Clement of Alexandria : The Logos in his goodness, richly equipped with love of humankind, teaches that it is not right to cut down cultivated trees, still less to cut crops for purposes of vandalism before harvest, and even less still to destroy, root and branch, cultivated fruit, whether of the land or of the soul. It does not even allow the razing of enemy land. Yes, and farmers find their profit from the law. It enjoins them to take care of their young trees right to their third year, pruning them to prevent them being oppressed by excessive weight and being weakened through shortage of a nourishment spread too thinly. It enjoins them to trench and dig around them to prevent parasites from inhibiting their growth. It does not allow the harvesting of immature fruit from immature trees. After three years, the first fruits are to be consecrated to God after the tree has reached maturity. — The Stromata Book 2