cutting the young vine, is when it has gained sufficient strength. If the vineyard is bald of vines, then draw furrows between them, and plant quicksets there: but let no shadow be thrown on the furrows, and take care and dig them often. If the vineyard is old, sow ocinum3146 there, in case the trees are meagre: but take care and sow there nothing that bears seed. Put manure, chaff, and grape-husks about the roots, or, indeed, anything of a similar nature that will give the tree additional strength. As soon as the vine begins to throw out leaves, set about clearing them. Fasten the young trees in more places than one, so that the stem may not break. As soon as it begins to run along the stay, fasten down the young branches lightly, and extend them, in order that they may gain the right position. When the grape begins to be mottled, then tie down the vine. The first season for grafting the vine is the spring, the other when the grape is in blossom; the last period is the best. If it is your wish to transplant an old vine, you will only be able to do so in case it is no thicker than the arm: first, however, you must prune it, taking care not to have more than two buds upon the stem. Then dig it well up by the roots, being careful to trace them, and using every possible precaution not to injure them. Place it in the hole or furrow exactly in the position in which it has stood before, then cover it with earth, which should be well trodden down. You must then prop it up, fasten it, and turn it in the same direction as before; after which, dig about it repeatedly.” The ocinum that Cato here recommends to be sown in the vineyards, is a fodder known by that name by the ancients; it thrives in the shade remarkably well, and received its name3147 from the rapidity with which it grows.

(23.) We come now to speak of the method of growing vines upon trees,3148 a mode that has been condemned3149 in the strongest terms by the Saserna’s, both father and son, and up-held by Scrofa, these being our most ancient writers on agriculture next to Cato, and men of remarkable skill. Indeed, Scrofa himself will not admit that it is beneficial anywhere except in Italy. The experience of ages, however, has sufficiently proved that the wines of the highest quality are only grown upon vines attached to trees, and that even then the choicest wines are produced by the upper part of the tree, the produce of the lower part being more abundant; such being the beneficial results of elevating the vine. It is with a view to this that the trees employed for this purpose are selected. In the first rank of all stands the elm,3150 with the exception of the Atinian variety, which is covered with too many leaves; and next comes the black poplar, which is valued for a similar reason, being not so densely covered with leaves. Most people, too, by no means hold the ash and the fig in disesteem, as also the olive, if it is not overshadowed with branches. We have treated at sufficient length already of the planting and culture of these several trees.

They must not be touched with the knife before the end of three years; and then the branches are preserved, on each side in its turn, the pruning being done in alternate years. In the sixth year the vine is united to the tree. In Italy beyond the Padus, in addition to the trees already mentioned, they plant for their vines the cornel, the opulus, the linden, the maple, the ash, the yoke-elm, and the quercus; while in Venetia they grow willows for the purpose, on account of the humidity3151 of the soil. The top of the elm is lopped away, and the branches of the middle are regularly arranged in stages; no tree in general being allowed to exceed twenty feet in height. The stories begin to spread out in the tree at eight feet from the ground, in the hilly districts and upon dry soils, and at twelve in champaign and moist localities. The hands3152 of the trunk ought to have a southern aspect, and the branches that project from them should be stiff and rigid like so many fingers; at the same time due care should be taken to lop off the thin beardlike twigs, in order to check the growth of all shade. The interval best suited for the trees, if it is the grower’s intention to keep the soil turned up with the plough, is forty feet back and front, and twenty at the side; if it is not to be turned up, then twenty feet3153 every way will do. A single tree is often made to support as many as ten vines, and the grower is greatly censured who attaches less than three. It is worse than useless to attach the vine before the tree has gained its full strength, as in such case its rapidity of growth would only tend to kill the tree. It is necessary to plant the vine in a trench three feet in depth, leaving an interval of one foot between it and the tree. In this case there is no necessity for using mallet shoots, or for going to any expense in spading or digging; for this method of training on trees has this advantage in particular, that it is beneficial even to the vine that corn should be sown in the same soil; in addition to which, from its height, it is quite able to protect itself, and does not call for the necessity, as in the case of an ordinary vineyard, of enclosing it with walls and hedges or ditches, made at a considerable expense, to protect it from injury by animals.

