Chaps. 14-21.

Chap. 14.—Seed-Plots.

In laying out a seed-plot it is necessary that a soil of the very highest quality should be selected; for it is very often requisite that a nurse should be provided for the young plants, who is more ready to humour them than their parent soil. The ground should therefore be both dry and nutritious, well turned up with the mattock, replete with hospitality to the stranger plants, and as nearly as possible resembling the soil to which it is intended they should be transplanted. But, a thing that is of primary importance, the stones must be carefully gathered from off the ground, and it should be walled in, to ensure its protection from the depredations of poultry; the soil, too, should have as few chinks and crannies as possible, so that the sun may not be enabled to penetrate and burn up the roots. The young trees should be planted at distances [The distance, in reality, ought to vary according to the nature and species of the trees, and the height they are to be allowed to attain.] of a foot and a-half, for if they happen to touch one another, in addition to other inconveniences, they are apt to breed worms; for which reason it is that they should be hoed as often as possible, and all weeds pulled up, the young plants themselves being carefully pruned, and so accustomed to the knife.

Cato [De Re Rust. 48.] recommends, too, that hurdles should be set up upon forks, the height of a man, for the purpose of intercepting the rays of the sun, and that they should be covered with straw to keep off the cold. [These precautions are not looked upon as necessary for the indigenous trees at the present day. For the first year, however, Fée says, the hurdles might be found very useful.] He says that it is in this way that the seeds of the apple and the pear are reared, the pine-nut also, and the cypress, [As the young cypress is very delicate, in the northern climates, Fée says, this mode of protecting it in the nursery might prove advantageous.] which is propagated from seed as well. In this last, the seed is remarkably [There is some exaggeration in this account of the extreme smallness of the seed of the cypress.] small, so much so, in fact, as to be scarcely perceptible. It is a marvellous fact, and one which ought not to be overlooked, that a tree should be produced from sources so minute, while the grains of wheat and of barley are so very much larger, not to mention the bean. What proportion, too, is there between the apple and the pear tree, and the seeds from which they take their rise? It is from such beginnings, too, as these that springs the timber that is proof against the blows of the hatchet, presses [Wine and oil-presses, for instance.] that weights of enormous size even are unable to bend, masts that support the sails of ships, and battering-rams that are able to shake even towers and walls! Such is the might, such is the power that is displayed by Nature. But, a marvel that transcends all the rest, is the fact of a vegetable receiving its birth from a tear-like drop, as we shall have occasion to mention [B. xix. c. 48, and B. xx. c. 11. As Fée remarks, this is a fabulous assertion, which may still be based upon truth; as in gum-resin, for instance, we find occasionally the seeds of the parent tree accidentally enclosed in the tear-like drops.] in the appropriate place.

To resume, however: the tiny balls which contain the seed are collected from the female cypress—for the male, as I have already [In B. xvi. c..] stated, is barren. This is done in the months which I have previously [In c. of this Book.] mentioned, and they are then dried in the sun, upon which they soon burst, and the seed drops out, a substance of which the ants are remarkably fond; this fact, too, only serves to enhance the marvel, when we reflect that an insect so minute is able to destroy the first germ of a tree of such gigantic dimensions. The seed is sown in the month of April, the ground being first levelled with rollers, or else by means of rammers; [“Volgiolis.” This word is found nowhere else, and the reading is doubtful.] after which the seed is thickly sown, and earth is spread upon it with a sieve, about a thumb deep. If laid beneath a considerable weight, the seed is unable to spring up, and is consequently thrown back again into the earth; for which reason it is often trodden only into the ground. It is then lightly watered after sunset every three days, that it may gradually imbibe the moisture until such time as it appears above ground. The young trees are transplanted at the end of a year, when about three-quarters of a foot in length, due care being taken to watch for a clear day with no wind, such being the best suited for the process of transplanting. It is a singular thing, but still it is a fact, that if, on the day of transplanting, and only that day, there is the slightest drop of rain or the least breeze stirring, it is attended with danger [This is, at least, an exaggeration.] to the young trees; while for the future they are quite safe from peril, though at the same time they have a great aversion to all humidity. [See B. xvi. c., and c..] The jujube-tree [It is propagated at the present day both from seed and suckers, but mostly from the latter, as the seed does not germinate for two years.] is propagated from seed sown in the month of April. As to the tuber, [See B. xv. c.. Probably a variety of the jujube; but if so, it could hardly be grafted on trees of so different a nature as those here mentioned.] it is the best plan to graft it upon the wild plum, the quince, and the calabrix, [This tree has not been identified. Dalechamps thinks that it is a species of gooseberry, probably the same as the Ribes grossularia of Linnæus. It has been also suggested that it may be the Spina cervina of the Italians, the Rhamnus catharticus of Linnæus, the purgative buckthorn.] this last being the name that is given to a wild thorn. Every kind of thorn, too, will receive grafts remarkably well from the myxa plum, [Fée doubts if the plum can be grafted on the thorn.] as well as from the sorb.

