BOOK XVII

.

THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE CULTIVATED TREES.

1. Trees which have been sold at enormous prices 438

2. The influence of weather upon trees: what is the proper situation for the vine 441

3. What soils are to be considered the best 446

4. The eight kinds of earth boasted of by the Gauls and Greeks 452

5. The employment of ashes 455

6. Manure 456

7. Crops which tend to improve the land: crops which exhaust it 459

8. The proper mode of using manure _ib._

9. The modes in which trees bear 460

10. Plants which are propagated by seed _ib._

11. Trees which never degenerate 461

12. Propagation by suckers 463

13. Propagation by slips and cuttings 464

14. Seed-plots _ib._

15. The mode of propagating the elm 467

16. The holes for transplanting 468

17. The intervals to be left between trees 472

18. The nature of the shadow thrown by trees 473

19. The droppings of water from the leaves 474

20. Trees which grow but slowly: those which grow with rapidity 475

21. Trees propagated from layers _ib._

22. Grafting: the first discovery of it 477

23. Inoculation or budding _ib._

24. The various kinds of grafting _ib._

25. Grafting the vine 482

26. Grafting by scutcheons 483

27. Plants which grow from a branch 485

28. Trees which grow from cuttings: the mode of planting them 486

29. The cultivation of the olive _ib._

30. Transplanting operations as distributed throughout the various seasons of the year 487

31. The cleaning and baring of the roots, and moulding them 491

32. Willow-beds 492

33. Reed-beds 493

34. Other plants that are cut for poles and stakes 494

35. The culture of the vine and the various shrubs which support it 495

36. How grapes are protected from the ravages of insects 517

37. The diseases of trees _ib._

38. Prodigies connected with trees 526

39. Treatment of the diseases of trees 528

40. Methods of irrigation 529

41. Remarkable facts connected with irrigation _ib._

42. Incisions made in trees 530

43. Other remedies for the diseases of trees _ib._

44. Caprification, and particulars connected with the fig 531

45. Errors that may be committed in pruning _ib._

46. The proper mode of manuring trees 532

47. Medicaments for trees _ib._

GREEK AND ROMAN MONEY, WEIGHTS, AND MEASURES MENTIONED BY PLINY.

Acetabulum. R 1/8 of a Sextarius, .1238 pint. Actus. R 120 Pedes or Roman feet. Amphora. R 48 Sextarii, 5 gall. 7.577 pints. As. R 2-1/8 farthings. Copper. As. R [weight] See “Libra.” Concha, Smaller, G and R .0412 pint. Concha, Larger, G and R .1238 pint. Congius. R 5.9471 pints. Cubitus. G 1 foot 6.2016 inches. Cubitus. R 1 foot 5.4744 inches. Culeus. R 20 Amphoræ, 118 gall. 7.546 pints. Cyathus. G and R 1/12 of a Sextarius, .0825 pint. Denarius. R 16 Asses, 8-1/2 pence. Silver. Denarius. R. [weight] 52.5 to 60 grains. Digitus, or Finger. R 1/16 of a Pes, .7281 inch. Drachma. G .63 grains. Hemina. R See “Semisextarius.” Jugerum. R 240 Pedes or Roman feet by 120. Libra, or Pound. R 11-3/4 ounces 60.45 grains, avoird. Mina.[1] G 15 ounces 83.75 grains, avoird. Modius. R. [dry measure] 1/3 of an Amphora, 1 gall. 7.8576 pints. Obolus, G 1-1/2 pence + .5 farthings. Silver. Obolus. G. [weight] 10.5 grains. Palmus, or Handbreadth. R 2.9214 inches. Passus, or Pace.[2] R 5 Roman feet, 4 ft. 10.248 inches. Pes, or Foot. R 12 Unciæ, 11.6496 inches. Pollex, or Thumb. R See “Uncia” [lineal measure]. Quadrans. R .53125 farthings. Copper. Quadrans. R [weight] 3 Unciæ, 2-3/4 ounces 97.21 grs. Quadrantal. R See “Amphora.” Quartarius. R 1/4 of a Sextarius, .2477 pint. Quinarius. R 1/2 of a Denarius. Scripulum, or Scruple. R 1/24 of an Uncia, 18.06 grains. Semisextarius. R 1/2 of a Sextarius. Sestertius. R 1/4 of a Denarius. Brass or Silver. Sestertium. R 1000 Sestertii, £7 16s. 3d. Sextarius. R 1/6 of a Congius, .9911 pint. Spithama, or Span. G 9.1008 inches. Stadium. G and R 1/8 of a Roman mile, 606 feet 9 in. Teruncius. R See “Quadrans” [weight & money]. Ulna, or Ell. R 6 feet, 81 inch. Uncia, or Inch. R 1/12 of a Pes, .9708 inch. Uncia, or Ounce. R 1/12 of a Libra. 433.666 grs. Urna. R 1/2 of an Amphora. Victoriatus. R See “Quinarius.”

The Schœnus, an Egyptian and Persian lineal measure, varied considerably; being sometimes thirty, and sometimes forty Stadia. See B. v. c. 11, B. vi. c. 30, and B. xii. c. 30.

The Attic Talent, as a weight, was equal to 56lb. 15-1/4oz. 100.32 grains. The Commercial Talent was 85lb. 2-1/2oz. 70.7 grs. The Silver Attic, or Great Talent, was in value £343 15s. or, according to Pollux, £406 5s. The Gold, or Sicilian Talent, was equal in weight to six Attic Drachmæ, or about 3/4 oz. and 71 grs. The Egyptian Talent, as a measure of weight, was equal to about twice the Attic Talent.

NATURAL HISTORY OF PLINY.

##