BOOK XIV. IV. 31-33 



albuelis vine bears more friiit at the top of the 

 trces that it is grown on, the \1sulla on the 

 bottoni branches ; and consequently, when both 

 are planted round the same trees, owing to this 

 difference of habit they produce rich crops. One of 

 the black grapes has been named ' the good-for- 

 nothing,' though it might more properly be styled 

 ' the sober,' as the wine it produces is admirable, 

 particularly when old, but though strong it has no ill 

 effects : in fact this is the only vintage that does not 

 cause intoxication. AU the other kinds of vine have 

 the recommendation of bearing freely, and chief 

 among them the helvennaca. Of this there are two 

 kinds, one larger, which some people call the long 

 helvennaca, the other smaller, callcd emarcus ; the 

 latter is not so prolific but produccs a wine of more 

 agreeable flavour ; it is distinguished by its rounded 

 leaf, but both kinds have a slender growth. They 

 require to be supported on forked props, otherwise 

 they cannot support the weight of their abundant 

 fruit. They like a sea breeze, and dislike damp dews. 

 None of the vines love Italy less, for there it grows 

 leafless and stunted and soon decays, and also the 

 wine it produces will not keep beyond the summer ; 

 and no other ^ine is more at home in a thin soil. 

 Graecinus, who has generally copied Cornelius Celsus, 

 thinks that it is not the nature of this vine to 

 which Italy is not friendly but thc mode of culti- 

 vating it, as growers are too eager to make it put 

 out shoots ; the consequence of this, he says, is 

 that it is used up by its own fertility, unless the 

 bounty of the soil is so rich as to afford it sup- 

 port when it begins to droop. It is said that this 

 vine never contracts carbuncle, which is a very 



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