BOOK IV. XXIX. 2-6 



wink at it to a certain extent ; but when the ex- 3 

 tensiveness of tlie operation divides the attention 

 of even the most careful husbandman, we ought to 

 remove every uncertainty. There is, indeed, a con- 

 tradiction in what Atticus directs. For he says that 

 it is not right to prune a vineyard during the middle 

 of winter ; and although this does less injury to the 

 vine, still it is forbidden to be done, with good reason, 

 because in cold weather every branch is numb with the 

 cold, and because in its frozen condition it produces 

 no impulse in the bark to heal the scar. And 4 

 yet this same Atticus does not forbid grafting at the 

 very same time, and he directs that it should then 

 be done by cutting off the head of the whole vine 

 and making a cleft at the point of this cutting. 

 Therefore the more proper way of grafting is at the 

 end of winter, when the days are now growing warm, 

 when both bud and bark are stirred by nature, and 

 when there is no attack of cold weather that may 

 sear either the grafted scion or the wound made 

 by the cleft. Nevertheless I would allow those 5 

 who are in haste, to graft the vine in the autumn, 

 because the temperature of the air at that season is 

 not unlike that of spring. But at whatever time one 

 intends to graft, let him know that attention to the 

 choosing of scions is not different from that which 

 was prescribed in the preceding book when we gave 

 directions for the selection of cuttings.** When he has 

 pulled from the vine scions which are of good stock, 

 fruitful, and as well ripened as possible, let him also 

 choose a day that is warm and free from winds. 

 Then let him look for a scion that is round and of 6 

 firm body, not of spongy pith,* and also with numer- 

 ous eyes and short joints. For it is of the greatest 



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