In the method of training upon trees, reproduction from quicksets or from layers is the only mode employed of all those that have been previously described; the growing by layers being effected two different ways, as already mentioned. The plan, however, of growing from layers in baskets set upon the stages3154 of the tree is the most approved one, as it ensures an efficient protection from the ravages of cattle; while, according to another method, a vine or else a stock-branch is bent into the ground near the tree it has previously occupied, or else the nearest one that may be at liberty. It is recommended that all parts of the parent tree that appear above ground should then be scraped, so that it may not throw out wood; while at the same time there are never less than four buds on the part that is put into the ground for the purpose of taking root; there are also two buds left above ground at the head. The vine intended for training on a tree is planted in a furrow four feet long, three broad, and two and a half in depth. At the end of a year the layer is cut to the pith, to enable it to strengthen gradually at the root; after which, the end of the branch is pruned down to within two buds from the ground. At the end of two years the layer is completely separated from the stock, and buried deeper in the ground, that it may not shoot at the place where it has been cut. As to the quicksets, they ought to be removed directly after the vintage.

In more recent times, a plan has been discovered of planting a dragon branch near the tree—that being the name given to an old stock-branch that has become hard and tough in the course of years. For this purpose, it is cut as long as possible, and the bark is taken off from three-fourths of its length, that being the portion which is to be buried in the ground; hence it is, too, that it is called a “barked”3155 plant. It is then laid at full length in the furrow, the remaining part protruding from the ground and reclining against the tree. This method is the most speedy one that can be adopted for growing the vine. If the vine is meagre or the soil impoverished, it is usual to keep it cut down as near to the ground as possible, until such time as the root is strengthened. Care, too, should be taken not to plant it covered with dew,3156 nor yet while the wind is blowing from the north. The vine itself ought to look towards the north-east, but the young stock-shoots should have a southern aspect.

There should not be too great haste3157 in pruning a young vine, but a beginning should be made by giving the wood and foliage a circular form, care being taken not to prune it until it has become quite strong; it should be remembered, too, that the vine, when trained upon a tree, is generally a year later in bearing fruit than when grown on the cross-piece. There are some persons, again, who altogether forbid that a vine should be pruned until such time as it equals the tree in height. At the first pruning it may be cut to within six feet from the ground, below which a shoot must be left, and encouraged to run out by bending the young wood. Upon this shoot, when pruned, there should not be more than three buds left. The branches that take their rise from these buds should be trained in the following year upon the lowermost stages of the tree, and so in each successive year taught to climb to the higher ones. Care, too, should always be taken to leave one hard, woody branch at each stage, as well as one breeding shoot, at liberty to mount as high as it pleases. In addition to these precautions, in all pruning, those shoots should be cut off which have borne fruit the last year, and after the tendrils3158 have been cut away on every side fresh branches should be trained to run along the stages. In Italy the pruning is so managed that the shoots and tendrils of the vines are arranged so as to cover the branches of the tree, while the shoots of the vine in their turn are surrounded with clusters of grapes. In Gallia, on the other hand, the vine is trained to pass from tree to tree. On the Æmilian Way, again, the vine is seen embracing the trunks of the Atinian elms that line the road, while at the same time it carefully avoids their foliage.3159

