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Title: The Natural History of Pliny, volume 4 (of 6)
       by Pliny, the Elder

Author: Pliny, the Elder

Translator: John Bostock
            Henry T. Riley

Release Date: January 6, 2020 [EBook #61113]

Language: English

Character set encoding: UTF-8

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Produced by Turgut Dincer, Stephen Rowland, Tony Browne,
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BOHN’S CLASSICAL LIBRARY.

NATURAL HISTORY OF PLINY.

VOL. IV.

THE
NATURAL HISTORY
OF
PLINY.

TRANSLATED,

WITH COPIOUS NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS

BY THE LATE

JOHN BOSTOCK, M.D., F.R.S.,

AND

H. T. RILEY, Esq., B.A.,
LATE SCHOLAR OF CLARE HALL, CAMBRIDGE.

VOL. IV.

LONDON:
HENRY G. BOHN, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.
MDCCCLVI.

CHAP. 1. (1.)—TASTE OF THE ANCIENTS FOR AGRICULTURE.

We now pass on to the Natural History of the various grains, of the garden plants and flowers, and indeed of all the other productions, with the exception of the trees and shrubs, which the Earth, in her bounteousness, affords us—a boundless field for contemplation, if even we regard the herbs alone, when we take into consideration the varieties of them, their numbers, the flowers they produce, their odours, their colours, their juices, and the numerous properties they possess—all of which have been engendered by her with a view to either the preservation or the gratification of the human race.

On entering, however, upon this branch of my subject, it is my wish in the first place to plead the cause of the Earth, and to act as the advocate of her who is the common parent of all, although in the earlier1 part of this work I have already had occasion to speak in her defence. For my subject matter, as I proceed in the fulfilment of my task, will now lead me to consider her in the light of being the producer of various noxious substances as well; in consequence of which it is that we are in the habit of charging her with our crimes, and imputing to her a guilt that is our own. She has produced poisons, it is true; but who is it but man that has found them out? For the birds of the air and the beasts of the field, it is sufficient to be on their guard against them, and to keep at a distance from them. The elephant, we find, and the urus, know how to2 sharpen2 and renovate their teeth against the trunks of trees, and the rhinoceros against rocks; wild boars, again, point their tusks like so many poniards by the aid of both rocks and trees; and all animals, in fact, are aware how to prepare themselves for the infliction of injury upon others; but still, which is there among them all, with the exception of man, that dips his weapons in poison? As for ourselves, we envenom the point of the arrow,3 and we contrive to add to the destructive powers of iron itself; by the aid of poisons we taint the waters of the stream, and we infect the various elements of Nature; indeed, the very air even, which is the main support of life, we turn into a medium for the destruction of life.

And it is not that we are to suppose that animals are ignorant of these means of defence, for we have already had occasion to point out4 the preparations which they make against the attacks of the serpent, and the methods they devise for effecting a cure when wounded by it; and yet, among them all, there is not one that fights by the aid of the poison that belongs to another, with the sole exception of man. Let us then candidly confess our guilt, we who are not contented even with the poisons as Nature has produced them; for by far the greater portion of them, in fact, are artificially prepared by the human hand!

And then besides, is it not the fact, that there are many men, the very existence of whom is a baneful poison, as it were? Like that of the serpent, they dart their livid tongue, and the venom of their disposition corrodes every object upon which it concentrates itself. Ever vilifying and maligning, like the ill-omened birds of the night, they disturb the repose of that darkness which is so peculiarly their own, and break in upon the quiet of the night even, by their moans and wailings, the only sounds they are ever heard to emit. Like animals of inauspicious presage, they only cross our path to3 prevent us from employing our energies or becoming useful to our fellow-men; and the only enjoyment that is sought by their abominable aspirations is centred in their universal hatred of mankind.

Still, however, even in this respect Nature has asserted her majestic sway; for how much more numerous5 are the good and estimable characters which she has produced! just in the same proportion that we find her giving birth to productions which are at once both salutary and nutritious to man. It is in our high esteem for men such as these, and the commendations they bestow, that we shall be content to leave the others, like so many brakes and brambles, to the devouring flames of their own bad passions, and to persist in promoting the welfare of the human race; and this, with all the more energy and perseverance, from the circumstance that it has been our object throughout, rather to produce a work of lasting utility than to ensure ourselves a widely-spread renown. We have only to speak, it is true, of the fields and of rustic operations; but still, it is upon these that the enjoyment of life so materially depends, and that the ancients conferred the very highest rank in their honours and commendations.

