4[)2 pltny's natural history. [Book XVII. 



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 vine 60 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. 61 



The stake willow 62 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 laj^ers, and cut away 

 from the trunk at the end of a year. A single jugerum of 



30 The maple, linden, elm, and arundo donax, are still employed, as well 

 as the willow, for this purpose ; the latter, however, but very rarely. The 

 account of its cultivation here given is borrowed from Columella, De Se 

 Rust. B. iv. c. 30. 



61 The Salix viminalis of Linnaeus, or white osier. 



62 The Salix alba of Linnaeus. These stakes, or props, are for the sup- 

 port of the vine. 



