66 atque levatis plagis, fimoque et cinere oblitis, in scrobem vel "sulcum deponere. Truncus autem aptior translationi est, qui "brachii crassitudinem habet: poterit enim longe majoris in"crementi et robustioris transferri.". -From this account it is plain Columella thought this the securer way of propagating olive-trees and this is now much practised about Tivoli.N. B. Truncus was used to denote not only the body, but the limbs of a tree, as appears from Columella, lib. V. c. vi. where, describing the Tabulata of trees for vines to spread on, he says: "Hoc enim nomine usurpant agricolae ramos truncosque pro"minentes," etc. Columella, in the book De Arboribus, cap. xvii. says: "Me"lius truncis quam plantis olivetum constituitur." And then gives directions: "Oportet autem arbusculam deponere ita "rectam, ut quod a scrobe extiterit in medium sit." VER. 67, 68. "Etiam ardua * palma "Nascitur, et casus * abies visura marinos." * Q. If this ought not to be construed thus? "Palma nascitur "etiam ardua; item Abies:" i. e. they may be planted out, when they are tall large trees. This I take to be Virgil's meaning; and is finely expressed. 'Tis certain that this is commonly practised with firs: Q. whether the palm will bear it? In the 4th Georgic, Virgil confirms what he says here; and makes his Corycius Senex put in practice, what he here mentions as feasible: "Ille etiam seras in versum distulit ulmos, Pliny mentions the transplanting the Abies with roots above eight cubits long: "Apud autores certe invenitur, abietis planta cum transferretur, octo cubitorum in altitudine; nec "totam refossam, sed abruptam." Lib. XVI. c. xxxi. .. VER. 69-72. "Inseritur vero ex foetu nucis arbutus horrida, "Flore ** pyri: glandemque sues fregêre sub ulmis." *Pliny mentions this passage, lib. XV. c. xv. "insitam nucibus arbutum, malis platanum dicit." 66 Virgilius The cutting off the last letter at the end of the verse adds a beauty to the epithet given to Arbutus. 2 ** Palladius, in his book De insitione has a long article about the pear-tree, which begins thus: "Germine cana pyrus niveos haud invida flores These epithets are probably given in imitation of Virgil's "in"canuit albo"-and relate, one to the tree, the other to the flower. 66 VER. 74-77. "Quà se medio trudunt de cortice gemmae, ex arbore germen * It seems to me that by Udo is meant the plaistering used in inoculation; from whence this sort of grafting was as often called Emplastratio as Inoculatio; as appears from Columella, lib. V. c. xi. where, speaking of several ways of grafting, he says: "Tertium genus est insitionis, quo arbor ipsas gemmas cum exiguo cortice in partem sui delibratam recipit, quam "vocant agricolae Emplastrationem, vel ut quidam Inocula"tionem. -And then describes this inoculation thus: "Alte"rius arboris, quam Emplastraturus es, nitidissimum ramum eligito; et ejusdem spatii corticem circumcidito, et materiam "delibrato; deinde in eam partem quam nudaveris praepa"ratum Emplastrum aptato; ita ut alterae delibratae parti "conveniat: Ubi ita haec feceris, circa gemmam bene alligato, "cavetoque nè laedas ipsum germen. Deinde commissuras et "vincula luto oblinito; spatio relicto, ut gemma libera vinculo "non urgeatur." 66 * Columella commonly uses the word Coalescere on this subject; but, lib. V. c. x. he uses Inolescere; probably from Virgil. VER. 78, 79. "Aut rursum enodes trunci * resecantur, et altè "Finditur in solidum cuneis via: deinde feraces "Plantae immittuntur.". *"Arborem, quam inserere voles, serrâ diligenter exsecato; "eâ parte, quâ maximè nitida et sine cicatrice est." Col. lib. V. c. xi. VER. 83, 84. "Praeterea genus haud unum, nec fortibus *'ulmis, "Nec ** salici *3 lotoque, nec Idaeis ** cyparissis :" 3 *1 Columella, lib. V. c. vi. De ulmariis faciendis, says thus: 66 "Ulmorum duo esse genera convenit, Gallicum et vernaculum: "illud Atinia, hoc nostras dicitur. Est autem Atinia ulmus longè laetior et procerior quam nostras, frondemque jucundi"orem bubus praebet: quâ cùm assiduè pecus paveris, et "postea generis alterius frondem dare institueris, fastidium "bubus affert.”—This may serve likewise to explain Virgil's "frondibus ulmi," ver. 446. posth. **Tria sunt genera praecipuè Salicis, Graecae, Gallicae, "Sabinae, quam plurimi vocant Amerinam." Col. lib. IV. c. XXX. *The celebrated Lotus was an African tree; but, as Pliny tells us, they had the Lotus too very common in Italy, but very different from the other: "Et ipsam Italiae familiarem, sed "terrâ mutatur:"- -Again he says, the differences between the several sorts consisted chiefly in the fruit.-That the African was as large as a bean, and grew thick like myrtle; but the fruit of the Italian was like a cherry. Plin. lib. XIII. c. xvii. ** Pliny says of the cypress: "Duo genera earum-Meta in fastigium convoluta, quae et foemina appellatur: Mas spargit "extra se ramos deputaturque et accipit vitem," etc. lib. XVI. схххііі. See likewise in the same chapter, the reason of the epithet Idaeis. 