Romulus was the first who established the Arval6 priesthood at Rome. This order consisted of the eleven sons of Acca Larentia, his nurse,7 together with Romulus himself, who assumed the appellation of the twelfth of the brotherhood. Upon this priesthood he bestowed, as being the most august distinction that he could confer upon it, a wreath of ears of corn, tied together with a white fillet; and this, in fact, was the first chaplet that was ever used at Rome. This dignity is only ended with life itself, and whether in exile or in captivity, it4 always attends its owner. In those early days, two jugera of land were considered enough for a citizen of Rome, and to none was a larger portion than this allotted. And yet, at the present day, men who but lately were the slaves of the Emperor Nero have been hardly content with pleasure-gardens that occupied the same space as this; while they must have fishponds, forsooth, of still greater extent, and in some instances I might add, perhaps, kitchens even as well.

Numa first established the custom of offering corn to the gods, and of propitiating them with the salted8 cake; he was the first, too, as we learn from Hemina, to parch spelt, from the fact that, when in this state, it is more wholesome as an aliment.9 This method, however, he could only establish one way: by making an enactment, to the effect that spelt is not in a pure state for offering, except when parched. He it was, too, who instituted the Fornacalia,10 festivals appropriated for the parching of corn, and others,11 observed with equal solemnity, for the erection and preservation of the “termini,” or boundaries of the fields: for these termini, in those days, they particularly regarded as gods; while to other divinities they gave the names of Seia,12 from “sero,” “to sow,” and of Segesta, from the “segetes,” or “crops of standing corn,” the statues of which goddesses we still see erected in the Circus. A third divinity it is forbidden by the rules of our religion to name even13 beneath a roof. In former days, too, they would not so much as taste the corn when newly cut, nor yet wine when just made, before the priests had made a libation of the first-fruits.

That portion of land used to be known as a “jugerum,”5 which was capable of being ploughed by a single “jugum,” or yoke of oxen, in one day; an “actus”14 being as much as the oxen could plough at a single spell, fairly estimated, without stopping. This last was one hundred and twenty feet in length; and two in length made a jugerum. The most considerable recompense that could be bestowed upon generals and valiant citizens, was the utmost extent of land around which a person could trace a furrow with the plough in a single day. The whole population, too, used to contribute a quarter15 of a sextarius of spelt, or else half a one, per head.

From agriculture the earliest surnames were derived. Thus, for instance, the name of Pilumnus was given to him who invented the “pilum,” or pestle of the bake-house, for pounding corn; that of Piso was derived from “piso,” to grind corn; and those of Fabius, Lentulus, and Cicero, from the several varieties16 of leguminous plants in the cultivation of which respectively these individuals excelled. One individual of the family of the Junii received the name of “Bubulcus,”17 from the skill he displayed in breeding oxen. Among the sacred ceremonials, too, there was nothing that was held more holy than the marriage by confarreation,18 and the woman just married used to present a cake made of spelt.19 Careless cultivation of the land was in those times an offence that came under the cognizance of the censors; and, as we learn from Cato,20 when it was said that such and such a man was a good agriculturist or a good husbandman, it was looked upon as the very highest compliment that could be paid him. A man came to be called “locuples,” or “rich,” from being “loci plenus,” or “full of earth.” Money, too, received its name of “pecunia,”21 from “pecus,” “cattle.” At the present6 day, even, in the registers of the censors, we find set down under the head of “pascua,” or “pasture lands,” everything from which the public revenues are derived, from the fact that for a long period of time pasture lands were the only sources of the public revenue. Fines, too, were only imposed in the shape of paying so many sheep or so many oxen; and the benevolent spirit of the ancient laws deserves remark, which most considerately enjoined that the magistrate, when he indicted a penalty, should never impose a fine of an ox before having first condemned the same party to the payment of a sheep.