It is a mark of ignorance in some persons to suspend the vine with a cord beneath the branches of the tree, to the great risk of stifling it; for it ought to be merely kept up with a withe of osier, and not tightly laced. Indeed, in those places where the willow abounds, the withes that it affords are preferred, on account of their superior suppleness, while the Sicilians employ for the purpose a grass, which they call “ampelodesmos:”3160 throughout the whole of Greece, rushes, cyperus, and sedge3161 are similarly employed. When at any time the vine has been liberated from its bonds, it should be allowed to range uncontrolled for some days, and to spread abroad at pleasure, as well as to recline upon the ground which it has been looking down upon the whole year through. For in the same manner that beasts of burden when released from the yoke, and dogs when they have returned from the chase, love to roll themselves on the ground, just so does the vine delight to stretch its loins. The tree itself, too, seems to rejoice, and, thus relieved from the continuous weight which has burdened it, to have all the appearance of now enjoying a free respiration. Indeed, there is no object in all the economy of Nature that does not desire certain alternations for the enjoyment of rest, witness the succession of night and day, for instance. It is for this reason that it is forbidden to prune the vine directly the vintage is over, and while it is still exhausted by the process of reproduction.

Directly the vine has been pruned, it ought to be fastened again to the tree, but in another place; for there is no doubt that it feels very acutely the indentations that are made in it by the holdfasts. In the Gallic method of cultivation they train out two branches at either side, if the trees are forty feet apart, and four if only twenty; where they meet, these branches are fastened together and made to grow in unison; if, too, they are anywhere deficient in number or strength, care is taken to fortify them by the aid of small rods. In a case, however, where the branches are not sufficiently long to meet, they are artificially prolonged by means of a hook, and so united to the tree that desires their company. The branches thus trained to unite they used to prune at the end of the second year. But where the vine is aged, it is a better plan to give them a longer time to reach the adjoining tree, in case they should not have gained the requisite thickness; besides which, it is always good to encourage the growth of the hard wood in the dragon branches.

There is yet another method,3162 which occupies a middle place between this mode of propagation and that by layers. It consists of laying the entire vine in the earth, and then splitting the stock asunder by means of wedges; the fibrous portions are then trained out in as many furrows, care being taken to support each of the slender plants by fastening it to a stake, and not to cut away the branches that shoot from the sides. The growers of Novara, not content with the multitude of shoots that run from tree to tree, nor yet with an abundance of branches, encourage the stock-branches to entwine around forks planted in the ground for the purpose; a method, however, which, in addition to the internal defects arising from the soil, imparts a harshness to the wine.

There is another fault, too, that is committed by the people of Varracina,3163 near Rome—they only prune their vines every other year; not, indeed, because it is advantageous to the tree, but from a fear lest, from the low prices fetched by their wines, the expense might exceed the profits. At Carseoli they adopt a middle course, by pruning away only the rotten parts of the vine, as well as those which are beginning to wither, and leaving the rest to bear fruit, after thus clearing away all superfluous incumbrances. The only nutriment they give it is this exemption from frequent pruning; but unless the soil should happen to be a very rich one, the vine, under such a method of cultivation, will very soon degenerate to a wild state.

The vine that is thus trained requires the ground to be ploughed very deep, though such is not the case for the sowing there of grain. It is not customary to cut away the leaves in this case, which, of course, is so much labour spared. The trees themselves require pruning at the same period as the vine, and are thinned by clearing away all useless branches, and such parts as would only absorb the nutriment. We have already3164 stated that the parts that are lopped should never look north or south: and it will be better still, if they have not a western aspect. The wounds thus made are very susceptible for a considerable time, and heal with the greatest difficulty, if exposed to excesses of cold or heat. The vine when trained on a tree enjoys advantages that are not possessed by the others; for the latter have certain fixed aspects, while in the former, it is easy to cover up the wounds made in pruning, or to turn them whichever way you please. When trees are pruned at the top, cup-like cavities should be formed3165 there, to prevent the water from lodging.

CHAP. 36.—HOW GRAPES ARE PROTECTED FROM THE RAVAGES OF INSECTS.