(11.) As to recommending transferring the young plants from the seed-plot to another spot before finally planting them out, I look upon it as advice that would only lead to so much unnecessary trouble, although it is most confidently urged that by this process the leaves are sure to be considerably larger than they otherwise would.

Chap. 15.—The Mode of Propagating the Elm.

The elm seed is collected about the calends of March, [First of March.] before the tree is covered with leaves, but is just beginning to have a yellow tint. It is then left to dry two days in the shade, after which it is thickly sown in a broken soil, earth that has been riddled through a fine sieve being thrown upon it, to the same thickness as in the case of the cypress. [The thickness of the thumb. See the last.] If there should happen to be no rain, it is necessary to water the seed. From the nursery the young plants are carried at the end of a year to the elm-plots, where they are planted at intervals of a foot each way. It is better to plant elms in autumn that are to support the vine, as they are destitute [He alludes to the Atinian elm, of which he has already said the same in B. xvi. c..] of seed and are only propagated from plants. In the vicinity of the City, the young elms are transplanted into the vineyard at five years old, or, according to the plan adopted by some, when they are twenty feet in height. A furrow is first drawn for the purpose, the name given to which is “novenarius,” [From being about nine feet in circumference.] being three feet in depth, and the same in breadth or even more; into this the young tree is put, and the earth is moulded up around it to the height of three feet every way. These mounds are known by the name of “arula” [A “little altar.”] in Campania. The intervals are arranged according to the nature of the spot; but where the country is level, it is requisite that the trees should be planted wider apart. Poplars and ashes, too, as they germinate with greater rapidity, ought to be planted out at an earlier period, or, in other words, immediately after the ides of February. [th of February.] In arranging trees and shrubs for the support of the vine, the form of the quincunx [I. e. each at an angle with the other, in this form:— * * * * * * * * It was probably so called from the circumstance that each triangle resembles V, or five.] is the one that is generally adopted, and, indeed, is absolutely necessary: it not only facilitates the action of the wind, but presents also a very pleasing appearance, for whichever way you look at the plantation, the trees will always present themselves in a straight line. The same method is employed in propagating the poplar from seed as the elm, and the mode of transplanting it from the seed-plot is the same as that adopted in transplanting it from the forests.

Chap. 16.—The Holes for Transplanting.

But it is more particularly necessary in transplanting, that the trees should always be removed to a soil that is similar, or else superior, [This is the reason why a soil of only middling quality is generally selected for nurseries and seed-plots; otherwise it might be difficult to transplant the young trees to an improved soil.] to the one in which they grew before. If taken from warm or early ripening localities, they ought not to be removed to cold or backward sites, nor yet, on the other hand, from these last to the former. If the thing can possibly be done, the holes for transplanting should be dug sufficiently long before to admit of their being covered throughout with a thick coat of grass. Mago recommends that they should be dug a whole year beforehand, in order that they may absorb the heat of the sun and the moisture of the showers; or, if circumstances do not admit of this, that fires should be made in the middle of them some two months before transplanting, that being only done just after rain has fallen. He says, too, that in an argillaceous [The ordinary depth, at the present day, is about two feet; but when in an argillaceous soil, as Pliny says, the hole is made deeper. If the soil is black mould, the hole is not so deep, and of a square form, just as recommended by Pliny.] or a hard soil, the proper measurement is three cubits every way, and on declivitous spots one palm more, care being taken in every case to make the hole like the chimney of a furnace, narrower at the orifice than at the bottom. Where the earth is black, the depth should be two cubits and a palm, and the hole dug in a quadrangular form.