Those who celebrated the public games in honour of the ox received the name of Bubetii.22 King Servius was the first who impressed upon our copper coin23 the figures of sheep and oxen. To depasture cattle secretly by night upon the unripe crops on plough lands, or to cut them in that state, was made by the Twelve Tables24 a capital offence in the case of an adult; and it was enacted that the person guilty of it should be hanged, in order to make due reparation to the goddess Ceres, a punishment more severe, even, than that inflicted for murder. If, on the other hand, the offender was not an adult, he was beaten at the discretion of the prætor; a penalty double the amount of the damage was also exacted.

The various ranks, too, and distinctions in the state had no other origin than the pursuits of agriculture. The rural tribes held the foremost rank, and were composed of those who possessed lands; while those of the city, a place to which it was looked upon as ignominious to be transferred, had the discredit thrown upon them of being an indolent race. Hence it was that these last were only four in number, and received their names from the several parts of the City which they respectively inhabited; being the Suburran, the Palatine, Colline, and Exquiline tribes. Every ninth day25 the rural tribes used to visit the city for the purpose of marketing, and it was for this reason that it was made illegal to hold the comitia upon7 the Nundinæ; the object being that the country people might not be called away thereby from the transaction of their business. In those days repose and sleep were enjoyed upon straw. Even to glory itself, in compliment to corn, the name was given of “adorea.”26

For my own part, I greatly admire27 the modes of expression employed in our ancient language: thus, for instance, we read in the Commentaries of the Priesthood to the following effect:—“For deriving an augury from the sacrifice of a bitch,28 a day should be set apart before the ear of corn appears from out of the sheath,29 and then again before it enters the sheath.”

The consequence was, that when the Roman manners were such as these, the corn that Italy produced was sufficient for its wants, and it had to be indebted to no province for its food; and not only this, but the price of provisions was incredibly cheap. Manius Marcius, the ædile30 of the people, was the first who gave corn to the people at the price of one as for the modius. L. Minutius Augurinus,31 the same who detected, when eleventh tribune of the people, the projects of Spurius Mælius, reduced the price of corn on three market days,32 to one as per modius; for which reason a statue was erected in honour of him, by public subscription, without the Trigeminian Gate.33 T. Seius distributed corn to the people,8 in his ædileship,34 at one as per modius, in remembrance of which statues were erected in honour of him also in the Capitol and the Palatium: on the day of his funeral he was borne to the pile on the shoulders of the Roman people. In the year,35 too, in which the Mother of the Gods was brought to Rome, the harvest of that summer, it is said, was more abundant than it had been for ten years before. M. Varro informs us, that in the year36 in which L. Metellus exhibited so many elephants in his triumphal procession, a modius of spelt was sold for one as, which was the standard price also of a congius of wine, thirty pounds’ weight of dried figs, ten pounds of olive oil, and twelve pounds of flesh meat. Nor did this cheapness originate in the wide-spread domains of individuals encroaching continually upon their neighbours, for by a law proposed by Licinius Stolo, the landed property of each individual was limited to five hundred jugera; and he himself was convicted under his own law of being the owner of more than that amount, having as a disguise prevailed upon his son to lend him his name. Such were the prices of commodities at a time when the fortunes of the republic were rapidly on the increase. The words, too, that were uttered by Manius Curius37 after his triumphs and the addition of an immense extent of territory to the Roman sway, are well known: “The man must be looked upon,” said he, “as a dangerous citizen, for whom seven jugera of land are not enough;” such being the amount of land that had been allotted to the people after the expulsion of the kings.

What, then, was the cause of a fertility so remarkable as this? The fact, we have every reason to believe, that in those days the lands were tilled by the hands of generals even, the soil exulting beneath a plough-share crowned with wreaths of laurel, and guided by a husbandman graced with triumphs: whether it is that they tended the seed with the same care that they had displayed in the conduct of wars, and manifested the same diligent attention in the management of their fields that they had done in the arrangement of the camp,9 or whether it is that under the hands of honest men everything prospers all the better, from being attended to with a scrupulous exactness. The honours awarded to Serranus38 found him engaged in sowing his fields, a circumstance to which he owes his surname.39 Cincinnatus was ploughing his four jugera of land upon the Vaticanian Hill—the same that are still known as the “Quintian Meadows,”40 when the messenger brought him the dictatorship—finding him, the tradition says, stripped to the work, and his very face begrimed with dust. “Put on your clothes,” said he, “that I may deliver to you the mandates of the senate and people of Rome.” In those days these messengers bore the name of “viator,” or “wayfarer,” from the circumstance that their usual employment was to fetch the senators and generals from their fields.

