Plinies Natur^II Hiftone. ^ 



A ner of a quadrangleJn the mcafurc and proportion of thefe ditches, the Greekc writers doe ac- 

 cord in one, faying, that they ought not to bee more than two foot and a halfe deepe, nor wider 

 than two foot bare : alfo, that in no place it muft bee under a foot and a halfe dccpejfor that in a 

 moift foiIe,we fhall come ordinarily neareto water about that skantlin,and notbefore.ButcTd/^?. 

 is of another judgement,If (quoth he) the place be wateril"h,let the trenches be three foot broad 

 inthemoiuhjbut inthebottomenot aboveafootand ahand breadth, but feethey bee foure 

 foot deepe: provided alwaies,that they be* paved beneath with ftone : and for want thereofjaid '^^^^^'^^J^^ 

 with greeene willow baftons, and for default of them, with vine cuttings,or fuch troufle 5 fo that 

 they lie halfe a foot thicke. But confidering the nature of trees whereot we have before written, ckcs lodminc 

 I thinke it not amiffe to adde fomewhat of mineowne,namely,The more ebbe that any roots of j^^'g^^^^Is ^ 



P trees crcepe under the ground, the deeper they muft be let into the earth, as for example, the 



and not as Vii* 



Afh and the Olive tree: for they and fuch other like ought to ftand foure foot deepe. As for all "ifniiftaketh. 

 thereftjitskilsnotjif they goe no deeper than three foot, for that is thought fufficient. [Stocke 

 me up this root here(quoth Pafjr'm Cur for a Roman Generalljin a braverie,when he meant to 

 terrifiethePretorof thePrasneftinesJVVherbyitisplainjthatthe more fecureandfafe way in 

 his judgement, was rather to cut the ftockc and maifter Root indeed, than (lightly to pare away 

 thofe bare roots that appeare naked above groundjfor that mought be done,and the tree never 

 the worfefor itJSome there be that would have round pebble ftones laid in the bottome of fuch 

 ditches, which might as well containe & keepe water, as let it forth and give ilTue thereto: where- 

 as broad flat (tones would not fo doe, but befides, hinder the root that itrtiould notgocdowne 

 C and take hold of the earth. For to keepe therefore a meane betwceilCjit were good in mine opi- 

 nion,to lay gravell under the root, 



Moreovetjthere be diverfe men of this mind,that a tree fhould not be removed,cither under 

 two yeares old, or above three: whereas others make no queftion to ttanfplantthem after the 

 firft yeare,without more adoe.C^r^? ailoweth not of tranflatinga trce,unleire it bear inthicknefle 

 more than five fin gers. And verily ,foexa6lly hath he voritten hereof,chat he would not have for- 

 gotten jto niarke in the baike of trees the South fide,before they were taken upj in cafe, hee had 

 thought that it was matenall to the replanting of them, that they fhould ftand juft in the fame 

 pofitionandacciUtomedcoaftofthe heaven, as they did before 3 for feareleaft that (idc which 

 regarded the North,if now itfhould bee oppofedagainff the South, might cleave and rift with 

 D theheatoftheSunne, not ufed thereto: and contrariwife, the parts which looked Southward j 

 might now by the Northerne windsjbe clunged and congealed withail.NoWjtherebcefome that 

 affed a cieane conirarie courfe,and namely ,in the Fig tree and the Vine j exchaunging the one 

 fide for the other : beingfully pcrfLiaded,that by that meanes they will bcarc leaves thicker, prc- 

 ferve and defend their fruit better,and in the end rtied fewer : more particularly ,that the Fig- tree 

 thereby will be the *more eafie to climbe.Moft men take great heed of this only ,that when they 

 prune trees, and cut off the top ends of boughs,the cut may be toward the South5 without any J^v.hlpiyrfor 

 regard or confideratioujihat in lb doing they expofe the boughs to the daunger of cleaving, by H>^a^T:^^, out- 

 icafon of the bote Southerne windjwhich lieih uncelTantly beating upon them. Yet hold 1 rather pj.'^^''^' 

 with them,that would havebraunchescutSouthcaif orSouthwefij namely,tow3rd the points fertile and 



£ where the Sunne is,at thefift and eight houres of the day. Another (ecret there is befides,wher- ftuicfuli. 

 of they are as ignorant, howbeit,not to bee negleded, namclyjto beware that theroots of fuch 

 trees as are to bee replan ted, (tay not long above ground, and thereby waxedrie: a!fo,that trees 

 be not digged up,cither (landing into the North,or in any quarter betweene that point and the 

 Southcaitjwhere the Sunne rifcth in midwinter, in cafe the wind (it in thofe corners : or at leaft- 

 wifcjthat the roots be not expofed bare againft any of thofe winds : for furely.many a tree dieth^ 

 hereby,and husbandmen never know the caufe thereof. Cato utterly condemneth all manner of 

 winds whatfoever, yea,and raine too, all the while that trees bee in remooving. Moreover,in thi s 

 cafe it is fingular good, that there hang to the roots of thefe trees when they bee tranflated, as 

 much of the old earth wherin they lived and grcwbefore,as may be,yea,and(if it were polTiblc) 



F to bring them away with the turfes whole and entire,lapped faft about the roots. And therefore 

 Cato provided weiljthat fuchyong plants (hould be caricd in baskets,carth and all together with 

 the roots . DoubtlelTe, not without very great reafon there is one Author faith, That it is fuffici- 

 ent that the uppcrmoft courfe of the old mould which lay at the foot of the tree, ihould bee puc 

 under the root thereof now when it is replanted. Some writc^hatif the bottome of the hole or 



grave 



