Silvicultural Knowledge. 19 
This planting of vine supports was done with saplings 
of elm, poplar and some other species ; by pollarding and 
by a well devised system of pruning these were gradually 
prepared and maintained in proper form for their pur- 
pose. 
The coppice seems to have been systematically man- 
aged in Attica as well as in Italy in regular fellings; 
the mild climate producing sprouts and root suckers 
readily without requiring much care, even conifers 
(cypress and fir) reproducing in this manner. 
The oak coppice was managed in 7 year rotation, the 
chestnut in 5 year, and the willow in 3 year rotation. 
Yield and profitableness are discussed, and the prac- 
tice of thinnings is known, but only for the purpose of 
Temoving and using the dead material. 
Forest protection was poorly developed: of insects 
little, of fungi no knowledge existed. Hand-picking 
was applied against caterpillars, also ditches into which 
the beetles were driven and then covered; the use of 
hogs in fighting insects was also known. That goats 
were undesirable in the woods had been observed. Some 
remarkably precocious physiological knowledge or 
rather philosophy existed: it was recognized that 
frost produces drought and that a remedy is to loosen 
the soil, aerating the roots, to drain or water as the case 
might require, and to prune; but also sap letting was 
prescribed. Against hail hang up dead owls; against 
ants, which were deemed injurious, ashes with vinegar 
were to be applied, or else an ass’s heart. 
Curiosities in wood technology were rife and many 
contradictions among the wood sharps existed, as in our 
times. Only four elements, earth, water, fire, air, com- 