But at the present day these same lands are tilled by slaves whose legs are in chains, by the hands of malefactors and men with a branded face! And yet the Earth is not deaf to our adjurations, when we address her by the name of “parent,” and say that she receives our homage41 in being tilled by hands such as these; as though, forsooth, we ought not to believe that she is reluctant and indignant at being tended in such a manner as this! Indeed, ought we to feel any surprise were the recompense she gives us when worked by chastised slaves,42 not the same that she used to bestow upon the labours of warriors?

Hence it was that to give precepts upon agriculture became one of the principal occupations among men of the highest rank, and that in foreign nations even. For among those who10 have written on this subject we find the names of kings even, Hiero, for instance, Attalus Philometor, and Archelaüs, as well as of generals, Xenophon, for example, and Mago the Carthaginian. Indeed, to this last writer did the Roman senate award such high honours, that, after the capture of Carthage, when it bestowed the libraries of that city upon the petty kings of Africa, it gave orders, in his case only, that his thirty-two Books should be translated into the Latin language, and this, although M. Cato had already compiled his Book of Precepts; it took every care also to entrust the execution of this task to men who were well versed in the Carthaginian tongue, among whom was pre-eminent D. Silanus, a member of one of the most illustrious families of Rome. I have already indicated,43 at the commencement of this work, the numerous learned authors and writers in verse, together with other illustrious men, whose authority it is my intention to follow; but among the number I may here more particularly distinguish M. Varro, who, at the advanced age of eighty-eight years, thought it his duty to publish a treatise upon this subject.

(4.) Among the Romans the cultivation of the vine was introduced at a comparatively recent period, and at first, as indeed they were obliged to do, they paid their sole attention to the culture of the fields. The various methods of cultivating the land will now be our subject; and they shall be treated of by us in no ordinary or superficial manner, but in the same spirit in which we have hitherto written; enquiry shall be made with every care first into the usages of ancient days, and then into the discoveries of more recent times, our attention being devoted alike to the primary causes of these operations, and the reasons upon which they are respectively based. We shall make mention,44 too, of the various constellations, and of the several indications which, beyond all doubt, they afford to the earth; and the more so, from the fact that those writers who have hitherto treated of them with any degree of exactness, seem to have written their works for the use of any class of men but the agriculturist.

First of all, then, I shall proceed in a great measure according to the dicta of the oracles of agriculture; for there is no branch of practical life in which we find them more numerous or more unerring. And why should we not view in the light of oracles those precepts which have been tested by the infallibility of time and the truthfulness of experience?

(5.) To make a beginning, then, with Cato45—“The agricultural population,” says he, “produces the bravest men, the most valiant soldiers,46 and a class of citizens the least given of all to evil designs.—Do not be too eager in buying a farm.—In rural operations never be sparing of your trouble, and, above all, when you are purchasing land.—A bad bargain is always a ground for repentance.—Those who are about to purchase land, should always have an eye more particularly to the water there, the roads, and the neighbourhood.” Each of these points is susceptible of a very extended explanation, and replete with undoubted truths. Cato47 recommends, too, that an eye should be given to the people in the neighbourhood, to see how they look: “For where the land is good,” says he, “the people will look well-conditioned and healthy.”