The Greek writers agree in pointing out much the same proportions, and are of opinion that the holes ought not to be more than two feet and a half in depth, or more than two feet wide: at the same time, too, they should never be less than a foot and a half in depth, even though the soil should be wet, and the vicinity of water preclude the possibility of the soil going any deeper. “If the soil is watery,” says Cato, [De Re Rust. 43.] “the hole should be three feet in width at the orifice, and one palm and a foot at the bottom, and the depth four feet. It should be paved, too, with stones, [This would be either useless, or positively injurious to the tree.] or, if they are not at hand, with stakes of green willow, or, if these cannot be procured, with a layer of twigs; the depth of the layer so made being a foot and a half.”

It appears to me that I ought here to add, after what has been said with reference to the nature of trees, that the holes should be sunk deeper for those which have a tendency to run near the surface of the earth, such as the ash and the olive, for instance. These trees, in fact, and others of a similar nature, should be planted at a depth of four feet, while for the others three feet will be quite sufficient. “Cut down that stump,” said Papirius Cursor, the general, [See B. xiv. c.. It seems impossible to say with exactness how this passage came to be inserted in the context; but Sillig is probably right in suspecting that there is a considerable lacuna here. It is not improbable that Pliny may have enlarged upon the depth of the roots of trees, and the method of removing them in ancient times. Such being the case, he might think it not inappropriate to introduce the story of Papirius, who, when only intending to have a stump cut down that grew in the way, took the opportunity of frightening the prætor of Præneste, by the suddenness of the order to his lictor, and probably the peremptory tone in which it was given. This was all the more serious to the prætor, as Papirius had been rebuking him just before in the severest terms.] when to the great terror of the prætor of Præneste, he had ordered the lictors to draw [From the bundle of fasces, or rods.] their axes. And, indeed, there is no harm in cutting away those portions [of the root] which have become exposed. Some persons recommend that a bed should be formed at the bottom, of potsherds or round pebbles, [This precept is borrowed from Virgil, Georg. ii. 348, et seq.] which both allow the moisture to pass and retain as much as is wanted; while at the same time they are of opinion that flat stones are of no use in such a case, and only prevent the root from penetrating [There is little doubt that they took the right view.] the earth. To line the bottom with a layer of gravel would be to follow a middle course between the two opinions.

Some persons recommend that a tree should not be transplanted before it is two years old, nor yet after three, while others, again, are of opinion that if it is one year old it is quite sufficient; Cato [De Re Rust. 28.] thinks that it ought to be more than five fingers in thickness at the time. The same author, too, would not have omitted, if it had been of any importance, to recommend that a mark [This precaution is omitted by the modern nurserymen, though Fée is inclined to think it might be attended with considerable advantage, as the fibres of the side that has faced the south are not likely to be so firm as those of the northern side. This precaution, however, would be of more importance with exotic trees than indigenous ones. It is still practised to some extent with the layers of the vine.] should be made on the bark for the purpose of pointing out the southern aspect of the tree; so that, when transplanted, it may occupy exactly the same position that it has previously done; from an apprehension that the north side of the tree, on finding itself opposite to a southern sun, might split, and the south side be nipped by the north-eastern blasts. Indeed, there are some persons who follow a directly opposite practice even in the vine and the fig, [Fée suggests that Pliny may have here misunderstood a passage in Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. ii. 8, with reference to the planting of the fig.] by placing the north side of the tree, when transplanted, towards the south, and vice versâ; being of opinion that by adopting this plan the foliage becomes all the thicker [There would be no such result, Fée says.] and the better able to protect the fruit, which is less liable to fall off in consequence, and that the tree is rendered all the better for climbing. Most people, however, take the greatest care to turn to the south that part of the tree from which the branches have been lopped at the top, little thinking that they expose it thereby to a chance of splitting [This is a useless precaution; but at the same time, Pliny’s fears of its consequences are totally misplaced.] from the excessive heat. For my own part, I should prefer that this part of the tree should face that point of the heavens which is occupied by the sun at the fifth [At 11 A.M., or 2 P.M.; I. e. between south and south-east, and south and south-west.] or even the eighth hour of the day. People are also equally unaware that they ought not, through neglect, to let the roots be exposed to the air long enough to get dry; and that the ground should not be worked about the roots of trees while the wind is blowing from the north, or, indeed, from any point of the heavens that lies between north and south-east; or, at all events, that the roots should not be left to lie exposed to these winds; the result of such modes of proceeding being, that the trees die, the grower being all the while in total ignorance of the cause.

