BOOK XVI. L. 116-L1. 119 



older they grow, and bear earlier in sunny places and 

 on a thin soil ; all wild trees are later, some of them 

 never ripening their fruit at all. Similarly trees that 

 have the earth underneath them ploughed or 

 broken up ripen their fruit quicker than ones that 

 are not attended to ; those so treated also bear 

 larger crops. 



LI. Moreoverthereisanotherdifference,connected Vanetics 

 with age. Almond-trees and pears have the largest oprces^^ 

 crops in their old age, as also do the acorn-bearing 

 trees and one kind of fig, but all the other fruit- 

 trees when young and when ripening more slowly ; 

 and this is especially noticeable in the case of \T.nes, 

 for the older vines make better wine and the young 

 ones give a larger quantity. The apple however 

 grows okl very quickly and in its old age bears in- 

 ferior fruit, as the apples it produces are smaller 

 and Uable to be worm-eaten, the worms being also 

 generated on the tree itself. The fig is the only 

 one of all the trees grown that is given a drug " to 

 assist its ripening — truly a portentous thing, that 

 greater prices are paid for fruit out of season ! 

 But all fruit-trees that bear their fruit before the 

 proper time grow old prematurely ; indeed some die 

 at once when the weather has lured them to surrender 

 their whole stock of fertiUty, a thing that happens 

 most of all to vines. The mulberry, on the other 

 hand, grows old very slowly, being very Uttle ex- 

 haustedby its crop ; and also the trees whose timber 

 has wrinkled markings age slowly, for instance the 

 palm, thc maple and thc poplar. Also trees grow 

 old more quickly when the earth under them is 

 ploughed, whereas forcst trees age very slowly. 

 Consequently trees carefully tended blossom earlier 



465 