Atilius Regulus, the same who was twice consul in the Punic War, used to say48 that a person should neither buy an unhealthy piece of land in the most fertile locality, nor yet the very healthiest spot if in a barren country. The salubrity of land, however, is not always to be judged of from the looks of the inhabitants, for those who are well-seasoned are able to withstand the effects of living in pestilent localities even. And then, besides, there are some localities that are healthy during certain periods of the year only; though, in reality, there is no soil that can be looked upon as really valuable that is not healthy all the year through. “That49 is sure to be bad land against which its owner has a continual struggle.” Cato recommends us before everything, to see that the land which12 we are about to purchase not only excels in the advantages of locality, as already stated, but is really good of itself. We should see, too, he says, that there is an abundance of manual labour in the neighbourhood, as well as a thriving town; that there are either rivers or roads, to facilitate the carriage of the produce; that the buildings upon the land are substantially erected, and that the land itself bears every mark of having been carefully tilled—a point upon which I find that many persons are greatly mistaken, as they are apt to imagine that the negligence of the previous owner is greatly to the purchaser’s advantage; while the fact is, that there is nothing more expensive than the cultivation of a neglected soil.

For this reason it is that Cato50 says that it is best to buy land of a careful proprietor, and that the methods adopted by others ought not to be hastily rejected—that it is the same with land as with mankind—however great the proceeds, if at the same time it is lavish and extravagant, there will be no great profits left. Cato looks upon a vineyard as the most51 profitable investment; and he is far from wrong in that opinion, seeing that he takes such particular care to retrench all superfluous expenses. In the second rank he places gardens that have a good supply of water, and with good reason, too, supposing always that they are near a town. The ancients gave to meadow lands the name of “parata,” or lands “always ready.”52

Cato being asked, on one occasion, what was the most certain source of profit, “Good pasture land,” was his answer; upon which, enquiry was made what was the next best. “Pretty good53 pasture lands,” said he—the amount of all which is, that he looked upon that as the most certain source of income which stands in need of the smallest outlay. This, however, will naturally vary in degree, according to the nature of the respective localities; and the same is the case with the maxim54 to which he gives utterance, that a good agriculturist must be13 fond of selling. The same, too, with his remark, that in his youth a landowner should begin to plant without delay, but that he ought not to build until the land is fully brought into cultivation, and then only a little at a time: and that the best plan is, as the common proverb has it, “To profit by the folly of others;”55 taking due care, however, that the keeping up of a farm-house does not entail too much expense. Still, however, those persons are guilty of no falsehood who are in the habit of saying that a proprietor who is well housed comes all the oftener to his fields, and that “the master’s forehead is of more use than his back.”56

The proper plan to be pursued is this:57 the farm-house must not be unsuitable for the farm, nor the farm for the house; and we must be on our guard against following the examples of L. Lucullus and Q. Scævola, who, though living in the same age, fell into the two opposite extremes; for whereas the farm-house of Scævola was not large enough for the produce of his farm, the farm of Lucullus was not sufficiently large for the house he built upon it; an error which gave occasion to the reproof of the censors, that on his farm there was less of ground for ploughing than of floor for sweeping. The proper arrangements for a farm-house are not to be made without a certain degree of skill. C. Marius, who was seven times consul, was the last person who had one built at Misenum;58 but he erected it with such a degree of that artistic skill which he had displayed in castrametation, that Sylla Felix59 even made the remark, that in comparison with Marius, all the others had been no better than blind.60

It is generally agreed, that a farm-house ought neither to be built near a marsh, nor with a river in front of it; for, as14 Homer61 has remarked, with the greatest correctness, unwholesome vapours are always exhaled from rivers before the rising of the sun. In hot localities, a farm-house should have a northern aspect, but where it is cold, it should look towards the south; where, on the other hand, the site is temperate, the house should look due east. Although, when speaking62 of the best kinds of soil, I may seem to have sufficiently discussed the characteristics by which it may be known, I shall take the present opportunity of adding a few more indications, employing the words of Cato63 more particularly for the purpose. “The dwarf-elder,” says he, “the wild plum,64 the bramble the small bulb,65 trefoil, meadow grass,66 the quercus, and the wild pear and wild apple, are all of them indicative of a corn land. The same is the case, too, where the land is black, or of an ashy colour. All chalky soils are scorching, unless they are very thin; the same, too, with sand, unless it is remarkably fine. These remarks, however, are more applicable to champaign localities than declivities.”

