BOOK XVII. XM. 80-83 



their being dug like an oven, narrower at the orifice ; 

 while in black earth lie advises a hole 3 ft. 4 in. deep, 

 in the forni of a square of the same dimensions. The 

 Greek authorities agree that the holes ought not to be 

 more than 2h ft. deep or 2 ft. wide, but nowhere less 

 than 18 in. deep. Because of the foct that in danip 

 ground one gets through to the neighbourhood of 

 water, Cato " advises that if the place is damp the 

 holes should be a yard wide at the orifice and 16 

 inches wide at the bottom, and 4 ft. deep, and that 

 they should be Hoored with stones, or, if stones are 

 not available, with stakes of green willow, or, if these 

 are also not available, with brushwood, so as to reduce 

 their dcpth by six inches. To us. after what has been 

 said as to the nature of trees, it apj)ears proper to add 

 that those which are fond of the surface of the ground, 

 for instance the ash and the ohve, must be sunk dceper 

 in ; these and similar trees should be sunk four feet 

 down, but for the others a depth of three feet will be 

 enough. And there is no harm in trimming the parts 

 that have become exposed : ' Lop clear that root 

 there,' said General Papirius Cursor when to intimi- 

 date the chief magistrate of Palestrina he ordered 

 the hctor to draw his axe.* Some persons recom- 

 mend putting at the bottom a layer of potsherds — 

 others prefer round stones — in order to hokl in the 

 moisture and also let some throujjh, thinkinjj that 

 flat stones do not act in the same way and prevent 

 the root from reaching the eartli. A middle course 

 between the two opinions woukl be to pave the 

 bottom w ith a layer of gravek 



Some people recommend transplanting a tree when 1'recautwn.i 

 it is not less than two years okl and not more than pianiing. 

 three, others when it is large enough round to fill the ';^'j"l^°^ 



57 



VOL. V. C 



