Columella, De Re Rustica

ToposText · Columella · 675 sections

urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:3.21.2
§ 3.21.2 Moreover, the advantage of doing this may urge us on for many reasons: in the first place, to begin with the less important, because in respect to every concern of life, not only in farming but in every branch of study, the wise man delights more in those things which are separated into their proper kinds than in those which are thrown helter-skelter, so to speak, and jumbled together into a common heap:
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:3.21.3
§ 3.21.3 and in the second place, because even the man who is quite unversed in country life, if he should enter a field at the proper time, would marvel most pleasurably at the benevolence of nature, when on the one side the Bituric vines with their rich fruits correspond to the Helvolans, with like fruit, on the other side; when the Arcelacans turn his course to the one side and the Spionians or Basilicans to the other side, whereby the fostering earth each year, as if delighting in never-ending parturition, extends to mortals her breasts distended with new wine. Meanwhile, as father Bacchus is propitious to the pregnant vine-branches, either of the white or yellow variety, and of the ruddy kind or that which gleams with purple sheen, on every hand Autumnus glows, laden with his fruits of changing hue.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:3.21.4
§ 3.21.4 But though all these give the greatest delight, still profit prevails over pleasure. For the head of the household comes down the more willingly to feast his eyes upon his wealth in proportion to its splendour; and, as the poet says of the sacred deity, Wheresoever the god has turned his goodly head, truly, whatever the person and eyes of the master are frequent visitors, there the fruit abounds in richer measure. But, dismissing this statement, which is applicable also to vines not grouped according to their kinds, I shall proceed with those matters which are most deserving of notice.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:3.21.5
§ 3.21.5 Vine-plants of different kinds do not cast their blossoms at the same time, nor do they reach the time of ripening together. For this reason, the man who does not have his vineyards divided according to their kinds must suffer one or the other of these disadvantages: either he must gather the late fruit along with the early ripe, which soon causes sourness; or, if he awaits the ripening of the late fruit, he may lose the early vintage, which, being assailed by the plunderings of birds and by rains or winds, usually comes to ruin.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:3.21.6
§ 3.21.6 But if he should wish to gather the fruit of each kind at intervals of time, he must first take the risk of carelessness on the part of the vintagers; for it would be impossible to assign the same number of overseers, one to each man, to watch over them and give orders that the sour grapes shall not be gathered. Moreover, when vines of different kinds ripen at the same time, the taste of the better kind is spoiled by the worse, and the flavour of many, when blended into one, becomes intolerant of age. And so necessity forces the farmer to market his wine when it is new, though it would bring a better price if the selling could be put off for a year, or at least until summer.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:3.21.7
§ 3.21.7 Now the separating of varieties, in that the vinedresser can more readily give each its proper pruning when he knows the particular sort in that plot when he is pruning; and this is a different practice to observe in vineyards that are planted with many sorts of vines, because the greater part of the pruning is done during the time when the vine is not even bearing distinctive foliage. And it makes a great difference, according to the nature of each stock, whether the vinedresser allows the growth of more or fewer canes, whether he is encouraging the growth of the vine by leaving long shoots or retarding it by close pruning.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:3.21.8
§ 3.21.8 Moreover, it is of very great importance what quarter of the heavens every kind of vineyard faces. For not every kind thrives in a hot situation nor, on the other hand, in a cold one; but it is a peculiarity inherent in young vines that some thrive exposed to the south because they are better adapted to warmth, while others want a northern exposure because they are damaged by heat; and certain kinds delight in the moderate temperature of an eastern or western exposure.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:3.21.9
§ 3.21.9 One who separates the various sorts by sections has regard to these differences as to situation and setting. He also gains no small advantage in that he is put to less labour and expense for the vintage; for the grapes are gathered at the proper time, as each variety begins to grow ripe, and those that have not yet reached maturity are left until a later time without loss;
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:3.21.10
§ 3.21.10 nor does the simultaneous ageing and ripening of fruit precipitate the vintage and force the hiring of more workmen, however great the cost. Now this also is a great advantage, to be able to preserve the flavour of every variety — not blended but true and genuine — and to put it away by itself whether it be Biturican or Basilican or Spionian. These varieties, when racked off in this fashion, attain the rank of nobility, because nothing of a different sort enters in to counteract their keeping qualities; for even after fifteen years or a little longer no trace of inferiority can be detected in their flavour, because almost every wine has the property of acquiring excellence with age.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:3.21.11
§ 3.21.11 Therefore, as we proposed to show, the orderly distribution of varieties is of the greatest advantage; and yet, if you cannot effect such an arrangement, the next best method is to plant no vines of different sorts except those which have a similar flavour and produce fruit that reaches maturity at the same time. Furthermore, if you are interested in fruit trees, you may set the tops of fig or pear or apple trees at the very ends of the rows on that side of the vineyard which lies to the north, so that they may not shade it when they grow up; and after two years' time you may graft them or, if they are of superior quality, you may transplant them as mature trees. So much for the planting of vineyards. There still remains that part of most importance — that we give directions also for their cultivation, and of this we shall treat at length in the book that follows.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.1.1
§ 4.1.1 Book IV You say, Publius Silvinus, that when you had read over to several students of agriculture the book which I have written on the planting of vineyards, some persons were found who, indeed, had praise for the rest of our teachings, though they criticized one or two: in that I advised the making of excessively steep trenches for vine plants by adding three-fourths of a foot to the two-foot depth which Celsus and Atticus had recorded; and that I had shown little wisdom in assigning each quickset to its individual support when those same authors allowed them, at less expense, to clothe two successive props in the same row with the branches of one vine separated into two parts. But these objections are based upon false reasoning rather than true judgment.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.1.2
§ 4.1.2 For, to refute first what I first proposed, if we are to be content with a two-foot trench, why are we of such a mind as to work the ground deeper when we intend to set the vines at so shallow a depth? Some one will say, “So that there may be a lower layer of soft ground underneath which will not, by its hardness, check the young creeping rootlets or thrust them back.”
