Chap. 30.] TRANSPLANTING OPERATION 487 



and the soil be well loosened. When j ou 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 THROUGH- 

 OUT THE VARIOUS SEASONS OF THE YEAR. 



If the enquiry is made what is the proper season for plant- 

 ing 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 Cato 43 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 ex- 

 tremely productive, remove all the dry branches or such as 

 may have been broken by the wind ; where it is not so pro- 

 lific, 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 

 43 De Re Rust. 44. The rules here given are still very generally ob- 

 served. 