Stays, too, should be given to the vine for it to take hold of and climb upwards, if they are taller than it. (24.) Espaliers3166 for vines of a high quality should be cut, it is said, at the Quinquatria,3167 and when it is intended to keep the grapes, while the moon is on the wane. We are assured, moreover, that those which are cut at the change of the moon, are exempt from the attacks of all insects.3168 According to another system, it is said that vines should be pruned by night at full moon, and while it is in Leo, Scorpio, Sagittarius, or Taurus: and that, in general, they ought to be planted either when the moon is at full or on the increase. In Italy, ten workmen will suffice for one hundred jugera of vineyard.

CHAP. 37.—THE DISEASES OF TREES.

Having now treated sufficiently at length of the planting and cultivation of trees—(for we have already said enough of the palm3169 and the cytisus,3170 when speaking of the exotic trees)—we shall proceed, in order that nothing may be omitted, to describe other details relative to their nature, which are of considerable importance, when taken in connection with all that precedes. Trees, we find, are attacked by maladies; and, indeed, what created thing is there that is exempt from these evils? Still however, the affections of the forest trees, it is said, are not attended3171 with danger to them, and the only damage they receive is from hail-storms while they are budding and blossoming; with the exception, indeed, of being nipped either by heat or cold blasts in unseasonable weather; for frost, when it comes at the proper times, as we have already stated,3172 is serviceable to them. “Well but,” it will be said, “is not the vine sometimes killed with cold?” No doubt it is, and this it is through which we detect inherent faults in the soils, for it is only in a cold soil that the vine will die. Just in the same way, too, in winter we approve of cold, so long as it is the cold of the weather, and not of the ground. It is not the weakest trees, too, that are endangered in winter by frost, but the larger ones. When they are thus attacked, it is the summit that dries away the first, from the circumstance that the sap becomes frozen before it is able to arrive there.

Some diseases of trees are common to them all, while others, again, are peculiar to individual kinds. Worms3173 are common to them all, and so, too, is sideration,3174 with pains in the limbs,3175 which are productive of debility in the various parts. Thus do we apply the names of the maladies that prevail among mankind to those with which the plants are afflicted. In the same way, too, we speak of their bodies being mutilated, the eyes of the buds being burnt up, with many other expressions of a similar nature. It is in accordance with the same phraseology that we say that trees are afflicted with hunger or indigestion, both of which result from the comparative amount of sap that they contain; while some, again, are troubled with obesity, as in the case of all the resinous trees, which, when suffering from excessive fatness, are changed into a torch-tree.3176 When the roots, too, begin to wax fat, trees, like animals, are apt to perish from excess of fatness. Sometimes, too, a pestilence3177 will prevail in certain classes of trees, just as among men, we see maladies attack, at one time the slave class, and at another the common people, in cities or in the country, as the case may be.

Trees are more or less attacked by worms; but still, nearly all are subject to them in some degree, and this the birds3178 are able to detect by the hollow sound produced on tapping at the bark. These worms even have now begun to be looked upon as delicacies3179 by epicures, and the large ones found in the robur are held in high esteem; they are known to us by the name of “cossis;” and are even fed with meal, in order to fatten them! But it is the pear, the apple, and the fig3180 that are most subject to their attacks, the trees that are bitter and odoriferous enjoying a comparative exemption from them. Of those which infest the fig, some breed in the tree itself, while others, again, are produced by the worm known as the cerastes; they all, however, equally assume the form of the cerastes,3181 and emit a small shrill noise. The service-tree is infested, too, with a red hairy worm, which kills it; and the medlar, when old, is subject to a similar malady.