Cato [De Re Rust. 28.] disapproves, too, of all wind and rain whenever the work of transplanting is going on. When this is the case, it will be beneficial to let as much adhere to the roots as possible of the earth in which the tree has grown, and to cover them all round with clods [Wet moss, or moist earth, is used for the purpose at the present day.] of earth: it is for this reason that Cato [De Re Rust. 28. It is most desirable to transplant trees with a layer of the earth in which they have grown; but if carried out to any extent, it would be an expensive process.] recommends that the young trees should be conveyed in baskets, a very desirable method, no doubt. The same writer, too, approves of the earth that has been taken from the surface being laid at the bottom of the hole. Some persons say, [“Tradunt.” This expression shows that Pliny does not give credit to the statement. Columella and Palladius speak of three stones being laid under the root, evidently as a kind of charm.] that if a layer of stones is placed beneath the root of the pomegranate, the fruit will not split while upon the tree. In transplanting, it is the best plan to give the roots a bent position, but it is absolutely necessary that the tree should be placed in such a manner as to occupy exactly the centre of the hole. The fig-tree, if the slip when planted is stuck in a squill [See B. xix. c. 30. A somewhat similar practice is also recommended in B. xv. c.; but, of course, as Fée remarks, it can lead to no results.] —such being the name of a species of bulb—is said to bear with remarkable rapidity, while the fruit is exempt from all attacks of the worm: the same precaution, too, in planting, will preserve the fruit of all other trees in a similar manner. Who is there, too, that can entertain a doubt that the very greatest care ought to be taken of the roots of the fig-tree when transplanted?—indeed, it ought to bear every mark of being taken, and not torn, from out of the earth. Upon this subject I omit various other practical precepts, such, for instance, as the necessity of moulding up the roots with a rammer, a thing that Cato [De Re Rust. 28.] looks upon as of primary importance; while, at the same time, he recommends that the wound made in the stock should be first covered with dung, and then bound with a layer of leaves. [Fée remarks that this is a useful precaution, more particularly in the case of the coniferous trees, the fig, and others that are rich in juice; but if universally used, would be attended with great expense. The French use for the purpose a mixture of fresh earth and cow-dung, to which they give the name of “onguent Saint-Fiacre.” See p..]

Chap. 17. (12.)—The Intervals to Be Left Between Trees.

The present seems to me to be the proper occasion for making some mention of the intervals [This is from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. ii. 7. The question, however, depends entirely upon the nature of the tree, the quality of the soil, and various other considerations, as Pliny himself admits.] that ought to be left between the trees. Some persons have recommended that pomegranates, myrtles, and laurels should be planted closer together than the other trees, leaving, however, a space of nine feet between them. Apple-trees, they say, should be planted a little wider apart, and pear-trees, almonds, and figs even still more so. The best rule, however, is to consult the length of the branches, and the nature of the spot, as well as the shade that is formed by the tree; for it is of great importance to take this last into consideration. The shadow thrown by the large trees even is but of small dimensions, when the branches are disposed around the body of the tree in a spherical form, as in the apple and the pear, for instance. In the cherry, on the other hand, and the laurel, the shadow projected is of enormous extent.

