Roman Propagation

81.Equivocal generation was believed in. Some barren trees and shrubs, as the poplar, willow, osier, and broom, were thought to grow spontaneously; others by fortuitous seeds, as the chestnut and oak; some from the roots of other sorts of trees, as the cherry, elm, bay, &c. Notwithstanding the ignorance and inaccuracy which their statements betray, the Romans were aware of all our common, and some of our uncommon, practices: they propagated plants as we do; pruned and thinned, watered, forced, and retarded fruits and blossoms, and even made incisions, and ringed trees, to induce fruitfulness.