BOOK XVII. XI. 62-64 



by layering. Democritus tells us that the Taranto 

 myrtle is also grown in another way : the largest 

 berries are taken, and after being crushed lightly so 

 as not to break the pips <(are mixed into a paste with 

 water)" and this is pounded up and smeared on a rope, 

 which is then put in the ground ; from this, he says, 

 will grow up a remarkably thick hedge, from which 

 slips can be transplanted. They also grow brambles 

 for hedges in the same way, by smeai'ing a rope of 

 rushes ^\-ith blackberries. In case of scarcity,* laurel 

 and myrtle seeds are ready for transfer at the end of 

 three years. 



Among the trees that are grown from seed, Mago 

 deals elaborately with those of the nut class. He 

 says that the almond should be sown in soft clav soil 

 with a south aspect, but that it also does well in hard 

 warm ground, but in a rich or damp soil it dies or 

 does not bear. He recommends choosing for sowing 

 almonds shaped as much as possible like a sickle, and 

 picked from a young tree, and says they shoukl be 

 soaked for three days in diluted manure, or else on 

 the day before sowing in water sweetened wth 

 honey ; and that thcy shoukl be put in the ground 

 with their point downward and with their sharp edge 

 facing north-east ; that they should be sown in groups 

 of three, placcd four inches apart from each othcr in 

 a triangular formation ; and that thev shoukl be 

 watered every ten days, until they begin to swell, 

 Walnuts are sown lying on their sides with the join of 

 the shell downward ; and pine-cones are pkaiitcd in 

 groups of about seven, contained in pots with a hole in 

 the bottom, or else in the same way as a laurel that 

 is being grown from berries. The citron is grown 

 from pips and from layers, and the sorb from seed or 



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