BOOK V. VI. 19-22 



elm, two vines a foot apart should be put into the 

 trench, and care should be taken that they are not 

 planted when the north winds are blowing, nor when 

 the vines are wet with dew, but when they are dry. 



This rule I lay down not only when vines are being 20 

 planted but also elms and the other trees ; also, that, 

 when they are removed from the nursery-bed, one 

 side should be marked with ruddle to warn us not to 

 plant trees in any position other than that in which 

 they stood in the nursery-bed ; for it is very import- 

 ant that they should face that quarter of the sky to 

 which they have been accustomed from their early 

 days. In sunny positions, however, when the climate 

 is neither very cold nor too rainy, both trees and vines 

 are better planted in the autumn after the equinox. 

 They should be planted on the principle of putting 21 

 beneath them to a depth of half a foot top-soil which 

 has been broken by the plough and uncoiling all the 

 roots and covering the plants when they are set with 

 dunged soil, which I consider the best course, or, if 

 not, at least with broken soil, and treading round the 

 actual stem of the plant. The vines should be set at 

 the edge of the trench and their firm-wood branches 

 stretched along the trench and then erected into the 

 tree and protected by railings from damage by cattle. 

 In very hot localities the plants should be attached 22 

 to the tree on the north side, in cold places to the 

 south side, in a temperate climate either on the east 

 or on the west side, so that they may not have to 

 endure the sun or the shade all day. 



Celsus " is of opinion that at the next pruning- 

 season it is better to refrain from using the knife and 

 that the shoots themselves should be twisted and 

 wrapped round the tree in the shape of a crown, so 



57 



