BOOK XV
.
THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE FRUIT-TREES.
1. The olive.—How long it existed in Greece only.—At what period it was first introduced into Italy, Spain, and Africa 277
2. The nature of the olive, and of new olive oil 278
3. Olive oil: the countries in which it is produced, and its various qualities 279
4. Fifteen varieties of the olive 281
5. The nature of olive oil 284
6. The culture of the olive: its mode of preservation. The method of making olive oil 285
7. Forty-eight varieties of artificial oils. The cicus-tree or croton, or sili, or sesamum 286
8. Amurca 291
9. The various kinds of fruit-trees and their natures. Four varieties of pine-nuts 292
10. The quince. Four kinds of cydonia, and four varieties of the struthea _ib._
11. Six varieties of the peach 293
12. Twelve kinds of plums 294
13. The peach 296
14. Thirty different kinds of pomes. At what period foreign fruits were first introduced into Italy, and whence 297
15. The fruits that have been most recently introduced _ib._
16. Forty-one varieties of the pear 300
17. Various methods of grafting trees. Expiations for lightning 302
18. The mode of keeping various fruits and grapes 303
19. Twenty-nine varieties of the fig 307
20. Historical anecdotes connected with the fig 309
21. Caprification 311
22. Three varieties of the medlar 314
23. Four varieties of the sorb _ib._
24. Nine varieties of the nut 315
25. Eighteen varieties of the chesnut 318
26. The carob 319
27. The fleshy fruits. The mulberry _ib._
28. The fruit of the arbutus 320
29. The relative natures of berry fruits 321
30. Nine varieties of the cherry 322
31. The cornel. The lentisk 323
32. Thirteen different flavours of juices _ib._
33. The colour and smell of juices 325
34. The various natures of fruit 326
35. The myrtle 328
36. Historical anecdotes relative to the myrtle 328
37. Eleven varieties of the myrtle 330
38. The myrtle used at Rome in ovations 331
39. The laurel; thirteen varieties of it 332
40. Historical anecdotes connected with the laurel 334
##