BOOK IV. XXIV. 10-12 



(J'ocaneus)," M'hich usually comes out at the centre 

 of the fork ; and farmers call it by the aforesaid 

 name because, sprouting out between the two arms 

 where the vine divides itself, it obstructs the fauces 

 or throat, so to speak, and forestalls both of the 

 hardened branches by drawing off their nourishment. 

 Therefore these same farmers are careful to cut off 

 and trim away this rival, as it were, before it gains 

 strength. If, however, it has already become so 

 strong as to have impaired one arm or the other, the 

 weaker arm is removed and the throat-shoot is allowed 

 to grow. For when the arm is cut off, the mother 11 

 vine bestows her strength equally upon both parts. 

 Therefore let the pruner establish the head of the 

 vine one foot below the frame, from which, as I 

 have said, there may extend the four arms by 

 which the vine is renewed yearly by cutting away 

 the old branches and allowing the growth of new 

 ones, the choice of which must be made with skill. 

 For where there is a great abundance of woody 

 branches, the pruner should guard against leaving 

 either those that are next to the hard wood (that 

 is, from the stock and head of the vine), or on 

 the other hand, those at the ends. For the former 

 contribute very little to the vintage, since they 

 yield scanty fruit, being, in fact, like leaf-branches ; 

 while the latter exhaust the vine, because they 

 burden it with too much fruit and extend them- 

 selves as far as the second or third stake, which 

 we have declared to be wrong. Therefore branches 12 

 will be let grow to best advantage on the middle 



abradi ; qui si pinguitudine sua bracchium quodcumque proxi- 

 mum debilitaverit, illi deciso ipse succedat. 