The disease known as sideration entirely depends upon the heavens; and hence we may class under this head, the ill effects produced by hail-storms, carbunculation,3182 and the damage caused by hoar-frosts. When the approach of spring tempts the still tender shoots to make their appearance, and they venture to burst forth, the malady attacks them, and scorches up the eyes of the buds, filled as they are with their milky juices: this is what upon flowers they call “charcoal”3183 blight. The consequences of hoar-frost to plants are even more dangerous still, for when it has once settled, it remains there in a frozen form, and there is never any wind to remove it, seeing that it never prevails except in weather that is perfectly calm and serene. Sideration, however, properly so called, is a certain heat and dryness that prevails at the rising of the3184 Dog-star, and owing to which grafts and young trees pine away and die, the fig and the vine more particularly. The olive, also, besides the worm, to which it is equally subject with the fig, is attacked by the measles,3185 or as some think fit to call it, the fungus or platter; it is a sort of blast produced by the heat of the sun. Cato3186 says that the red moss3187 is also deleterious to the olive. An excessive fertility, too, is very often injurious to the vine and the olive. Scab is a malady common to all trees. Eruptions,3188 too, and the attacks of a kind of snail that grows on the bark, are diseases peculiar to the fig, but not in all countries; for there are some maladies that are prevalent in certain localities only.

In the same way that man is subject to diseases of the sinews, so are the trees as well, and, like him, in two different ways. Either3189 the virulence of the disease manifests itself in the feet, or, what is the same thing, the roots of the tree, or else in the joints of the fingers, or, in other words, the extremities of the branches that are most distant from the trunk. The parts that are thus affected become dry and shrivel up: the Greeks have appropriate names3190 by which to distinguish each of these affections. In either case the first symptoms are that the tree is suffering from pain, and the parts affected become emaciated and brittle; then follows rapid consumption and ultimately death; the juices being no longer able to enter the diseased parts, or, at all events, not circulating in them. The fig is more particularly liable to this disease: but the wild fig is exempt from all that we have hitherto mentioned. Scab3191 is produced by viscous dews which fall after the rising of the Vergiliæ; but if they happen to fall copiously, they drench the tree, without making the bark rough. When the fig is thus attacked, the fruit falls off while green; and so, too, if there is too much rain. The fig suffers also from a superfluity of moisture in the roots.

In addition to worms and sideration, the vine is subject to a peculiar disease of its own, which attacks it in the joints, and is produced from one of the three following causes:—either the destruction of the buds by stormy weather, or else the fact, as remarked by Theophrastus, that the tree, when pruned, has been cut with the incisions upwards,3192 or has been injured from want of skill in the cultivator. All the injury that is inflicted in these various ways is felt by the tree in the joints more particularly. It must be considered also as a species of sideration, when the cold dews make the blossoms fall off, and when the grapes harden3193 before they have attained their proper size. Vines also become sickly when they are perished with cold, and the eyes are frost-bitten just after they have been pruned. Heat, too, out of season, is productive of similar results: for everything is regulated according to a fixed order and certain determinate movements. Some maladies, too, originate in errors committed by the vine-dresser; when they are tied too tight, for instance, as already mentioned,3194 or when in trenching round them the digger has struck them an unlucky blow, or when in ploughing about them the roots have been strained through carelessness, or the bark has been stripped from off the trunk: sometimes, too, contusions are produced by the use of too blunt a pruning-knife. Through all the causes thus enumerated the tree is rendered more sensitive to either cold or heat, as every injurious influence from without is apt to concentrate in the wounds thus made. The apple, however, is the most delicate of them all, and more particularly the one that bears the sweetest fruit. In some trees weakness induced by disease is productive of barrenness, and does not kill the tree; as in the pine3195 for instance, or the palm, when the top of the tree has been removed; for in such case the tree becomes barren, but does not die. Sometimes, too, the fruit itself is sickly, independently of the tree; for example, when there is a deficiency of rain, or of warmth, or of wind, at the periods at which they usually prevail, or when, on the other hand, they have prevailed in excess; for in such cases the fruit will either drop off or else deteriorate. But the worst thing of all that can befall the vine or the olive, is to be pelted with heavy showers just when the tree is shedding its blossom, for then the fruit is sure to fall off3196 as well.

Rain, too, is productive of the caterpillar, a noxious insect that eats away the leaves, and, some of them, the blossoms as well; and this in the olive even, as we find the case at Miletus; giving to the half-eaten tree a most loathsome appearance. This pest is produced by the prevalence of a damp, languid heat; and if the sun should happen to shine after this with a more intense heat and burn them up, this pest only gives place to another3197 just as bad, the aspect only of the evil being changed.