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.1.3
§ 4.1.3 It is possible, indeed, to accomplish that end also if the ground is stirred with the trenching-spade and the trench sunk in the upturned earth, which is swollen to more than two feet and a half; for always, in level ground, earth that is thrown out and then back again swells higher than the level of the unbroken ground. And surely the setting of plants does not require that a very deep bed be spread beneath them;
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.1.4
§ 4.1.4 but it is sufficient that half a foot of loose earth lie beneath the planted vines, that it may, so to speak, receive the increase of the growing plants into its hospitable — I might even say maternal — bosom. Let us take an instance of this in the arbustum where, after digging planting-holes, we throw a very small bit of dust under the quickset.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.1.5
§ 4.1.5 There is, then, a truer reason for trenching the ground deeper, in that “yoked” vineyards grow up better when planted in deeper holes. For two-foot holes could hardly be approved even by farmers in the provinces, with whom a vine is usually of low stature and kept close to the ground; while one that is intended for the yoke (trellis) must be steadied by a deeper foundation, since if it merely climbs higher, it demands more nourishment and more earth.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.1.6
§ 4.1.6 And on this account, in wedding vines to trees, no one prepares a planting-hole less than three feet deep for the vines. But it is with little insight that there are peculiar advantages in shallow planting, in that plants grow up quickly when they are not wearied and pressed down by a great weight of soil, and that plants which are lightly supported become more productive. For both these arguments of Julius Atticus are overthrown by the case of planting beside trees, which obviously makes the vine much stronger and more fruitful; which would not be the case if the plants were suffering from being sunk too deep.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.1.7
§ 4.1.7 What answer is there to this — that the soil of a trenched plot, while it is newly broken up and loosened, swells up as though by some process of leavening? and then, when it has taken on no great length of age, it is packed, and settles, and leaves the roots of the vines swimming, so to speak, on the surface of the ground? But this does not happen to my way of planting, in which the vine is put down to a greater depth. Now, as to the argument that deep-set plants are said to suffer from cold, this too we do not deny.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.1.8
§ 4.1.8 But a depth of two and three-fourths feet is not such that it can produce that effect; especially since, as we said a little before, the vine, though planted deeper beside a tree, still escapes the aforesaid discomfort.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.2.1
§ 4.2.1 The other point, their belief that two stakes are wedded with the shoots of one plant at less expense, is most falsely taken. For if the actual root dies, two props are bereft, and presently there must be a substitution of the same number of quicksets, which, by their number, burden the accounts of the vinedresser; or, if it takes hold and, as often happens, is of a black sort or not sufficiently productive, the fruit falls short, not on one prop alone, but on more than one. And men of more than ordinary insight into agricultural affairs think that even a vine of noble stock, when it is so divided upon two stakes, will be less fruitful because it is sure to form a mat of intertwined roots.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.2.2
§ 4.2.2 For this reason the very same Atticus directs us to propagate old vineyards by layers rather than by spreading the whole vines flat, because layers soon and easily strike root so that each vine rests upon its own roots as though upon proper foundations. But a vine that has its whole body laid flat, by making a sort of lattice-work and entanglement of roots in the soil beneath, forms a mat and is choked by the intertwining of over-many roots, and it fails just as if it were burdened with many branches.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.2.3
§ 4.2.3 Therefore I should prefer, on every account, to risk the setting of two plants rather than one, and not to pursue as gain a course which, considered from either side, may bring far greater loss. But now the argument of the previous book demands of us the beginning of the next as promised.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.3.1
§ 4.3.1 In every sort of costly enterprise, just as Graecinus says, most men enter upon new works with more vigour than they maintain them when finished. Some, he remarks, erect houses from the very foundation, and then fail to bestow care upon the finished buildings. Some are active in the building of ships, but do not fit them out accordingly with gear and crews when they are completed. Some have a fondness for the buying of cattle, and some for acquiring slaves; but they are moved by no concern over the keeping of them.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.3.2
§ 4.3.2 Many also, by their inconstancy, undo the kindnesses that they have done to their friends. And that we may not wonder at these statements, Silvinus, some men are niggardly in the nurture of their children — objects of their marriage ties and solemn prayers — and do not look to their improvement through the training of the mind or through the general furnishings of the body. What is the inference from all this? Obviously that errors of like nature are commonly made by husbandmen also, who for various reasons abandon their most beautifully planted vineyards before they reach the age of bearing,
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.3.3
§ 4.3.3 some shrinking from the yearly expense and thinking it the first and surest income to have no outgo at all; as if they were under an absolute necessity of making vineyards, only to quit them presently because of their greed. Some consider it a fine thing to have extensive rather than well-tended vineyards. I have known a very great number also who were convinced that their land must be cultivated, whether by good methods or bad.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.3.4
§ 4.3.4 But my judgment would be, not only that every kind of land cannot be profitable unless it is worked skilfully and with painstaking care, but that this is especially true of vineyards. For the vine is a tender thing, weak, and exceedingly intolerant of ill treatment, and it commonly suffers from over-productiveness; for, unless you place a limit upon it, it is exhausted by its own fertility. And yet when it has strengthened itself somewhat and has, as it were, taken on the vigour of youth, it endures neglect.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.3.5
