482 
pliny's katueal histoet. 
[Book XYII. 
mixture of mud and chaff, allowing the graft to protrude a 
couple of fingers in length. 
Those who wait for spring to carry on these operations, will 
find themselves pressed for time ; for the huds are then just 
bursting, except, indeed, in the case of the olive, the buds of 
which are remarkably long in developing themselves, the tree 
itself having extremely little sap beneath the bark ; this, 
too, is apt, when in too large quantities, to injure the grafts. 
As to the pomegranate, too, the fig, and the rest of the trees 
that are of a dry nature, it is far from beneficial to them to 
put off the process of grafting till a late period. The pear 
may be grafted even when in blossom, so that with it the 
operation may be safely delayed to the month of May even. 
If grafts of fruit trees have to be carried to any distance, it 
is considered the best plan, with the view of preserving the 
juices, to insert them in a turnip ; they may also be kept alive 
by placing them near a stream or a pond, between two hollow 
tiles covered up at each end with earth. (15.) The grafts of 
vines, however, are kept in dry holes, in which they are 
covered over with straw, and then with earth, care being taken 
to let the tops protrude.^^ 
CHAP. 25. GEAFTIKG THE VINE. 
Cato~^ speaks of three^^ methods of grafting the vine. The 
first consists in piercing the stock to the pith, and then insert- 
ing the grafts, sharpened at the end, in manner already men- 
tioned, care being taken to bring the pith of the two in con- 
tact. The second is adopted in case the two vines are near 
one another, the sides of them both being cut in a slanting 
direction where they face each other ; after which the pith of 
the two trees is united by tying them together. In employ- j 
ing the third method, the vine is pierced obliquely to the 
pith, and grafts are inserted a couple of feet in length ; they 
are then tied down and covered over with prepared earth, care 
being taken to keep them in an upright position. In our 
2* Borrowed from Columella, B. iv. c. 29. This method is still em- 
ployed for young plants ; in France it is called "salting" the plants. 
De Ee Eust. 41. 
25 The first of these methods is now the only one at all employed 
with the vine ; indeed, it is more generally reproduced by means of layers 
and suckers. 