There is still one other affection that is peculiar to the olive and the vine, known as the “cobweb,”3198 the fruit being enveloped in a web, as it were, and so stifled. There are certain winds, too, that are particularly blighting to the olive and the vine, as also to other fruits as well: and then besides, the fruits themselves, independently of the tree, are very much worm-eaten in some years, the apple, pear, medlar, and pomegranate for instance. In the olive the presence of the worm may be productive of a twofold result: if it grows beneath the skin, it will destroy the fruit, but if it is in the stone, it will only gnaw it away, making the fruit all the larger. The prevalence of showers after the rising of Arcturus3199 prevents them from breeding; but if the rains are accompanied with wind from the south, they will make their appearance in the ripe fruit even, which are then very apt to fall. This happens more particularly in moist, watery localities; and even if they do not fall, the olives that are so affected are good for nothing. There is a kind of fly also that is very troublesome to some fruit, acorns and figs for instance: it would appear that they breed from the juices3200 secreted beneath the bark, which at this period are sweet. These trees, too, are generally in a diseased state when this happens.

There are certain temporary and local influences which cause instantaneous death to trees, but which cannot properly be termed diseases; such, for example, as consumption, blast, or the noxious effects of some winds that are peculiar to certain localities; of this last nature are the Atabulus3201 that prevails in Apulia, and the Olympias3202 of Eubœa. This wind, if it happens to blow about the winter solstice, nips the tree with cold, and shrivels it up to such a degree that no warmth of the sun can ever revive it. Trees that are planted in valleys, and are situate near the banks of rivers, are especially liable to these accidents, the vine more particularly, the olive, and the fig. When this has been the case, it may instantly be detected the moment the period for germination arrives, though, in the olive, somewhat later. With all of these trees, if the leaves fall off, it is a sign that they will recover; but if such is not the case, just when you would suppose that they have escaped uninjured, they die. Sometimes, however, the leaves will become green again, after being dry and shrivelled. Other trees, again, in the northern regions, Pontus and Phrygia, for example, suffer greatly from cold or frost, in case they should continue for forty days after the winter solstice. In these countries, too, as well as in other parts, if a sharp frost or copious rains should happen to come on immediately after fructification, the fruit is killed in a very few days even.

Injuries inflicted by the hand of man are productive also of bad effects. Thus, for instance, pitch, oil, and grease,3203 if applied to trees, and young ones more particularly, are highly detrimental. They may be killed, also, by removing a circular piece of the bark from around them, with the exception, indeed, of the cork-tree,3204 which is rather benefitted than otherwise by the operation; for the bark as it gradually thickens tends to stifle and suffocate the tree: the andrachle,3205 too, receives no injury from it, if care is taken not to cut the body of the tree. In addition to this, the cherry, the lime, and the vine shed their bark;3206 not that portion of it, indeed, which is essential to life, and grows next the trunk, but the part that is thrown off, in proportion as the other grows beneath. In some trees the bark is naturally full of fissures, the plane for instance: in the linden it will all but grow again when removed. Hence, in those trees the bark of which admits of cicatrization, a mixture of clay and dung3207 is employed by way of remedy; and sometimes with success, in case excessive cold or heat does not immediately supervene. In some trees, again, by the adoption of these methods death is only retarded, the robur and the quercus,3208 for example. The season of the year has also its peculiar influences; thus, if the bark is removed from the fir and the pine, while the sun is passing through Taurus or Gemini, the period of their germination, they will instantly die, while in winter they are able to withstand the injurious effects of it much longer: the same is the case, too, with the holm-oak, the robur, and the quercus. In the trees above mentioned, if it is only a narrow circular strip of bark that is removed, no injurious effects will be perceptible; but in the case of the weaker trees, as well as those which grow in a thin soil, the same operation, if performed even on one side only, will be sure to kill them. The removal of the top,3209 in the pitch-tree, the cedar, and the cypress is productive of a similar result; for if it is either cut off or destroyed by fire, the tree will not survive: the same is the case, too, if they are bitten by the teeth of animals.

