BOOK IV. XXVI. 1-3 



place ; and that is most approved which is made of 

 juniper, and also of lam-el and cypress. Also forest 

 pines do well for this pm-pose, and elders too are 

 acceptable in the capacity of supports. These 

 props and their like must be gone over again after 

 the pruning, and the decayed parts must be hewn 

 away and sharpened ; and some, if they are sound, 2 

 are to be reversed, while others, which are either 

 rotten or shorter than is proper, must be removed 

 and replaced with suitable props ; those that are 

 lying flat must be set up, and those that lean are to 

 be straightened. As for the frame, if there is no 

 need of a new one, have fresh bindings worked into 

 the mending of it. If it seems to need rebuilding, 

 let it be tied together with poles or reeds before 

 the vine is attached to its prop, and then, as I have 

 directed in the case of a newly planted vine," we 

 should bind the vine to the stake, close to the head 

 and below the arms ; and this tying should not be 

 done every year in the same place, lest the band cut 

 into the stock and choke it. Then we will arrange 3 

 the arms in four directions, below the star,** and bind 

 the tender fruiting branches upon the frame, not 

 forcing them contrary to their nature ; but according 

 as each branch will submit, it will be bent slightly, 

 so as not to be broken in the bending and that the 

 buds already swelling may not be rubbed off. And 

 when two mature branches are extended along one 

 part of the frame, let a bar come between them ; and 

 let the separated vine-shoots run out over the quad- 

 rangular openings "^ of the frames, and, as if plunging 



« Cf. IV. 12-13. 



' Of the frame, i.e. the X formed by the intersecting cross- 

 bars (IV. 17. 6). 



' See IV. 24. 14, with note. 



429 