§ 4.3.5 But a newly planted vine, unless it receives every proper care while it is growing up, is reduced to extreme emaciation, and it pines away to such a degree that it can never be restored by any expenditure thereafter. Therefore the foundations, so to speak, must be laid with the greatest care, and from the very first day of its planting it must be moulded into shape, just as the bodies of young children must be shaped; and if we have failed to do this, the whole outlay comes to naught, and once neglected the proper time for each operation cannot be recalled. Believe it from my experience, Silvinus, that a vineyard well planted, of good kind, and under the care of a good vine-dresser, has never failed to make recompense with big interest.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.3.6
§ 4.3.6 And the same Graecinus makes this clear to us, not only by argument but also by example, in that book which he wrote on the subject of vineyards. He relates that he often used to hear his father say that a certain Paridius Veterensis, his neighbour, had two daughters, and also a farm planted with vineyards; that he presented one-third of this farm to the older daughter as a dower when she married, and that, none the less, he used to take equally large yields from the remaining two-thirds of the farm; that he next married off the younger daughter with a half portion of the land that was left, and, even so, took away nothing from its old-time revenue. What does this prove? Why, obviously, that that one third of the farm was better tended afterward than the whole farm had been before.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.4.1
§ 4.4.1 And so, Publius, let us plant our vineyards with great resolve, and tend them with greater zeal. And the most convenient method of planting them is that one alone which we proposed in the preceding book: that, after making a planting-hole in prepared ground, the vine be laid flat from about the middle point of the trench, and that its firm wood be raised straight up from the very bottom along the end of the trench and fastened to a reed. For especial care must be taken that the planting-hole be not trough-shaped, but that its ends be drawn up straight, as though to a plumb-line, with clear-cut angles.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.4.2
§ 4.4.2 For a vine that lies slantwise and is set in a trough in a leaning posture, so to speak, is subject to damage thereafter when the ground is loosened around it; for the digger, in his eagerness to deepen the circle of loosened ground, usually wounds a vine that is aslant, and sometimes he cuts it off. We shall remember, then, to fasten the sprig straight up to its prop from the very bottom of the hole, and so bring it to the surface. Then in other matters, to do as we directed in the preceding book; and next, leaving two eyes standing above the ground, to level off the surface. Then, after planting the mallet-cutting between the rows, to loosen the trenched ground anew by frequent digging and reduce it to powder.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.4.3
§ 4.4.3 For it is in this way that quicksets and other plants that we have set out will best gain strength, when once the softened earth supplies moisture to the roots without allowing weeds to creep in, and when the hardness of the soil does not choke the still tender plants as though with close-fitting bonds.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.5.1
§ 4.5.1 Moreover, to confess the truth, no limit should be set to the number of times that the ground is to be turned by the hoes, since it is agreed that the more frequent it is, the more beneficial is the digging. But, since consideration for expenses demands some limit, it has seemed sufficient to most people to dig newly planted vineyards every thirtieth day from the Calends of March up to October, and to root out all weeds and especially grasses; for these, unless pulled out by hand and thrown on the surface, return to life when any least part of them is covered with earth, and so scald the vine-plants as to make them scaly and shrivelled.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.6.1
§ 4.6.1 Furthermore, whether we have planted cuttings or quicksets, it is best to train the vines from the beginning in such a way as to remove superfluous growth by frequent leaf-pruning, not allowing them to bestow their strength and all their nourishment upon more than one branch of firm wood. Yet two shoots are allowed to grow at first, that one may be a reserve if the other should happen to die.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.6.2
§ 4.6.2 Later, when the green branches have hardened somewhat, one of each pair is removed. And that those which are left may not be beaten off by squalls of wind, it will be best to follow them up, as they grow, with a soft and loose band, until they catch hold of their props with their tendrils as though with hands.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.6.3
§ 4.6.3 If shortage of workmen prevents the carrying out of this kind of labour in the case of the cutting — and we advise the pruning of this also — at any rate it must be brought about without fail in the case of vines planted in rows that they are not sapped of their strength by too many shoots, unless we are looking forward to future propagation by layers; but that they devote themselves each to one cane, whose growth we should encourage by applying a prop of greater length, along which they may creep up to such a height as to rise above the frame of the following year and to be bent over for bearing.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.6.4
§ 4.6.4 When they have grown up to this height, their tops should be broken off, so that they may rather grow in thickness and strength than make a slender growth of useless length. However, we will leaf-prune this same stem, which we let grow into firm wood, up to three and one-half feet from the bottom, and will frequently pull off all the stock-shoots that sprout from it within this space.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.6.5
§ 4.6.5 Anything that sprouts forth then above that point shall be left untouched. For it will be better that the upper part be cut away with the pruning-knife the following autumn than that superfluous shoots be removed in summer time, since from that spot from which you have taken the secondary shoot it immediately puts forth a second; and when this has sprouted, there remains in the firm wood no eye to sprout and produce fruit the following year.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.7.1
