BOOK III. IX. 8-x. 2 



just mentioned, has a natural fondness for warmth 

 rather than cold. But the quality of the soil, too, is 9 

 of very great assistance, so that the transfer should 

 be made from lean or ordinary ground to a better sort ; 

 for a vine which has been accustomed to rich soil can 

 in no way endure lean ground unless you manure it 

 rather frequently. And these precepts we have 

 given, in general, as to care in the choice of cuttings ; 

 next it is proper to advise in particular that slips 

 be selected, not only from the most prolific \"ine, 

 but also from the most fruitful part of that vine. 



X. Now, the most fruitful cuttings are not, as 

 ancient authorities supposed, the extreme part of the 

 vine — what they call its head, that is, the outermost 

 and most extended shoot ; for in this also husbandmen 

 are mistaken. But the reason for this misapprehen- 

 sion lies in the prime appearance of the shoot and 

 in the number of clusters very often seen on the 

 longest branch. But we should not be deceived in 

 this matter; for it comes about, not through the 

 natural fertility of that branch, but through favour- 

 ableness of location; because all the moisture and 

 nourishment that is supplied by the soil courses 

 through the other portions of the stem until it 

 arrives at the tip. For by natural respiration all 2 

 the nourishment of a green plant is dra\\Ti, as a sort of 

 vital breath, into the highest point, passing through 

 the pith of the stem as though through a siphon, 

 which mechanics call diabetes ; " and when it arrives 

 at that point, it halts there and is consumed. Hence 

 it is that the most \igorous growth is found either in 



" So cailed, no doubt, because the liquid pas.ses through 

 (8ia + Palvoj) the outstretched legs of the siphon. 



28-, 



