482 punt's natural history. [Book XVII. 



mixture of mud and chaff, allowing the graft to protrude a 

 couple of fingers in length. 



Those who wait for spring to carry on these operations, will 

 find themselves pressed for time ; for the buds are then just 

 bursting, except, indeed, in the case of the olive, the buds of 

 which are remarkably long in developing themselves, the tree 

 itself having extremely little sap beneath the bark; this, 

 too, is apt, when in too large quantities, to injure the grafts. 

 As to the pomegranate, too, the fig, and the rest of the trees 

 that are of a dry nature, it is far from beneficial to them to 

 put off the process of grafting till a late period. The pear 

 may be grafted even when in blossom, so that with it the 

 operation may. be safely delayed to the month of May even. 

 If grafts of fruit trees have to be carried to any distance, it 

 is considered the best plan, with the view of preserving the 

 juices, to insert them in a turnip ; they may also be kept alive 

 by placing them near a stream or a pond, between two hollow 

 tiles covered up at each end with earth. (15.) The grafts of 

 vines, however, are kept in dry holes, in which they are 

 covered over with straw, and then with earth, care being taken 

 to let the tops protrude. 24 



CHAP. 25. GRAFTING THE VINE. 



Cato 25 speaks of three 26 methods of grafting the vine._ The 

 first consists in piercing the stock to the pith, and then insert- 

 ing the grafts, sharpened at the end, in manner already men- 

 tioned, care being taken to bring the pith of the two in con- 

 tact. The second is adopted in case the two vines are near 

 one another, the sides of them both being cut in a slanting 

 direction where they face each other ; after which the pith of 

 the two trees is united by tying them together. In employ- 

 ing the third method, the vine is pierced obliquely to the 

 pith, and grafts are inserted a couple of feet in length ; they 

 are then tied down and covered over with prepared earth, care 

 being taken to keep them in an upright position. In our 



2i Borrowed from Columella, B. iv. c. 29. This method is still em- 

 ployed for young plants; in France it is called "salting" the plants. 

 25 De Re Rust. 41. , „ . , 



?6 The fi-st of these methods is now the only one at all employed 

 with the vine; indeed, it is more generally reproduced by means of layers 

 and suckers. 