§ 4.7.1 But the proper time for removing all superfluous growth is while the shoots are so tender that they may be struck off by a light touch of the finger. For if they have hardened to a greater degree, they must either be pulled off with a greater effort or cut away with the pruning-knife, both of which are to be avoided: the one, because it tears the parent vine if you try to pull them off; the other, because it wounds the vine, which is a harmful thing to do in a stem that is green and not yet mature.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.7.2
§ 4.7.2 For the injury does not stop at the exact spot where the edge of the knife made its mark; but in the heat of summer a wound deeply imprinted by the knife dries up to a greater breadth, with the result that it kills more than a small part of the very body of the mother. And for this reason, if it is necessary that the knife be applied to stems that have already hardened, the cut must be made at a little distance from the mother vine, and spur-like ends must be left to take upon themselves the injury of the heat up to the place where the shoots sprout from her side; for the heat's energy creeps no farther.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.7.3
§ 4.7.3 In the case of the cutting there is a similar method of pruning and of encouraging length of wood, if we wish to use a cutting of one year, which I have often done. But if it is your fixed intention to cut it off, so as to use it rather when it is two years old, when you have now reduced it to one shoot and that shoot has exceeded one foot in length, it will be proper to lop off its head, that it may be strengthened rather up to the neck and have more vigour. And this is the first step in the cultivation of plants after they are set.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.8.1
§ 4.8.1 The period next following, as Celsus has recorded, and Atticus — men whom our age has especially and rightfully approved — demands greater care. For after the Ides of October, before the coming of cold weather, the vine must be ablaqueated. This operation lays bare the summer rootlets, and the wise husbandman cuts these off with a knife. For if he allows them to grow strong, the lower roots waste away; and the result is that the vine puts out its roots at the very surface of the earth, to be injured by the cold and burned to a greater degree by the heat, and to force a violent thirst upon the mother vine at the rising of the Dog Star.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.8.2
§ 4.8.2 For this reason, when you ablaqueate the vine, anything that has sprouted out of it within a foot and a half must be cut off. But the method of this root-pruning is not the same as that proposed for the upper part of the vine. For the wound is not to be smoothed off, and by no means is the knife to be applied to the mother herself; because, if you cut away a root close to the stock, either more roots will spring from the scar, or the rains of winter which stand in hollows in the loosened soil will gall the fresh wounds by freezing in midwinter and will penetrate to the very pith. That this may not happen, it will be proper to keep a distance of about one finger's breadth from the stock itself, and so to trim off the small roots; when they are removed in this manner, they sprout out no more and protect the stem from further injury.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.8.3
§ 4.8.3 When this work is finished, the vine should be left exposed if the winter is mild in that region; but if a more severe winter prevents our doing this, the above-mentioned hollows must be levelled off before the Ides of December. In fact, if there is a suspicion of extremely cold weather for that region, you will spread some stable-dung or, if more convenient, some pigeon dung over the roots before you bury the vine; or you will pour over them six sextarii of stale urine previously made ready for such use.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.8.4
§ 4.8.4 But it will be necessary to ablaqueate the vine every autumn for the first five years, until it grows strong. However, when the main stem has come to maturity, this task may be omitted for about three-year intervals; for the lower parts of the vine receive less injury from the iron, and small roots do not shoot out so rapidly, now that the stock has become old.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.9.1
§ 4.9.1 Ablaqueation is then followed by pruning, in such a manner that the vine is reduced to one small rod, according to the directions of ancient authorities, leaving two eyes close to the ground. This pruning should not be done next to the joint, lest the eye be checked in its growth; but an oblique cut is made with the knife about midway between the joints, lest, if it be crosswise, the scar may hold the rain that falls upon it.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.9.2
§ 4.9.2 But the slope is made, not toward the side where the bud is, but to the opposite side, so that it may shed its tears upon the ground rather than upon the bud. For the sap that flows down from it blinds the eye and does not allow it to grow.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.10.1
§ 4.10.1 There are two seasons for pruning; but the better time, as Mago says, is in the spring, before the shoot puts forth its buds, because, being full of sap, it allows an easy, smooth, and even cut, and does not resist the knife. Celsus and Atticus, moreover, have followed this method. To us it seems that plants should not be held back by close pruning unless they are very weak, and that at least they should not be cut in the spring.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.10.2
§ 4.10.2 But, to be sure, in the first year that they are set out they should be aided, every month while they are in leaf, by frequent digging and by leaf-pruning, so that they may gain strength and support not more than one branch of firm wood. And when they have reared this they should be trimmed clean, in our opinion, in the autumn, or in the spring if it is more convenient, and freed from secondary shoots which the leaf-pruner had left on the upper part; and so they should be placed upon the frame. For it is the smooth and straight vine, without a scar, that overtops the frame with a rod of the first year. This happens, however, with few farmers, and seldom; and for that reason the aforementioned authors thought it best to cut off the first shoots of the vine.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.10.3
§ 4.10.3 But in any case, spring pruning is not preferable in all regions: for where the climate is cold, that time of pruning is doubtless to be chosen; but in regions that are sunny, where winters are mild, the best and most natural pruning is that of autumn, at which season, by some divine and eternal law, plants drop both fruit and foliage.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.11.1
