BOOK V. VI. 1-5 



In what manner and of what kind of trees it must be 

 formed, I shall have no objection to stating forth- 

 with. 



It is generally agreed that there are two kinds of 

 elms, the Gallic and the native ; the former is called 

 the Atinian," the latter our own Italian. Tremellius 

 Scrofa * was wrong when he expressed the opinion 

 that the Atinian elm does not bear samera, which is 

 the seed of that tree ; it certainly produces it but 

 rather thinly and for that reason most people think 

 that it is actually barren, since the seeds are hidden 

 among the foliage which it produces at its first 

 budding. That is why no one now grows it from seed 

 but by means of shoots. This elm is much more 

 luxuriant and taller than ours and produces foliage 

 which is more acceptable to oxen ; when you have 

 fed cattle on it constantly and then begin to give 

 them foliage of the other kind, you will cause them to 

 feel a loathing for the latter. Therefore, if possible, 

 we shall plant a whole field with the Atinian kind of 

 elm only, or, failing that, we shall take care, in arrang- 

 ing the rows, to plant native and Atinian elms to the 

 same number alternately. In this way we shall 

 always have a mixture of foliage for use and the 

 cattle, attracted by this kind of seasoning for their 

 food, will finish off with greater heartiness the full 

 ration allotted to them. 



But the poplar seems to sustain the vine best of 

 all trees, then the elm, and after it the ash. The 

 poplar tree, because it provides foliage which is 

 scanty and unsuitable for cattle, has been rejected by 

 most people ; the ash, because it is most acceptable to 

 goats and sheep and of some use for oxen, is rightly 

 planted in rough and mountainous places in which the 



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