BOOK V. V. 13-16 



and when these have hardened they are tied up into 

 a kind of crown. This is done for two reasons : 

 firstly, lest, if they are allowed to run free, the 

 shoots should creep forward and become over- 

 luxuriant, and use up all the shoot's nourishment, and, 

 secondly, in oi-der that the vine, being tied back, 

 may give the ploughman and the digger free access 

 again for carrying on the cultivation of it. 



The following will be the method of trimming. 14 

 In places which are shady and damp and cold, the 

 vine should be stripped in summer and the leaves 

 plucked from the shoots, so that the fruit may reach 

 maturity and not become mouldy and rot away. In 

 dry, warm and sunny places, on the contrary, the 

 clusters of grapes should be covered by its shoots, and, 

 if the vine is not sufficiently covered with foliage, 

 the fruit should be protected with leaves brought from 

 elsewhere and sometimes with straw. Indeed, my 15 

 paternal uncle, Marcus Columella, a man learned in the 

 noble sciences and a most industrious farmer of the 

 province of Baetica, used to shelter his vines about the 

 rising of the Dogstar with palm-mats, because usually 

 during the period of the said constellation some 

 parts of that district are so troubled by the East 

 wind, which the inhabitants call Vulturnus, that, 

 unless the vines are shaded with coverings, the fruit 

 is scorched as it were with a fiery breath. 



Such is the method of cultivating both the vine 

 which grows into a head and that which grows into 

 arms. The vine which is placed on a single rail, or 

 that of which the firm-wood is allowed to grow and 

 which is tied in a circular form to props of reeds, 

 requires almost the same treatment as that trained 

 on a frame. I have, however, noticed that some 16 



39 