§ 4.11.1 This, I believe, is the thing to do, whether you have planted a quickset or a cutting. For experience has condemned that long-standing belief that year-old cuttings should not be touched with the knife because they have a dread of it. This was a matter on which Vergil and Saserna and the Stolos and the Catos had groundless fears; and they were mistaken, not merely on this point, in that they allowed the first year's foliage of plants to go untouched, but also after two years, when the quickset was to be cut back, they lopped off all the upper part right down to the ground, close to the very joint, so that it might make new growth from the hard wood.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.11.2
§ 4.11.2 But experience, the master of arts, has taught us to regulate the growth of first-year cuttings and not to allow a vine to run wild with a rank growth of useless leafage; and, on the other hand, not to hold it back to the extent that the ancients directed, to the point of lopping off all the upper part.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.11.3
§ 4.11.3 In fact, this method is most harmful; in the first place because, when you cut to the ground, most plants die, being visited, as it were, by an unbearable wound; while some of them also, which have a more stubborn hold on life, produce less fruitful wood — seeing that, by the admission of everyone, shoots which sprout from the hard wood are very often destitute of fruit.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.11.4
§ 4.11.4 Therefore a middle course is to be followed; namely, that we neither cut back a cutting to the ground nor, on the other hand, draw it out into a woody branch of excessive length; but, trimming off the sprouts from the spur of the year before, we shall leave, close to the crotch where the old branches were joined, one or two buds from which it may send out shoots.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.12.1
§ 4.12.1 Attention to the propping of the vine follows the pruning. But the present, or first, year does not yet require a strong prop or stake; for it has been my observation that, for the most part, a young vine is better satisfied with a support of moderate size than with a stout prop. And so we shall attach each young vine either to two old reeds, lest new ones strike root; or, if local conditions allow it, to brier canes, to which single cross-bars may be tied along one side of the row —
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.12.2
§ 4.12.2 a kind of frame which farmers call a canterius or “ horse.” It is of the greatest importance that this be such that the young vine-shoot, as it creeps forth, shall immediately grasp it a little below the point of its bending and spread out on the cross-bars rather than on the uprights, and so, resting upon the “ horse,” may more easily bear up against the winds. And it is proper that this frame should be raised up to less than four feet, until the vine becomes strong.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.13.1
§ 4.13.1 Then, after the propping, comes the binder, whose task it is to train the vine upright to the frame. And if the vine is set close to the stake, as has pleased some authorities, the man who ties it will have to guard against the notion that, in fastening the firm wood, he must follow the curve in the stake if it happens to be bent, for that makes a crooked vine; or, if space is left between the vines and the stake, as has seemed best to Atticus and some other husbandmen and is not displeasing to me, a straight reed must be joined to the stock, and so by numerous bindings the vine is to be guided up to the frame. What sort of bands they are with which the plants are tied, is of the greatest importance.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.13.2
§ 4.13.2 For while the vine is young, it must be tied with the very softest kind; because, if you bind with withes of willow or elm, the growing vine cuts itself. The best, then, is broom, or the rush that is cut in marshy places, or sedge; and yet the leaves of reeds also, when dried in the shade, do not serve badly for this purpose.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.14.1
§ 4.14.1 But like attention should be given to cuttings, that after being cut back to one or two eyes in the autumn or in spring, before the time of budding, they shall be fastened to the frame. For these, as I have said, the “ horse ” must be placed closer to the ground than for mature vines in rows; for it should be not more than one foot in height, so as to be of such a sort that the still tender shoots may grasp it with their tendrils and not be rooted out by the winds. Then follows the digger, to break up the surface soil evenly and finely with many strokes of the two-pronged hoe. This level digging we especially favour.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.14.2
§ 4.14.2 For what they call the “winter digging” in Spain — when earth is removed from the vines and brought into the space between the rows — seems to us unnecessary, because it has been already preceded by the autumn ablaqueation, which has exposed the upper rootlets and carried the winter rains to the roots below. Again, the number of diggings should be the same as of the first year, or less by one; for the ground is in special need of frequent working until the vines shade it with their growth and do not allow weeds to grow beneath them.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.14.3
§ 4.14.3 The same method of leaf-pruning should hold for this year as for the year before. For the childhood of the plants, so to speak, must still be held in check and the plant allowed to grow to not more than one shoot; the more so, in fact, because its tender age does not endure the burden of both offspring and woody branches.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.15.1
§ 4.15.1 But when the vineyard, at the age of one year and six months, is brought to the vintage, it must be recruited to full strength immediately after the fruit has been removed, and reserve cuttings which were planted for this purpose must be set in the gaps; or, if these also are wanting, a layer must lead from a vine in the row to another stake. For it is of the utmost importance up to this time that every prop be clothed with a new planting, and that the vineyard shall not be in a state of replanting later, when it is time to be taking its fruits.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.15.2
§ 4.15.2 There is one kind of layer where the vine is bent above ground close to its support, and so, being carried underground by a deep trench, is brought out beside a vacant stake; then from the “bow” it puts forth a vigorous shoot of firm wood, which is immediately attached to its prop and brought up to the cross-bar.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.15.3
