C 27 ) 



themselves may not be embarrassed by com- 

 pact masses, which they penetrate with dif- 

 ficulty, and from which they derive a scanty 

 subsistence. 



The Olives should be planted at such a dis- 

 tance that they may not interfere with each 

 other, and that every portion of the soil may 

 contribute to their nourishment. In meager 

 lands from which no other produce is exact- 

 ed, eighteen or twenty feet are enough ; but 

 in vineyards or corn -lands they may be 

 thirty-five or forty feet apart. Cato assigns 

 twenty-five or thirty feet, which, as a mean 

 term, is sufficiently exact. In warmer cli- 

 mates, certain varieties attain such dimen- 

 sions as to require a space of sixty or seventy 

 feet. 



Our olive-yard being thus formed, our 

 next enquiry is concerning the culture ne- 

 cessary to obtain the most certain and the 

 most abundant produce. Virgil, after des- 

 cribing the assiduous attention exacted by 

 the Vine, leaves the Olive almost to Na- 

 ture : 



Contra non ulla est Oleis cultura : neque illce 

 Procuivam expectant falcem, rastrosque tenaces, 



