4S6 pltnt's natural histort. [Book XVII. 



The best plan, however, is to take a pretty large branch, and, 

 after sharpening it like a stake,* 9 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 pome- 

 granate, 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 m 

 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. 



CHAF. 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 lightning 40 forbidding it to be grafted on the elm ; 4 

 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. 



Cato 42 has treated so well of the precautions that are neces- 

 sary 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, 



»» See c. 29 of this Book. 40 See B. xv. c. 17. 



*i The mulberry is incapable of being grafted on the elm. 

 « De Re Rust. 45. The method of planting here described is still the 

 one most generally approved of for the olive. 