§ 4.15.3 Then in the following year a cut is made in the upper part of the bed, as far as the pith, that the rod under propagation may not draw into itself all the strength of the mother vine, and that it may learn little by little to take its nourishment from its own roots. Next, when two years old, it is chopped off close to the branch which has been caused to spring up from the bow. And what is cut away and separated from the mother vine, immediately has the ground dug deep about it; then a small hole is made, and it is cut off at the very lowest point and covered with earth, so that it may drive its roots downwards and not sprout out near the top of the ground by being carelessly cut at the surface.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.15.4
§ 4.15.4 Moreover, there is no time better suited for the amputation of this layer than from the Ides of October to the Ides of November, so that it may strengthen its roots during the winter months. For, if we do this in the spring, when the branches are beginning to bud, it droops as a result of being suddenly robbed of its mother's nourishment.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.16.1
§ 4.16.1 The same method holds in transplanting the cutting. For in the second autumn, if conditions of weather and situation permit, it is taken up and planted to best advantage after the Ides of October; but if some harmful quality of soil or of air opposes this, the time of its planting is postponed to the next spring. And it should be left no longer in the vineyards, lest it use up the strength of the soil and impair the plants in the rows; the sooner they are relieved of the partnership of quicksets, the more readily do they gain strength. But in a nursery one may keep a vine for three or even four years, if it is cut back or closely pruned, because no thought is taken of a vintage.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.16.2
§ 4.16.2 When the planted vineyard has passed its thirtieth month, that is in the third autumn, it must be propped at once with stronger supports; and this is not to be done just as you please or in haphazard fashion. For if the stake is set near the vine stock, still it must be left one foot away so that it will not press upon or injure the foot, yet so that the digger may work around the plants on every side.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.16.3
§ 4.16.3 And this stake must be so placed as to receive the fury of the colds and of the north winds and so protect the vine; or if it is placed midway between the rows, it must be either pushed well down or driven to a greater depth by first making a hole in the ground with a small stake, so that it may more easily support both the trellis and the fruit. For the closer a prop is set to the stock, even when lightly fixed in the ground, the steadier it is; since, by standing close to the vine, it both supports and is supported in turn.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.16.4
§ 4.16.4 Then stronger cross-bars are to be bound to the standards; and these are made either of willow rods or of several reeds tied in some sort of bundles to give them stiffness, so that they may not be bent by the weight of the fruit. For now two firm wood branches must be allowed to grow on each plant; unless, however, the slenderness of some vine requires a closer pruning, in which case only one branch is to be left and that containing few eyes.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.17.1
§ 4.17.1 A frame of rods is stronger and requires less work. Reeds are put together with greater labour, because they are tied in several places. And these must be bound with their tops turned, one opposite to another, so that the whole frame may be of equal thickness; for if the tops come together, the weakness of that part, when burdened with weight, throws the fruit to the ground just as it ripens and exposes it dogs and wild animals.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.17.2
§ 4.17.2 But when a frame is duly constructed of several tied in bundles, with their tops in alternating order, it gives about five years of service. Nor, indeed, is the method of pruning or other culture different from that of the first two years. For ablaqueation must be carefully done in the autumn, and new layers must be applied to the vacant props none the less; for this work must never be discontinued but should be renewed every year. p
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.17.3
§ 4.17.3 Surely those things that are planted by our hands cannot be immortal; and yet we take such thought for their permanence that we set other plants in place of those that have died, and do not allow the whole genus to be brought to destruction through many years of neglect. Moreover, frequent diggings must be given, although one may be subtracted from the number of the first year's cultivation. Leaf-pruning also must be practised often; for it does not suffice to remove excess leafage from the vine only once or twice in a whole summer.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.17.4
§ 4.17.4 And especially must everything be broken off which has sprouted below the head of the main stem. Likewise if any single eyes just below the frame should put out two shoots, even though they give evidence of an abundance of fruit, one branch must be pulled off from each, so that the remaining branch of strong wood may make more vigorous growth and better nourish the fruit that is left. After the forty-second month, when the vintage has been gathered, the pruning must be so managed, by allowing the growth of more shoots, that the vine may be spread out in the form of a star.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.17.5
§ 4.17.5 But it is the duty of the pruner to check the vine at a distance of about one foot short of the cross-bar, so that any tender growth that is sent out from the head may be drawn out in the form of arms and that, after being bent over the frame, it may be dropped down to a length which cannot reach the ground. But a limit must be observed in proportion to the strength of the stock, that no more branches may be allowed to grow than the vine is able to support. And in general, when the soil is fertile and the stock thrifty, the aforesaid age requires three firm wood branches, rarely four, which should be separated by the binder into as many different parts.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.17.6
§ 4.17.6 For it is of no use that the frame is given cross-pieces and made in the shape of a star unless fruit-bearing branches are joined to it. This arrangement, however, has not met the approval of all husbandmen; for many have been satisfied with a plain straight line. But that vine is more stable, both for supporting the burden of young branches and for bearing its fruit, which, being bound to the frame on both sides, is spread out in even balance as with a kind of anchors. Then too a vine that is supported on every side spreads its woody branches over more arms and extends them more easily than one which is crowded with many fruiting canes on a simple “ horse.”
