BOOK XVII. xxx\'. 1 58-161 



not to lay them down on the surface of the earth and 

 let them be dried up by the sun and nipped by wind 

 or frost. Shoots that have been left too long in a 

 dry place should be soaked in water for several days 

 to restore their freshness. 



The soil whether in a nursery or a vineyard should Treatmmt oj 

 be exposed to the sun and should be as soft as possible, ^",'/^{"'^ 

 and it should be turned over with a two-pronged fork 

 three feet down, and thrown back with a two-spit 

 spade or mattock to swell naturally in ridges four 

 feet high, so that each trench goes down two feet ; 

 and when dug the earth must be cleaned of weeds and 

 spread out. so that no part may be left uncultivated, 

 and it must be levelled accurately by measurement : 

 unequal ridgcs show that the ground has been badly 

 dug. The part of the groimd lying between the 

 banks nmst also be measured. Shoots are planted 

 either in a hole or in a longer trench. and the finest 

 possible layer of earth is heaped over them, although 

 in a thin soil this is of no use unless a layer of richcr 

 soil is spread underneath. The earth should cover 

 up not fewer than two buds and should just touch 

 the third ; it must be pressed down to the same 

 level and compacted with the dibble ; in the nursery 

 plot there should be spaces eighteen inches broad 

 and six inches longways between every two settings ; 

 and the mallet-shoots so planted should after two 

 years be cut back to their bottom knot, if the knot 

 itself is spared. P rom this point they throw out the 

 substance of eyes, with which at the end of thrce 

 years the quickset is planted. 



There is also a luxury method of growing vines — otfur 

 to tie four mallet-slioots together at the bottom vvith 'jll'^''tf,^g°^ 

 a tight string and so pass them through the shank rinca. 



III 



