BOOK III. II. 16-20 



answer to their own name." The same is true of the 

 AUobrogian *" vines : the agreeableness of their 

 \vines is affected by a change of region. The three 17 

 Apian " also are recommended for their great 

 quaUties ; all of them fruitful and quite suitable 

 for the trellis and for trees, though the one vith 

 bare leaves is superior. For the two lanate varieties, 

 though of like appearance as to leaves and branches, 

 differ in the quality of their juice, as one of them 

 is slower in acquiring flatness of taste from long 

 keeping. They are very prolific in rich ground, 18 

 and fruitful also in average soil ; their fruit ripens 

 early, and for that reason they are very well suited 

 for cold localities; they yield a sweet \vine, but are 

 not good for the head, sinews, and veins. If they 

 are not gathered at the proper time they become 

 the prey of rains, A\'inds, and bees ; and it is because 

 of this plundering that they are surnamed from the 

 word meaning " bees " (apes). And these are the 

 vines most renoA\iied for their precious flavours. 



There are, nevertheless, vines of second quality 19 

 which can be commended for their groA^'th and 

 fruitfulness, such as the Bituric ^ and the Basilic, 

 the smaller of which the Spaniards call coccolobis,^ 

 — both of them by far the closest to the very best ; 

 for their wine stands long keeping and attains some 

 degree of excellence with age. And in fact they 20 

 surpass in productiveness all that I have mentioned 

 above, and also in hardiness ; for they \\ithstand 

 storms and rain with the greatest fortitude, they 

 have a good amount of juice, and do not fail in lean 

 ground. They endure cold better than wetness, 

 and wetness better than dryness, and yet they are 



« Ibid. 24. " Ibid. 27. • Ibid. 30. 



243 



