BOOK III. X. 2-5 



the head of the vine or in the main stem '^ close to the 

 roots. More than that, the latter shoots, those that 3 

 spring from the hard wood, are sterile, and yet they 

 have a two-fold reason for their vigour, in that they 

 do not bear fruit, and because they derive their 

 nourishment from the full and undiminished flow of 

 sap next to the ground ; and the former are fruitful 

 and strong because they sprout from young wood, 

 and because, as I stated above, any nourishment that 

 comes to them is not shared with others. The inter- 

 mediate shoots are the leanest because the sap 

 hastens past them, being partially cut off below and 

 dra\\Ti to itself above. Therefore the leading shoot 4 

 should not be regarded as fruitful even though it may 

 bear much fruit, since it is forced into bearing by the 

 fertility of its situation ; but that branch should be 

 considered fruitful which, situated in the middle of 

 the vine, does not fail in even that unfavourable place 

 but displays its bounteousness through numerous 

 offspring. Such a shoot, when transplanted, seldom 

 degenerates, since it passes from a worse to a better 

 lot ; for whether set out in trenched ground, or 

 grafted on a stock, it is fed fat with nourishment 

 in greater abundance than before, when it was on 

 scant rations. Accordingly, we shall take pains 5 

 to select propagating shoots from the places just 

 mentioned, which country people call timeri,'^ but such 

 canes as we shall have previously observed to have 

 borne fruit. For if they are destitute of fruit, our 

 opinion is that this part of the vine, much as it is to be 

 commended, contributes nothing to the fruitfulness 

 of the cutting. It is, therefore, a very mistaken 

 notion that is held by those farmers who believe that 



" I.e. " shoulders." Cf. De Arb. 3. 1, 2U. i. 



285 



