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Moral Letters Vol II

Seneca

§ Section 17

On Scipio's villa

86:17

Book Subtitle: Seneca's timeless letters of advice and wisdom.

Book Description: The second volume of Seneca's moral letters to Lucilius. Each letter contains Seneca's advice and wisdom won from a life of Roman politics.

18.

There is nothing, he says, more effective than this packing process; in other words, it keeps out the cold and the wind.

Besides, the trunk is not shaken so much, and for this reason the packing makes it possible for the young roots to come out and get a hold in the soil.

These are of necessity still soft; they have but a slight hold, and a very little shaking uproots them.

This ball, moreover, Aegialus lops clean before he covers it up.

For he maintains that new roots spring from all the parts which have been shorn.

Moreover, the trunk itself should not stand more than three or four feet out of the ground.

For there will thus be at once a thick growth from the bottom, nor will there be a large stump, all dry and withered, as is the case with old olive-yards.