BOOK III. X. 2I-XI. 2 



they disapproved far more of that cane which, 

 though sprung from a bearing part, had borne no fruit. 

 For if they thought that the arrow — that is, the 22 

 uppermost part of a mallet-cutting — was deserv- 

 ing of censure even though it was a part of a bearing 

 shoot, how much more does mere common sense 

 show that they would have disapproved of a slip, 

 if it is sterile, even though it be sprung from the best 

 part of the vine ? Unless — and this is absurd — they 

 believed that one which had been worthless on the 

 mother vine would be fruitful when transplanted 

 and cut off from its stock and deprived of its maternal 

 sustenance. It may be that this has been told at 

 greater length than a statement of the truth re- 

 quired ; but even so, in fewer words than were 

 demanded by the badly distorted and deep-rooted 

 notion of country people. 



XI. I now return to what remains of the topics 

 proposed for systematic discussion. The business 

 of preparing the ground "■ comes next, after this 

 attention to the choice of cuttings, provided, how- 

 ever, that agreement has been reached before- 

 hand as to the quality of the soil. For there is no 

 doubt that this, too, contributes in very great meas- 

 ure to the goodness and abundance of the fruit. And 

 before considering the soil itself, we think it a matter 

 of very first importance that land hitherto untilled, 

 if we have such, should be chosen in preference to 

 that upon which there has been a crop of grain or 

 a plantation of trees and vines. As to vineyards 2 

 which have become worthless through long neglect, 

 it is agreed by all authorities that they are worst of 



trenching in long strips or furrows (sulci), and trenching in 

 short strips or planting-holes (aerobes), 



299 