Chap. 18.—The Nature of the Shadow Thrown by Trees.

The shadows of trees are possessed of certain properties. That of the walnut is baneful [See B. xv. c.. This notion, Fée remarks, still prevails to a very considerable extent.] and injurious to man, in whom it is productive of head-ache, and it is equally noxious to everything that grows in its vicinity. The shadow, too, of the pine has the effect of killing [By depriving it of the light, and the heat of the sun; but, most probably, from no other reason.] the grass beneath it; but in both of these trees the foliage presents an effectual resistance to the winds, while, at the same time, the vine is destitute of such protection. [“Quoniam et protecta vinearum ratione egent.” This passage is probably in a mutilated state.] The drops of water that fall from the pine, the quercus, and the holm-oak are extremely heavy, but from the cypress none fall; the shadow, too, thrown by this last tree is extremely small, its foliage being densely packed. [“In se convoluta.”] The shadow of the fig, although widely spread, is but light, for which reason it is allowed to be planted among vines. The shadow of the elm is refreshing and even nutrimental to whatever it may happen to cover; though, in the opinion of Atticus, this tree is one of the most injurious of them all; and, indeed, I have no doubt that such may be the case when the branches are allowed to become too long; but at the same time I am of opinion that when they are kept short it can be productive of no possible harm. The plane also gives a very pleasant shade, [The plane was much valued for its shade by convivial parties. Hence we find in Virgil, Georg. iv. 146—“Atque ministrantem platanum potantibus umbram.”] though somewhat dense: but in this case we must look more to the luxuriant softness of the grass beneath it than the warmth of the sun; for there is no tree that forms a more verdant couch on which to recline.

The poplar [He clearly alludes to the quivering poplar, Populus tremula of Linnæus.] gives no shade whatever, in consequence of the incessant quivering of its leaves: while that of the alder is very dense, but remarkably nutritive to plants. The vine affords sufficient shade for its wants, the leaf being always in motion, and from its repeated movement tempering the heat of the sun with the shadow that it affords; at the same time too it serves as an effectual protection against heavy rains. In nearly all trees the shade is thin, where the footstalks of the leaves are long.

This branch of knowledge is one by no means to be despised or deserving to be placed in the lowest rank, for in the case of every variety of plant the shade is found to act either as a kind nurse or a harsh step-mother. There is no doubt that the shadow of the walnut, the pine, the pitch-tree, and the fir is poisonous to everything it may chance to light upon.

Chap. 19.—The Droppings of Water from the Leaves.

A very few words will suffice for the water that drops from the leaves of trees. In all those which are protected by a foliage so dense that the rain will not pass through, the drops are of a noxious nature. [This is quite a fallacy. Even in the much more probable cases of the upas and mangineel, it is not the fact.] In our enquiries, therefore, into this subject it will be of the greatest consequence what will be the nature developed by each tree in the soil in which we are intending to plant it. Declivities, taken by themselves, require smaller [Theophrastus, De Causis, B. iii. c. 8, says, that trees that grow on declivities have shorter branches than those of the same kind growing on plains.] intervals between the trees, and in localities that are exposed to the wind it is beneficial to plant them closer together. However, it is the olive that requires the largest intervals to be left, and on this point it is the opinion of Cato, [De Re Rust. c. 16.] with reference to Italy, that the very smallest interval ought to be twenty-five feet, and the largest thirty: this, however, varies according to the nature of the site. The olive is the largest [This assertion is doubtful; at the present day, in Andalusia, the palm, the poplar, and many other trees are much larger than the olive.] of all the trees in Bætica: and in Africa—if, indeed, we may believe the authors who say so—there are many olive-trees that are known by the name of milliariæ, [“Thousand pounders.” This, as Fée remarks, is clearly an exaggeration.] being so called from the weight of oil that they produce each year. Hence it is that Mago has prescribed an interval between these trees of no less than seventy-five feet every way, or of forty-five at the very lowest, when the soil happens to be meagre, hard, and exposed to the winds. There is no doubt, however, that Bætica reaps the most prolific harvests from between her olives.

