BOOK XVII. XXXV. 155-158 



in compensation for the rapidity with which it 

 grows old is endowed with the property of coming 

 to maturity very rapidly. 



\'ines give more numerous kinds of shoots for plant- sdectvm oj 

 ing. Tlie first point is that none of these are used for j^y^^ljj^^j-^j^ 

 planting except useless growths lopped offfor brush- 

 wood, whereas any branch that bore fruit last time is 

 pruned away. It used to be the custom to plant the 

 shoot with a knob of the hard wood on each side of it, 

 and this explains wliv it is still called a ' mallet-slioot ' ; 

 but afterwards the practice began of pulUngit ofFwith 

 its own heel, as is done in the case of the fig ; and 

 there is no kind of shp that grows better. A third 

 kind has been added that strikes even quicker, which 

 has the heel removed ; these sUps are called ' arrows ' 

 when they are twisted before being set out, ' three- 

 bud sUps ' when they are cut ofF and set without 

 being twisted. By this method several can be ob- 

 tained from the same shoot. To plant from young 

 leafy shoots is unproductive, and a sUp for planting 

 must f)nlv be taken from a shoot that has ah-eady 

 borne fruit. A shoot that has few knots in it is 

 deemed unUkelv to bear, whereas a crowd of buds 

 is a sign of fertiUty. Some people say that only 

 shoots that have ffowered should be planted. It 

 does not pay so weU to plant arrow-sUps, because 

 anytfiing tliat is twisted easily gets broken in being 

 moved. Shoots chosen for planting should be not 

 less than a foot long, with five or six knots ; that 

 length of shoot wiU not possibly have less than three 

 buds. It pays best to plant them on the same day 

 as they are cut off, or if a considerable postponement 

 cannot be avoided, to keep them weU protected, as 

 we have instructed, or at aU events to be careful § ui. 



109 



