Chap. 30.] 
TEAI^SPLANTINa OPEIIATIOIS^S. 
489 
the varieties, however, of the pear, he says, should not be 
planted at the same time, as they do not all blossom together. 
Those with oblong or round fruit should be planted between 
the setting of the Yergiliae and the winter solstice, and the 
other kinds in the middle of the winter, after the setting of the 
constellation of the Arrow,^^ on a site that looks towards the 
east or north. The laurel should be planted between the 
setting of the Eagle and that of the Arrow ; for we find that 
the proper time for planting is equally connected with the aspect 
of the heavenly bodies. Eor the most part it has been recom- 
mended that this should be done in spring and autumn ; but 
there is another appropriate period also, though known to but 
few, about the rising of the Dog-star, namely ; it is not, how- 
ever, equally advantageous in all localities. Still, I ought not 
to omit making mention of it, as I am not setting forth the 
peculiar advantages of any one country in particular, but am 
enquiring into the operations of ]S"ature taken as a whole. 
In the region of Cyrenaica, the planting is generally done 
while the Etesian winds prevail, and the same is the case in 
Greece, and with the olive more particularly in Laconia. At 
this period, also, the vine is planted in the island of Cos ; and 
in the rest of Greece they do not neglect to inoculate and graft, 
though they do not^^ plant, their trees just then. The natural 
qualities, too, of the respective localities, exercise a very consi- 
derable influence in this respect ; for in Egypt they plant in 
any month, as also in all other countries where summer rains 
do not prevail, India and ^Ethiopia, for instance. When trees 
are not planted in the spring they must be planted in autumn, 
as a matter of course. 
There are three stated periods, then, for germination;^^ spring, 
the rising of the Dog-star, and that of Arc turns. And, indeed, 
it is not the animated beings only that are ardent for the pro- 
pagation of their species, for this desire is manifested in even 
a greater degree by the earth and all its vegetable productions ; 
to employ this tendency at the proper moment is the most 
*3 B. xviii. c. 74. 
*9 B. ii. c. 47, and B. xviii. c. 68. 
There is a contradiction here ; a few lines above, he says that they 
do plant their trees in Greece at this period. He may possibly mean "sow." 
See B. xvi. c. 41. The rules here laid down by Pliny are, as Fee 
remarks, much too rigorous, and must be modified according to extraneous 
circumstances. 
