ENQUIRY INTO PLANTS, II. vi. i 2 -vn. i 



Further notes on the propagation of trees. 



To return to the other trees : in propagating them 

 they set the cuttings upside down/ as with vine-shoots. 

 Some however 2 say that that makes no difference, 

 and least of all in propagating the vine ; while others 

 contend that the pomegranate thus propagated has 

 a bushier growth 3 and shades the fruit better, and 

 also that it is then 4 less apt to shed the flower. This 

 also occurs, they say, with the fig ; when it is set 

 upside down, it does not shed its fruit, and it makes 

 a more accessible 5 tree ; and it does not shed its fruit, 

 even if one breaks off the top 6 as it begins to grow. 



Thus we have given a general sketch of what 

 we find about methods of propagation, and of the 

 ways in which these trees are reproduced. 



Of the. cultivation of trees. 



VII. 7 As to cultivation and tendance some require- 

 ments apply equally to all trees, some are peculiar to 

 one. Those which apply equally to all are spade- 

 work watering and manuring, and moreover pruning 

 and removal of dead wood. But different trees differ 

 in the degree. Some love moisture and manure, 

 some not so much, as the cypress, 8 which 9 is fond 

 neither of manure nor of water, but actually dies, 

 they say, if it is overwatered when young. But the 

 pomegranate and vine are water-loving. The fig 

 grows more vigorously if it is watered, but then its 

 fruit is inferior, except in the case of the Laconian 

 variety, which is water-loving. 10 



fcansilem (so also G), which seems to be a rendering of ev/for. 

 evBcnorfpav U. 



8 rb &Kpov conj. R. Const, after G ; -rlv Kapirlv UMVP 2 Ald. 

 ' Plin. 17. 246. 8 Plin. 17. 247. 



9 fiittp conj. W. from G ; &<rirf P Aid. 10 cf. G.P. 3. 6. 6. 



145 