The ancients were of opinion, that before everything, moderation should be observed in the extent of a farm; for it was a favourite maxim of theirs, that we ought to sow the less, and plough the more: such too, I find, was the opinion entertained by Virgil,67 and indeed, if we must confess the truth, it is the wide-spread domains that have been the ruin68 of Italy, and soon will be that of the provinces as well. Six proprietors were in possession of one half of Africa,69 at the period when15 the Emperor Nero had them put to death. With that greatness of mind which was so peculiarly his own, and of which he ought not to lose the credit, Cneius Pompeius would never purchase the lands that belonged to a neighbour. Mago has stated it as his opinion, that a person, on buying a farm, ought at once to sell his town house;70 an opinion, however, which savours of too great rigidity, and is by no means conformable to the public good. It is with these words, indeed, that he begins his precepts; a good proof, at all events, that he looks upon the personal inspection of the owner as of primary importance.

The next point which requires our care is to employ a farm-steward71 of experience, and upon this, too, Cato72 has given many useful precepts. Still, however, it must suffice for me to say that the steward ought to be a man nearly as clever as his master, though without appearing to know it. It is the very worst plan of all, to have land tilled by slaves let loose from the houses of correction, as, indeed, is the case with all work entrusted to men who live without hope. I may possibly appear guilty of some degree of rashness in making mention of a maxim of the ancients, which will very probably be looked upon as quite incredible—“That nothing is so disadvantageous as to cultivate land in the highest style of perfection.” L. Tarius Rufus, a man who, born in the very lowest ranks of life, by his military talents finally attained the consulship,73 and who in other respects adhered to the old-fashioned notions of thriftiness, made away with about one hundred millions of sesterces, which, by the liberality of the late Emperor Augustus, he had contrived to amass, in buying up lands in Picenum, and cultivating them in the highest style, his object being to gain a name thereby; the consequence of which was, that his heir renounced74 the inheritance. Are we of opinion, then, that ruin and starvation must be the necessary consequence of such a course as this? Yes, by Hercules! and the very best plan of all is to let moderation guide our judgment in all things. To cultivate land well is absolutely necessary, but to cultivate16 it in the very highest style is mere extravagance, unless, indeed, the work is done by the hands of a man’s own family, his tenants, or those whom he is obliged to keep at any rate. But besides this, even when the owner tills the land itself, there are some crops which it is really not worth the while to gather, if we only take into account the manual labour expended upon them. The olive, too, should never be too highly75 cultivated, nor must certain soils, it is said, be too carefully tilled, those of Sicily,76 for instance; hence it is, that new comers there so often find themselves deceived.77

In what way, then, can land be most profitably cultivated? Why, in the words of our agricultural oracles, “by making good out of bad.” But here it is only right that we should say a word in justification of our forefathers, who in their precepts on this subject had nothing else in view but the benefit of mankind: for when they use the term “bad” here, they only mean to say that which costs the smallest amount of money. The principal object with them was in all cases to cut down expenses to the lowest possible sum; and it was in this spirit that they made the enactments which pronounced it criminal for a person who had enjoyed a triumph, to be in possession, among his other furniture, of ten pounds’ weight of silver plate: which permitted a man, upon the death of his farm-steward, to abandon all his victories, and return to the cultivation of his lands—such being the men the culture of whose farms the state used to take upon itself; and thus, while they led our armies, did the senate act as their steward.

It was in the same spirit, too, that those oracles of ours have given utterance to these other precepts, to the effect that he is a bad agriculturist who has to buy what his farm might have supplied him with; that the man is a bad manager who does in the day-time what he might have done in the night, except, indeed, when the state of the weather does not allow17 it; that he is a worse manager still, who does on a work-day what he might have done on a feast-day;78 but that he is the very worst of all, who works under cover in fine weather, instead of labouring in the fields.