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.17.7
§ 4.17.7 However, if a vine is not of wide spread or not very fruitful, and if it is in a climate that is not turbulent or stormy, it may be satisfied with a single frame. For where there is great violence and onslaught of rains and storms, where the vine is loosened by frequent downpours, where it hangs, as it were, on steep hillsides and requires a great many reinforcements, there it must be supported on every side, so to speak, by troops in square formation.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.17.8
§ 4.17.8 But in warm and drier places the frame must be extended in every direction, so that the shoots, as they creep forth on every side, may be joined and, being matted together in the fashion of an arched roof, may shade the thirsty earth. On the contrary, in rainy and cold and frosty districts plain straight rows are to be put up; for in that way the ground is more readily warmed by the sun, and the fruit is thoroughly ripened and has a more wholesome ventilation; also the diggers ply their hoes with greater freedom and precision, and the fruit is better examined by the overseer and more easily gathered by the vintager.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.18.1
§ 4.18.1 But in whatever way it pleases you to arrange your vineyards, let them be set off by footpaths into individual plots of one hundred vines each; or, as pleases some, have the whole extent of the vineyard broken up into divisions of half a iugerum. This separation, apart from the advantage that it affords more sun and wind for the vines, also allows easier access for the eyes and feet of the proprietor — things most beneficial to the vines — and it provides a definite gauge in the exaction of labour; for we cannot be deceived when the iugera are divided at equal intervals.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.18.2
§ 4.18.2 Furthermore, the marking out of small plots in itself lessens the fatigue, as it were, in proportion to the smallness of the sections into which it is cut, and it goads on those who are performing the work and encourages them to hasten the task; for as a rule the immensity of impending work weakens their spirit. Also it is of some advantage to know the strength and the yield of each part of the vineyards, so that we may judge what part is in need of more or less cultivation. These footpaths also provide for the vintagers and for those who repair the frames and props convenient room for the carrying of fruit or supports.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.19.1
§ 4.19.1 As for the placing of the frame, how far it should be raised above the ground, it is sufficient to say that the lowest is four feet and the highest seven. This last, however, is to be avoided in the case of young plants; for this regulation should not apply to vineyards at the start, but the vine must be carried to this height after a long succession of years.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.19.2
§ 4.19.2 But the moister the soil and climate, and the gentler the winds, the higher must the frames be raised. For the luxuriance of the vines allows them to spread themselves at a greater height, and the fruit is less inclined to rot when well removed from the earth; and by this method alone there is thorough ventilation by the winds, which quickly dry up the fog and pestilential dew, and contribute much to the casting of the flowers and the goodness of the wine.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.19.3
§ 4.19.3 On the other hand, land that is poor and sloping and parched with heat, or that is subject to violent storms, calls for a lower frame. But if all circumstances answer to your desire, the proper height for a vine is five feet; and yet there is no doubt that the vine yields wine of better flavour in proportion to the height of the frames to which it raises itself.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.20.1
§ 4.20.1 After the vineyard is staked and yoked, there follows the work of the binder, whose first concern should be, as I remarked above, to keep the vine-stock straight and not to let it follow the curve of the prop, lest the crookedness of the support form a vine after its own likeness. This is of the greatest importance, not only to its appearance, but also to its strength, productiveness, and durability.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.20.2
§ 4.20.2 For a straight stem bears pith like itself, through which, as by a sort of road without a turn or obstruction, the nourishment of mother earth more easily makes its way and arrives at the very top; but vines that are bent and misshapen do not offer equally smooth paths, because knots obstruct, and the bend itself, like rough places in a road, checks the passage of moisture from the earth.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.20.3
§ 4.20.3 Therefore when the vine is drawn straight up to the top of the stake, it is fastened with a band so that, when weighed down with its offspring, it may not sag and become bent. Then from that point where that which is nearest to the frame is tied, its arms are arranged in different directions, and the branches which are placed upon the frame are bent downward in a curve, and what hangs from the frame is filled with fruit; on the other hand, the bend puts forth firm wood next to the band.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.20.4
§ 4.20.4 Some spread out upon the frame that part which we bend down, and hold it fast by tying it with withes closely set; but I consider these not at all worthy of approval. For rains and frosts and hail do not harm hanging branches as much as those which are bound and, so to speak, exposed to stormy weather. Still, those same branches should be tied before the fruit mellows, while the grapes are still of different colours and sour, so that they may be less likely to rot with the dews or to be pillaged by winds or wild beasts.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.20.5
§ 4.20.5 Along the main path and the bypaths the branches should be bent inward, that they may not be injured by brushing against those who pass by. And by this method certainly the vine is brought to the frame at the proper time. For a vine that is weak or short must be cut back to two eyes, so that it may put forth more vigorous wood which may immediately shoot up to the frame.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.21.1
§ 4.21.1 There is no other pruning for a vine five years old than that it shall be shaped as I have undertaken to describe above, and that it shall not spread too far; but that the head of the stock shall be about one foot below the frame and that, with its four arms, which some call duramenta, or “hardened branches,” it shall be spread out into a corresponding number of spaces. It will suffice for a time that these arms be reduced to one fruiting branch each, until the vines are of proper strength. Then, some years later, when they have entered the juvenile stage, so to speak, it is uncertain how many branches should be left.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.21.2
§ 4.21.2 For richness of situation requires more, and leanness fewer; since, indeed, a vine of rank growth, unless it is checked by bearing, casts its blossoms badly and runs to wood and foliage; while a weak vine, on the contrary, is impaired when burdened with fruit. And so in rich ground it will be permissible to impose two rods upon each arm, but not to burden them with a number beyond the point where one vine supports eight rods, unless its very excessive fruitfulness shall demand more; for the vine which is extended with firm wood beyond this limit has the appearance of an arbour rather than of a vine.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.21.3
