BOOK V. IX. i6-x. 2 



ductive. But it must also be assisted by being dug 

 round and by unsalted lees of oil mixed with pigs' 

 urine or stale human urine, a fixed quantity of each 

 being observed ; for a very large tree an urn will be 

 fully enough, if the same quantity of water is mixed 

 with it. Olive-trees also often refuse to bear fruit 

 because of the badness of the soil. This we shall 17 

 remedy in the following manner. We shall dig deep 

 trenches in circles round them and then put more or 

 less lime round them according to the size of the tree, 

 though the smallest tree requires a modius. If there 

 is no result from this remedy, we shall have to have 

 recourse to the assistance of grafting. How an olive- 

 tree should be ingrafted we will describe hereafter. 

 Sometimes also one branch of an olive-tree flourishes 

 somewhat more than the rest and, unless you cut it 

 back, the whole tree will languish. 



This must suffice for our description of olive-groves. 

 It remains to deal with the treatment of fruit-bear- 

 ing trees, on which subject we will give instructions 

 forthwith. 



X. <* Before you set the plants I advise you to protect Pomiferous 

 the bounds of your orchard with walls or a fence or a 

 ditch and to deny a passage not only to cattle but 

 also to man, for if their tops are frequently pulled 

 off by the hand of man or gnawed away by cattle, 

 the plants are forever unable to reach their full 

 growth. It is expedient to arrange the trees accord- 2 



" The rest of this book is slightly longer but almost identical 

 with de Arhoribus, Ch. 18 to the end. 



* semina seras a : semiseras SAc. 



* circumvenire SAac. 



^^ praecipio S : praecipi Ac : praecipiti a. 



87 



