486 
PLINT's NATUEAL history. [BookXYII, 
The best plan, however, is to take a pretty large branch, and, 
after sharpening it like a stake,^^ to drive it to a considerable 
depth in the earth, taking care to leave only a small portion 
above ground, and then to cover it over with sand. The pome- 
granate, too, may be planted in a similar manner, the hole 
being first widened with a stake ; the same, too, with the myrtle. 
Tor all trees of this nature a branch is required three feet in 
length, and not quite the thickness of the arm, care being 
taken to keep the bark on, and to sharpen the branch to a 
point at the lower end. 
cilAP. 28» TiiEES WHICH GllOW FROM CUTTINGS; THE MODE OE 
PLANTING THEM. 
The myrtle, too, may be propagated from cuttings, and the 
mulberry is grown no other way, the religious observances 
relative to lightning forbidding it to be grafted on the elm 
hence it would appear that the present is a fitting opportunity 
for speaking of reproduction from cuttings. Care should be 
taken more particularly to select the slips from fruitful trees, 
and it should be seen that they are neither bent, scabbed, nor 
bifurcated. The cuttings, too, should be thick enough to fill 
the hand, and not less than a foot in length: the bark, too, 
should be uninjured, and the end which is cut and lies nearest 
the root should always be the one inserted in the earth. While 
the work of germination is going on, the slip should be kept 
well moulded up, until such time as it has fully taken root. 
CHAP. 29. (18.) THE CULTIVATION OF THE OLIVE. 
Cato^^^ has treated so well of the precautions that are neces- 
sary in cultivating the olive, that we cannot do better than 
employ his own words on the subject. ^^Let the slips of 
olive," says he, which you are about to plant in the hole, be 
three feet long, and be very careful in your treatment of them, 
so as not to injure the bark when you are smoothing or cutting 
them. Those that you are going to plant in the nursery, 
should be a foot in length ; and you should plant them the 
following way : let the spot be turned up with the mattock, 
39 See c. 29 of this Book. 4o See B. xv. c. 17. 
The mulberry is incapable of being grafted on the elm. 
De Re E,ust. 45. The method of planting here described is still the 
one most generally approved of for the olive. 
