Plinies Natural! HiAorie* 



'A chcd into the catth^tooke root.Many trees arc planted after that mannerjand efpccially the Fig 

 trccj which will grow any way^faveonely of alittlc cutting: but beftof all, if a man take a good 

 big braunch thereof, (harpen it at the end in manner of a ftake, and fo thruft it deepe into the 

 ground, leaving a fmall head above the ground, & the fame covered over with fand.The Pome- 

 granat likewife and the Myrtles, are (et of braunches, but the hole firft ought to bee made eafie 

 andlargewithaftrongftakcorcrow of yron* InfummCaall thefe boughs ought to be three foot 

 long, fmaller in compafle than a mans arme, (harpned at the one end, and with the barke faved 

 whole and found with great care. As for the Myrtle tree, it will come alfo of a cutting: theMul- 

 berrie will not otherwilc grow : for to couch and plant them with their braunch esjwe are foibid- 

 den,for fearc of the lightnings. And forafmiich as wc are falne into the mention offuch cuttingSj 



B I muft now fhew the manner of planting them alfo i above all things therefore regard would be 

 had,that they be taken from fuch trees as befriiitfull,thatthey be not crooked, rough, and rug- 

 ged, nor yet forked j ne yet flenderer than fuch as would fill a mans hand, or iliorter than a foot 

 in length. /r^«»,That the barke be not broken or rafcd; that the nether end of the cut be fct into 

 the ground, and namely,that part alwaies which grew next the root: and laft of all, that.they be 

 banked well with earth about the place where they ^Ipring and bud forth, untill fuch time as the 

 plant have gottenftrcngth. 



Chap. Xviii< 



P ^ The mdftm ef fhtttingt ordering^ And drepng Olive trees, Alfo rvhiih 



hethe convement times for graffng, 



W Hat rules (bytlie judgement of C<ir<>)arctobeobfervcd in the drefldng and husban- 

 ding of Olives, I thinkc it beft to fet downe here word for word, as he hath delivered 

 them. Thus he faith therfore : The truncheons or fets of Olive trees which thou mea- 

 neft to lay in trenches,make them three foot long; handle them gently and with great care,that 

 incuttingjlTiarpning.orfquaringthem, the barke take no harmcnor pill from the wood. As 

 for fuch as thou doeft purpofc to plant in a nource -garden for to remoove againe, fee they be a 

 foot in Icngthjand in this manner let them : Let the place be firft digged throughly with a fpade 

 untill it be well wrought, lie light,& brought into temper : when thou putteft the faid truncheon 

 D into the ground,beare it down with thy foot; if it go not willingly deepe enough by that meansj 

 drive it lower with a little beetle or mallet ;buttake heed withall, that thou rive not thebarkc-in 

 fo doing. A better way there is. To make a hole fitft with a ftake or crow before thou fet it into 

 the ground, and therein maift thou put it at cafe, and fo will it live alfo and take root the fooner; 

 when they be three y ceres old,have then a carefuil eye to them in any cafe, and marke where and 

 when the barke turneth. If thou plant either in ditches orfurrowes, lay three plants togither in 

 the earth, but fo as their heads may ftand a good way afunder above the ground 5 alfo that there 

 be no more feene of them than the breadth of foure fingers ;or els (if thou thinke good)fet the 

 buds or eiesonlyof the Olive. Moreovcr,whcn thou art about to take up an Olive plant for to fee 

 againCjbe warie and carefuil that thou breake not the root : get as many fpurs or firings thereof 

 E {called the beard] as thou canfl:,earth and all about them : and when thou hafl fufficiendy cove- 

 red thofe roots with mould in the replanting, be fure thpu tread it down clofe with thy foot, that 

 nothing hurt the fame. . / 



Now if a man demaund and would gladly know what is the fittcfl time for planting Olives, 

 in one word I will tell him^ Let him chufe a drie ground in feed time [/. in Autumne,] and a fac 

 or battleground in the Spring :furthermore,beginto prune thy Olive trees fifteen dales before 

 the y^lquinox in the Spring, and from that time forward for the Ipace of fortic daiesjthou canft 

 not doe amifle. The manner of pruning or disbraunching them, fhallbe thus, Looke where 

 thou feefl ^place fertilc,if thoti fpic any drie or withered twigs, or broken boughs that the wind 

 hath met withall, be fure thpu cut them away every one ; but if the plot of ground be barrainc, 

 f care it up better with the plough , take paines (I fay) to till it well, to breake all clots and make it 

 even , to cleanfc the trees like wile of knurs and knots, and to difchargc them of all fuperfluous 

 wood : alio about Autumne bate the earth from about the roots of Olives , and lay them bare, 

 but in flead thereof put good mucke thereto, Howbeit if a man do very often labour the ground 

 pf an Oliveplot, and take a dcepc flitch, hcefhallnowand then plough up the fraallefl roots 



Yy iij thereof. 



