BOOK V. VI. 16-19 



they are not, on the other hand, so much smoothed 

 away that the trunk itself is damaged or stripped of 

 its bark; for an elm takes little pleasure in being 

 bared to the quick. Also we must avoid making one 

 wound out of two, for the bark does not easily grow 

 over a scar of this kind. The elm requires constant 17 

 attention, not only in training it carefully but also in 

 digging round the trunk and in alternate years 

 cutting off with a knife or tying back any foliage 

 which has grown from it, so that excessive shade 

 may not harm the vine. Then when the tree has 

 reached a good age, a wound will be made in it near 

 the ground in such a way that a hole is made reaching 

 to the pith and a passage thus given to the moisture, 

 which it has formed in its upper portion. It is well 

 also to plant the vine before the tree has reached its 

 full strength. 



But if you wed a tender young elm to a vine, it will 18 

 now not support the weight ; if you couple a vine with an 

 old elm, it will kill its mate. The trees and the vines, 

 therefore, ought to be nearly equal in age and 

 strength. In order to wed the tree and the vine, a 

 trench ought to be made for the quick-set two feet 

 wide and the same number of feet deep, if the soil is 

 light (but if it is heavy, two feet and three-quarters 

 deep) and six or at least five feet long. The trench, 

 however, should not be less than a foot and a half 

 from the tree ; for if you put the vine close to the 

 roots of the elm, it will not strike root properly and, 

 when it has taken hold, it will be smothered by the 

 growth of the tree. If circumstances allow, make 19 

 the trench in the autumn, that it may be softened 

 by the rains and frosts ; then, about the time of the 

 spring equinox, in order more quickly to clothe the 



55^ 