66 66 66 4 VER. 85, 86. "Nec pingues unam in faciem nascuntur olivae, "Orchades, et radii, et amarâ pausia baccâ." * Columella reckons up ten different sorts of olives: Virgil names only three of them. It cannot be known for certain by what names they are called at present; but this may be collected, from passages in Columella, that the Orchis and Radius were large clives, and used chiefly for eating; the Pausia, a small olive, used commonly to make oil Pausiae oleum saporis egregii-Orchis et Radius melius ad escam quàm in liquorem stringitur.Omnisque olea major fere ad escam, "minor oleo est aptior." Lib. V. c. viii. And again lib. XII. c. xlvii. From this account, it may not be amiss to suppose, that the Orchis answers to the Spanish olive, Radius to the streaked olive such as that of Languedoc, and Pausia to the Lucca or Florence olive.-N. B. Columella, in this description of the several sorts of olives, says, "Bacca jucundissima est "Pausiae;" whereas Virgil distinguishes it by "amarâ baccâ:" in order to reconcile them, we must suppose, that Virgil speaks of the berry before it is pressed; and the more bitter that is, it usually makes the sweeter oil, in which latter sense Columella calls it Jucundissima. 66 VER. 91-96. "Sunt Thasiae vites, sunt et Mareotides 1 albae; 66 2 Purpureae, preciaeque : et quo te carmine dicam, 66 **Rhaetica? nec cellis ideo contende Falernis." *Dixit Virgilius Thasias, Mareotidas, et Lageas, compluresque externas, quae non reperiuntur in Italiâ." Plin. lib. XIV. c. iii. The Alexandrian or Mareotic wine from the lake Mareotis, near the city Alexandria in Aegypt, was much celebrated and very strong. Horace, speaking of Cleopatra, says: Mentemque lymphatam Mareotico "Redegit in veros timores." Lib. I. Od. xxxvii. Strabo, speaking of Alexandria and the Lacus Mareia, says, Εὐοινία τε ἐςὶ περὶ τὰς τόπες, ὣςε καὶ διακεῖσθαι πρὸς παλαίωσιν τὸν Magaιativ oivov, lib. XVII. " Quae Graeculae vites sunt, ut Mareoticae, Thasiae, Psi"thiae sicut habent probabilem gustum, ita nostris regionibus "et raritate uvarum, et acinorum exiguitate, minus fluunt." Col. lib. III. c. ii. *The Vino Santo is now made much in the same manner as the wine from the grape Psythia here mentioned was made formerly. They gather the grapes when ripe, and spread them abroad, or hang them up, for some time, to dry; and when they are become in some degree Raisins, they press them; and the juice inspissated by the evaporation of the watery parts, makes a very rich wine. 66 ** Pliny, treating of the different sorts of wine, says: "Vinum tenue et austerum celeriùs per urinam transit, tantoque "magis capita tentat." Lib. XXIII. c. i. 3 ** Purpureae must signify here a particular species of grapes; for Pliny says expressly, that Virgil has enumerated fifteen different kinds of grapes; and we shall not find this number right without reckoning the Purpurea for one: 66 XV omnino gene"ribus uvarum nominatis, tribus oleae, totidem pyrorum.' Plin. lib. XIV. Prooem. That Precia was the name of a particular grape appears from the same author: "Preciae duo genera magnitudine acini "discernuntur, quibus materies plurima, uvaque ollis utilissima; folium apio simile." Lib. XIV. c. ii. "Mediocri quoque solo foecundae, sicut pretiae minor et "major." Col. Lib. III. c. ü. *The Vino Santo, and Aromatico, both excellent wines, are still made near the Lago di Garda and Lago di Como, and in the Valteline, all which were within the territories of the antient Rhaeti; for thus Strabo describes them: "Rhaeti usque "in Italiam protenduntur, supra Veronam et Comum." Lib. IV. Servius tells us, that Cato celebrated the Rhaetian wine, and that Catullus condemned it. And he fancies that, as it was disputed whether this was a good wine or not, Virgil expresses himself in the manner he does on purpose to leave the matter still undecided. I rather believe that, as 'twas a favourite wine of Augustus, he means, he knows not how to celebrate it sufficiently. And though he says this out of complaisance to his Prince, yet still has that regard to the general taste as to give the preference to the Falernian. The excellence of this wine is generally allowed. Tibullus calls the "Falernus ager Bacchi cura." "Bacchi cura Falernus ager." Lib. I. Ecl. ix. Dionysius Halicarnesseus, speaking of the wines of Albano, says: Excepto Falerno, caetera omnia vina bonitate longè superat." Lib. I. 66 And Varro:" Quod far conferam Campano? Quod triticum "Appulo? Quod vinum Falerno? Quod oleum Venafro?" Agricul. lib. I. c. ii. "Falernus ager" and " Vinum Falernum" are taken sometimes in a more extensive, sometimes in a more limited sense. In the former sense, it reached from the Volturnus quite to the Liris, taking in the Massic hills, now called Monte Marso, or Montagne della Rocca. VER. 97-100. "Sunt etiam Ammineae vites, * firmissima vina; "Tmolus et assurgit quibus, et rex ipse *3 Phanaeus, Argitisque ** minor: cui non certaverit ulla, 66 "Aut tantum fluere, aut totidem durare per annos.' *Firmissima are wines which will keep; not liable to be prickt, or grow flat. Columella often uses this epithet for wines; particularly book the XIIth, in opposition to Vina languentia. That the Amminea vitis had this good quality in an eminent degree is evident likewise from the same, lib. XII. cap. xix. where, speaking "de pluribus generibus conditurarum "quibus vinum confirmatur," he prefers the Amminea vitis as the most effectual: "Quaecunque vini nota sine condimento |