re, the eyes still underground will do the
same precisely, and with so many buds all springing under earth, the
plant itself, I argue, as a whole will sprout and shoot and push its way
with speed and vigour.

[14] Lit. "it is from their eyes, I see, that plants..."

Isch. I may tell you that on these points, too, your judgment tallies
with my own. But now, should you content yourself with merely heaping up
the earth, or will you press it firmly round your plant?

Soc. I should certainly press down the earth; for if the earth is not
pressed down, I know full well that at one time under the influence of
rain the unpressed soil will turn to clay or mud; at another, under the
influence of the sun, it will turn to sand or dust to the very bottom:
so that the poor plant runs a risk of being first rotted with moisture
by the rain, and next of being shrivelled up with drought through
overheating of the roots. [15]

[15] Through "there being too much bottom heat." Holden (ed. 1886).

Isch. So far as the planting of vines is concerned, it appears,
Socrates, that you and I again hold views precisely similar.

And does this method of planting apply also to the fig-tree? (I
inquired).

Isch. Surely, and not to the fig-tree alone, but to all the rest of
fruit-trees. [16] What reason indeed would there be for rejecting in the
case of other plant-growths [17] what is found to answer so well with
the vine?

[16] {akrodrua} = "edible fruits" in Xenophon's time. See Plat.
"Criti." 115 B; Dem. "c. Nicostr." 1251; Aristot. "Hist. An."
viii. 28. 8, {out akrodrua out opora khronios}; Theophr. "H. Pl."
iv. 4. 11. (At a later period, see "Geopon." x. 74, = "fruits
having a hard rind or shell," e.g. nuts, acorns, as opposed to
pears, apples, grapes, etc., {opora}.) See further the interesting
regulations in Plat. "Laws," 844 D, 845 C.

[17] Lit. "planting in general."

Soc. How shall we plant the olive, pray, Ischomachus?

Isch. I see your purpose. You ask that question with a view to put me
to the test, [18] when you know the answer yourself as well as possible.
You can see with your own eyes [19] that the olive has a deeper trench
dug, planted as it is so commonly by the side of roads. You can see that
all the young plants in the nursery adhere to stumps. [20] And lastly,
you can see that a lump of clay is placed on the head of every plant,
[21] and the portion of the plant above the soil is protected b