It will be generally agreed that it is a most disgraceful piece of ignorance to lop away the branches more than is absolutely necessary in trees of vigorous growth, and so precipitate old age; as also, on the other hand, what is generally tantamount to an avowal of unskilfulness on the part of those who have planted them, to have to cut them down altogether. Nothing can reflect greater disgrace upon agriculturists than to have to undo what they have done, and it is therefore much the best to commit an error in leaving a superfluity of room.

Chap. 20. (13.)—Trees Which Grow but Slowly: Those Which Grow with Rapidity.

Some trees are naturally slow in their growth; and those in particular which grow solely from seed [Virgil, Georg. ii. 57, makes the same remark.] and are long-lived. On the other hand, those that are short-lived grow with great rapidity, such as the fig, pomegranate, plum, apple, pear, myrtle, and willow, for instance; and yet these are the very first to display their productions, for they begin to bear at three years old, and make some show of it even before that period. The pear is the slowest in bearing of all the trees above enumerated. The cypirus, [This shrub has not been identified.] however, and the shrub known as the pseudo-cypirus [See B. xii. c..] are the earliest in coming to maturity, for they flower almost immediately, and then produce their seed. All trees will come to maturity more rapidly when the suckers are removed, and the nutrimental juices are thrown into the stock only.

Chap. 21.—Trees Propagated from Layers.

Nature, too, has taught us the art of reproduction from layers. The bramble, by reason of its thinness and the excessive length to which it grows, bends downwards, and throws the extremities of its branches into the earth; these immediately take root again, and would fill every place far and wide, were it not that the arts of cultivation put a check to it; so much so, indeed, that it would almost appear that men are born for nothing else but to take care of the earth. Hence it is, that a thing that is in itself most noxious and most baneful, has taught us the art of reproduction by layers and quicksets. The ivy, too, has a similar property.

Cato [De Re Rust. c. 51.] says, that in addition to the vine, the fig, as well as the olive, the pomegranate, every variety of the apple, the laurel, the plum, the myrtle, the filbert, the nut of Præneste, and the plane, are capable of being propagated by layers.

Layers [The French call cultivation by layers “marcotte,” as applied to trees in general; and “provignage,” as applicable to the vine. The two methods described by Pliny are still extensively practised.] are of two kinds; in the one, a branch, while still adhering to the tree, is pressed downwards into a hole that measures four feet every way: at the end of two years it is cut at the part where it curves, and is then transplanted at the expiration of three years more. If it is intended to carry the plant to any distance, it is the best plan to place the layer, directly it is taken up, either in an osier basket or any earthen vessel, for its better security when carried. The other [Taken from Cato, De Re Rust. c. 133.] mode of reproduction by layers is a more costly one, and is effected by summoning forth a root from the trunk of the tree even. For this purpose, earthen vessels or baskets are provided, and are then well packed with earth; through these the extremities of the branches are passed, and by this mode of encouragement a root is obtained growing amid the fruit itself, and at the very summit of the tree; for it is at the summit that this method is generally adopted. In this way has a bold and daring inventiveness produced a new tree aloft and far away from the ground. At the end of two years, in the manner already stated, the layer is cut asunder, and then planted in the ground, basket and all.

The herb savin [The Juniperus sabina of Linnæus: see B. xxiv. c. 61. It produces seed, and there is only one variety that is barren; the plant being, in reality, diœceous.] is reproduced by layers, as also by slips; it is said, too, that lees of wine or pounded wall-bricks make it thrive wonderfully well. Rosemary [The rosemary, in reality, is a hermaphroditic plant, and in all cases produces seed.] also is reproduced in a similar manner, as also from cuttings of the branches; neither savin nor rosemary having any seed. The rhododendrum [See B. xvi. c..] is propagated by layers and from seed.