BOOK V. X. 2-6 



ing to their kinds, chiefly in order to prevent the 

 weak from being overwhelmed by the stronger, 

 because the former is not equal to the latter either in 

 strength or in size and reaches maturity in a different 

 period of time. Ground which is suitable for vines 

 is also advantageous for trees. You will dig the 

 plant-hole in which you wish to put a plant a year 

 beforehand, for then it will be softened by the sun 

 or the rain, and that which has been put into it Avill 

 take root quickly. But if you are in a hurry to make 

 the plant-hole and to set the plants in the same 

 year, dig the plant-holes at least two months before- 

 hand and afterwards warm the holes by burning 

 straw in them. The broader and wider you make 

 them, the more luxuriant and abundant will be the 

 fruit which you will gather. Let your plant-hole be 

 like an oven, wider at the bottom than at the top, 

 so that the roots may spread more loosely, and less 

 cold in winter and less heat in summer may penetrate 

 through the narrow mouth, and also that on sloping 

 ground the earth which is heaped up in it may not be 

 washed away by rains. 



Plant the trees at wide intervals, so that, when 

 they have grown, they may have room to spread 

 their branches. For if you set them thickly, neither 

 will you be able to plant anything underneath them, 

 nor will they be themselves fruitful unless you thin 

 them out ; and so it is well to leave forty or at least 

 thirty feet between the rows. Choose plants at least 

 as thick as the handle of a hoe and straight, smooth, 



11 hieme om. SAac. 



1* openetrum SAc : penetrum a. 



89 



