Trees, Shrubs, and Plants of Virgil 



of Sergius, and is one of the sixteen varieties named 

 by Macrobius. 



Two methods of propagation mentioned by Virgil 

 are still in vogue. One (Ge. ii. 63) is much like what 

 Shirley Hibberd calls the currant-tree method of 

 propagating roses. A small branch, not more than 

 two inches in diameter at its thickest point, is sawn 

 off the tree, care being taken not to jag the bark. 

 The lower part of this branch is cut into lengths 

 of a foot or a foot and a half. These cuttings or 

 truncheons, ' trunci ' or ' taleae,' are then pointed at 

 both ends and buried nearly their whole length in 

 the nursery. It takes five years before they can be 

 transplanted to their places in the oliveyard. Some- 

 times they are not set in the nursery for transplanta- 

 tion, but set in the yard at once. In this case they 

 were cut to the length of three feet. 



The second method (ib. 30) has the advantage 

 that the transplanting can be done after three years, 

 but the trees were thought to be not so good. The 

 trunk of an old tree is cut into small pieces with 

 a strip of bark at one side. These are planted like 

 the truncheons and soon produce roots. The mul- 

 berry shares with the olive this power of producing 

 roots from old wood. Pliny tells stories, not, as 

 some of his stories are, impossible, of olive wood 

 sprouting even after it had passed through the 

 carpenter's hands. 



With grafting I have dealt in the previous article. 



Virgil tells us that when olive-trees are once estab- 

 lished they need no more cultivation (ib. 420), but 



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