BOOK XVII. XXX. 127-130 



the earth round the oUve-trees and add dung. — 

 The man who stirs over his olive-yard most often 

 and deepcst, will plough up the thinnest roots. If 

 he ploughs badly, the roots will spread out on the 

 top of the ground and will becorae thicker, and the 

 strength of the oUve-trees wiU go away into them.' 



We have already stated, in treating of oUve-oil, Seasnnsjot 

 what kinds of oUve trees Cato teUs us to plant and fre^s.*"^ 

 in what kind of soil, and wliat aspect he advises for x:v, 2oa. 

 oUve-yards. Mago reconimends that on sloping 

 ground and in dry positions and in a clay soil they 

 should be planted bctween autumn and the middle 

 of winter, but in heavy or damp or watery soil be- 

 twcr-n harvcst and the middle of winter — though it 

 must be understood that he gave this advice for 

 Africa. Italy at any rate, at the present time, does 

 its planting chiefly in spring, but if one chooses to 

 plant in autumn as weU, there are only four days of 

 the forty between the equinox and the setting of the 

 Pleiads on which it injures olives to be planted. It 

 is pecuUar to Africa that it grafts them on a wild 

 oUve, in a sort of everlast ing sequence, as when they 

 begin to get old the shoot next for engrafting is put 

 in and so another young tree grows out of the same 

 one and the process is repeated as often as is neces- 

 sary, so that the same oUve-yards go on for genera- 

 tions. The wild olive however is propagated both 

 by grafting and by inoculation. 



It is bad to plant an oUve where an oak-tree has 

 been dug up, because the worms callcd raucae breed 

 in oak roots and go over to oUves. It has been ascer- 

 tained to pay better not to bury the cuttings in the 

 ground or to dry thcm before they are planted. It 

 has bccn found bctter for an old oUve-yard to be 



91 