Varro3210 informs us, too, as we have already stated,3211 that the olive, if only licked by a she-goat, will be barren.3212 When thus injured, some trees will die, while in others the fruit becomes deteriorated, the almond,3213 for instance, the fruit of which changes from sweet to bitter. In other cases, again, the tree is improved3214 even—such, for instance, as the pear known in Chios as the Phocian pear. We have already mentioned3215 certain trees, also, that are all the better for having the tops removed. Most trees perish when the trunk is split; but we must except the vine, the apple, the fig, and the pomegranate. Others, again, will die if only a wound is inflicted: the fig, however, as well as all the resinous trees, is proof against such injury. It is far from surprising that, when the roots of a tree are cut, death should be the result; most of them perish, however, when, not all the roots, but only the larger ones, and those which are more essential to life, have been severed.

Trees, too, will kill one another3216 by their shade, or the density of their foliage, as also by the withdrawal of nourishment. Ivy,3217 by clinging to a tree, will strangle3218 it. The mistletoe, too, is far from beneficial, and the cytisus is killed by the plant to which the Greeks have given the name of halimon.3219 It is the nature of some plants not to kill, but to injure, by the odour they emit, or by the admixture of their juices; such is the influence exercised by the radish and the laurel upon the vine.3220 For the vine may reasonably be looked upon as possessed of the sense of smell, and affected by odours in a singular degree; hence, when it is near a noxious exhalation, it will turn away and withdraw from it. It was from his observation of this fact that Androcydes borrowed the radish3221 as his antidote for drunkenness, recommending it to be eaten on such occasions. The vine, too, abhors all coleworts and garden herbs, and the hazel3222 as well; indeed it will become weak and ailing if they are not removed to a distance from it. Nitre, alum, warm sea-water, and the shells of beans3223 and fitches act as poisons on the vine.

CHAP. 38. (25.)—PRODIGIES CONNECTED WITH TREES.

Among the maladies which affect the various trees, we may find room for portentous prodigies also. For we find some trees that have never had a leaf upon them; a vine and a pomegranate bearing3224 fruit adhering to the trunk, and not upon the shoots or branches; a vine, too, that bore grapes but had no leaves; and olives that have lost their leaves while the fruit remained upon the tree. There are some marvels also connected with trees that are owing to accident; an olive that was completely burnt, has been known to revive, and in Bœotia, some fig-trees that had been quite eaten away by locusts budded afresh.3225 Trees, too, sometimes change their colour, and turn from black to white; this, however, must not always be looked upon as portentous, and more particularly in the case of those which are grown from seed; the white poplar, too, often becomes black. Some persons are of opinion also that the service-tree, if transplanted to a warmer locality, will become barren. But it is a prodigy, no doubt, when sweet fruits become sour, or sour fruits sweet; and when the wild fig becomes changed into the cultivated one, or vice versâ. It is sadly portentous,3226 too, when the tree becomes deteriorated by the change, the cultivated olive changing into the wild, and the white grape or fig becoming black: such was the case, also, when upon the arrival of Xerxes there, a plane-tree at Laodicea was transformed into an olive. In such narratives as these, the book written in Greek by Aristander abounds, not to enter any further on so extended a subject; and we have in Latin the Commentaries of C. Epidius, in which we find it stated that trees have even been known to speak. In the territory of Cumæ, a tree, and a very ominous presage it was, sank into the earth shortly before the civil wars of Pompeius Magnus began, leaving only a few of the branches protruding from the ground. The Sibylline Books were accordingly consulted, and it was found that a war of extermination was impending, which would be attended with greater carnage the nearer it should approach the city of Rome.