§ 4.21.3 And we should not allow the arms to be larger than the stock; but when presently the growth of lateral shoots from them is permitted, the upper hard canes must be constantly cut away so that they may not go beyond the frame; but the vine should always be renewed with young branches. These laterals, if they have made sufficient growth, should be placed upon the frame; but if one of them is broken or not of sufficient length, and if it occupies a suitable place from which the vine should be renewed the following year, let it be cut down to a thumb (pollex), which some call custos or “keeper,” others resex or “cut-back,” and several praesidiarium or “reserve” — that is, a stub of two or three eyes, from which all of the old arm above is cut off after the fruit-bearing wood has come forth; and so the vine sprouts out again from the young branch. And this management of well-established vineyards must be constantly observed.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.22.1
§ 4.22.1 If, however, we have taken vineyards trained by another system, and if many years of neglect have now covered the frames, we shall have to consider the length of the old hardened branches that exceed the aforesaid measure. For if they are two feet long or a trifle more, the entire vine may still be put under the frame, provided that the supporting stake is close to the trunk;
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.22.2
§ 4.22.2 for it is moved away from the vine and set exactly in the centre of the space between the two rows, and then the vine is carried across to the prop and so brought under the frame. But if its hardened branches have grown to a greater length, so that they have crept out to the fourth or even to the fifth prop, it is restored at greater expense; for when propagated by layers — a method which pleases us most — it comes forward very quickly.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.22.3
§ 4.22.3 This, however, if the surface of the trunk is old and decayed; but if it is strong and sound, it requires less labour; for, having the soil loosened about its roots in the winter time, it is satiated with dung and closely pruned, and between the third and fourth foot from the ground it is wounded with the sharp point of an iron implement in the greenest part of the bark. Then the earth is thoroughly mixed by frequent digging, that the vine may be stimulated and that it may have the strength to put out a shoot especially from that place where it was wounded.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.22.4
§ 4.22.4 Generally, moreover, a bud grows from the scar, and if it shoots out to considerable length it is allowed to grow for a cane; if rather short, for a thumb; and if very small, for a knurl. This last may be formed from any fibrous growth, even the smallest. For when a twig of one or two leaves has come out of the hard wood, provided only it comes to maturity, it puts forth a vigorous branch of firm wood the following spring, if it is not trimmed away or rubbed off; and when this has grown strong and has formed a sort of arm, you may then cut back that part of the old branch that has spread too far, and so bring under the frame that part which is left.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.22.5
§ 4.22.5 Many, aiming at the saving of time, chop off such vines above the fourth foot, having no fear of cutting them back in this way; since, as a rule, the nature of most stocks is so adapted that they sprout out with new leaves close to the scar. But this method is not at all pleasing to us, because a larger wound, unless it has vigorous wood above which may close in, is parched by the heat of the sun; and then presently it rots with the dews and the rains.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.22.6
§ 4.22.6 Nevertheless, when a vine must in any case be cut down, it is best first to loosen the dirt about it and then to make the amputation a little below ground, so that the soil above may ward off the violence of the sun and give passage to the young stems that spring from the roots, that they may be able either to wed their own props or to bedeck with their offspring any mateless props that are near by.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.22.7
§ 4.22.7 However, this should be done in this way on condition that the vines are rather deeply planted and do not have roots gliding along on the surface, and if they are of good stock. For otherwise the labour is spent to no purpose, because low-grade vines, even when renewed, will retain their former character; while those that barely cling to the surface of the earth will fail before they can recover strength.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.22.8
§ 4.22.8 The one vine, then, will have to be grafted rather with fruitful shoots, and the other completely rooted out and replanted, provided the goodness of the soil makes it advisable. When a vineyard has wasted away because of the bad quality of the soil, we believe that it is in no way worthy of being restored. Furthermore, the bad qualities of a place which usually bring vineyards to destruction are meanness and barrenness of soil, salty or sour marshland, a steep and rugged situation, a valley that is too dark and not exposed to the sun, also sandy tufa, or gravel that is unduly hungry, and also gravel that is bare and destitute of earthy matter, and anything of like nature which does not nourish the vine.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.22.9
§ 4.22.9 But if it is free from these disadvantages and their like, a vineyard may be restored by the method which we advised in the preceding book. On the other hand, those vineyards of bad stock which, even though of vigorous growth, are destitute of fruit because of barrenness, are improved, as we have stated, by grafting; and we shall treat of this in its proper place when we have come to that subject of discussion.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.23.1
§ 4.23.1 Now, since we seem not to have said enough about the pruning of vineyards, we shall set forth with greater care that most necessary part of the work proposed. It is proper, if a gentle and temperate mildness of climate permits it in that region which we are cultivating, to begin the pruning after the Ides of October, when the vintage is finished: on condition, however, that the equinoctial rains have come before and that the branches have arrived at their proper maturity;
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.23.2
§ 4.23.2 for dry weather makes the pruning later. If, however, the cold and frosty state of the weather gives notice of a severe winter, we shall postpone this matter to the Ides of February. And it will be permissible to do this if the measure of our holding is small. For where a vast extent of land denies us the choice of time, it will be proper that the strongest part of the vineyard be pruned in cold weather, and the weakest part in spring or autumn; indeed vines with a southern exposure may be pruned even during the winter solstice, and those exposed to the north during spring and autumn.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:4.23.3
§ 4.23.3 And there is no doubt that the nature of these plants is such that the earlier they are trimmed, the more wood they produce, and the later, the more fruit.

Via ToposText (topostext.org), a project of the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation created by Brady Kiesling. Translated by Harrison Boyd Ash (1891-1944). Composed ca. 50 CE. Licence: public domain. Source.