BOOK IV. XII. i-xiii. 2 



vine either to two old reeds, lest new ones strike root ; 

 or, if local conditions allow it, to brier canes, to which 

 single cross-bars may be tied along one side of the 

 row — a kind of frame which farmers call a can- 2 

 terius or " horse." " It is of the greatest impor- 

 tance that this be such that the young vine-shoot, as 

 it creeps forth, shall immediately grasp it a little below 

 the point of its bending and spread out on the cross- 

 bars rather than on the uprights, and so, resting upon 

 the " horse," may more easily bear up against the 

 winds. And it is proper that this frame should be 

 raised up to less than four feet, until the vine becomes 

 strong. 



XIII. Then, after the propping, comes the binder, 

 whose task it is to train the vine upright to the frame. 

 And if the vine is set close to the stake, as has pleased 

 some authorities, the man w'ho ties it will have to guard 

 against the notion that, in fastening the firm wood, he 

 must follow the curve in the stake if it happens to be 

 bent, for that makes a crooked vine ; or, if space is 

 left between the vines and the stake, as has seemed 

 best to Atticus and some other husbandmen and is 

 not displeasing to me, a straight reed must be joined 

 to the stock, and so by numerous bindings the vine 

 is to be guided up to the frame. What sort of bands 

 they are with which the plants are tied, is of the great- 

 est importance. For while the vine is young, it must 2 

 be tied with the very softest kind ; because, if you 

 bind with withes of willow or elm, the growing vine 

 cuts itself. The best, then, is broom, or the rush that 

 is cut in marshy places, or sedge ; and yet the leaves 



" Cf. Pliny, N.H. XVII. 165, Simplici iugo constat porrecto 

 ordine quern canteriutn appellant. 



