BOOK XVII. xix. 94-.\xi. 96 



their own incompetence. Nothing is more dis- 

 graceful for farmers than to do a thing and then 

 have to be sorry for it. so that in fact it pays much 

 lictter to err by leaving too much space between 

 the trees. 



XX. Some trees are by nature slow growers, and in Paceof 

 particular those that only grow from seed and that ^^_ °^ 

 live a long time. Those on the other hand that are 

 short-Hved, for instance the fig, pomegranate, plum, 

 apple, pear, myrtle and willow, grow quickly, and 

 nevertheless they lead the way in producing their 

 riches, for they begin to bear at three years old, 

 making some show even before. Among these the 



pear is the slowest of all to bear, and the cypirus " and 

 the false cypirus bush the quickest, for this group 

 riowers straight away and goes on to produce its seed. 

 But all trees mature more quickly if the suckers are 

 removed and the nourishing juices brought back into 

 a single stem. 



XXI. Nature has Hkewise also taught the art of re- Layering. 

 producing from layers. Brambles curving over with 

 their slender and also excessively long shoots plant 

 their ends in the earth again and sprout afresh out of 

 themselves, in a manner that woukl fill up the whole 

 place if resistance were not ofFered by cultivation, so 



that it would be positively possible to imagine that 

 mankind was created for the service of the earth. 

 Thus a most evil and execrable circumstance has 

 nevertheless taught the use of the layer and the 

 quickset. Ivies also have the same property. Beside 

 the vine, Cato gives instructions for layering the cxxxiii. 

 fig, oUve, pomegranate, all kinds of apples, laurels, '' ' 

 plums, myrtle, hazel and Palestrina nuts, and the 

 plane. 



67 