I cannot refrain from taking the present opportunity of quoting one illustration afforded us by ancient times, from which it will be found that it was the usage in those days to bring before the people even questions connected with the various methods employed in agriculture, and will be seen in what way men were accustomed to speak out in their own defence. C. Furius Chresimus, a freedman, having found himself able, from a very small piece of land, to raise far more abundant harvests than his neighbours could from the largest farms, became the object of very considerable jealousy among them, and was accordingly accused of enticing away the crops of others by the practice of sorcery. Upon this, a day was named by Spurius Calvinus, the curule ædile, for his appearance. Apprehensive of being condemned, when the question came to be put to the vote among the tribes, he had all his implements of husbandry brought into the Forum, together with his farm servants, robust, well-conditioned, and well-clad people, Piso says. The iron tools were of first-rate quality, the mattocks were stout and strong, the plough-shares ponderous and substantial, and the oxen sleek and in prime condition. When all this had been done, “Here, Roman citizens,” said he, “are my implements of magic; but it is impossible for me to exhibit to your view, or to bring into this Forum, those midnight toils of mine, those early watchings, those sweats, and those fatigues.” Upon this, by the unanimous voice of the people, he was immediately acquitted. Agriculture, in fact, depends upon the expenditure of labour and exertion; and hence it is that the ancients were in the habit of saying, that it is the eye of the master that does more towards fertilizing a field than anything else.

We shall give the rest of these precepts in their appropriate places, according as we find them adapted to each variety of cultivation; but in the meantime we must not omit some of a general nature, which here recur to our recollection, and more18 particularly that maxim of Cato, as profitable as it is humane: “Always act in such a way as to secure the love of your neighbours.” He then proceeds to state his reasons for giving this advice, but it appears to me that no one surely can entertain the slightest doubt upon the subject. One of the very first recommendations that he gives is to take every care that the farm servants are kept in good condition.79 It is a maxim universally agreed upon in agriculture, that nothing must be done too late; and again, that everything must be done at its proper season; while there is a third precept, which reminds us that opportunities lost can never be regained. The malediction uttered by Cato against rotten ground has been treated of at some length already;80 but there is another precept which he is never tired of repeating, “Whatever can be done by the help of the ass, will cost the least money.”

Fern will be sure to die at the end of a couple of years, if you prevent it from putting forth leaves; the most efficient method of ensuring this is to beat the branches with a stick while they are in bud; for then the juices that drop from it will kill the roots.81 It is said, too, that fern will not spring up again if it is pulled up by the roots about the turn of the summer solstice, or if the stalks are cut with the edge of a reed, or if it is turned up with a plough-share with a reed placed82 upon it. In the same way, too, we are told that reeds may be effectually ploughed up, if care is taken to place a stalk of fern upon the share. A field infested with rushes should be turned up with the spade, or, if the locality is stony, with a two-pronged mattock: overgrown shrubs are best removed by fire. Where ground is too moist, it is an advantageous plan to cut trenches in it and so drain it; where the soil is cretaceous, these trenches should he left open; and where it is loose, they should be strengthened with a hedge to prevent them from falling in. When these drains are made on a declivity, they should have a layer of gutter tiles at the bottom, or else house tiles with the face upwards: in some cases, too, they should be covered8319 with earth, and made to run into others of a larger size and wider; the bottom, also, should, if possible, have a coating of stones or of gravel. The openings, too, should be strengthened with two stones placed on either side, and another laid upon the top. Democritus has described a method of rooting up a forest, by first macerating the flower of the lupine84 for one day in the juice of hemlock, and then watering the roots of the trees with it.

As the field is now prepared, we shall proceed to speak of the nature of the various kinds of grain; we must premise, however, that there are two principal classes of grain, the cereals,85 comprising wheat and barley, and the legumina, such as the bean and the chick-pea, for instance. The difference between these two classes is too well known to require any further description.

The cereals are divided again into the same number of varieties, according to the time of the year at which they are sown. The winter grains are those which are put in the ground about the setting of the Vergiliæ,86 and there receive their nutriment throughout the winter, for instance, wheat,87 spelt,88 and barley.89 The summer grains are those which are sown in summer, before the rising of the Vergiliæ,9020 such as millet,91 panic,92 sesame,93 horminum,94 and irio,95 in accordance, however, with the usage of Italy only; for in Greece and Asia all the grains are sown just after the setting of the Vergiliæ. There are some, again, that are sown at either season in Italy, and others at a third period, or, in other words, in the spring. Some authors give the name of spring-grain to millet, panic, lentils,96 chick-peas,97 and alica,98 while they call wheat, barley, beans, turnips, and rape, sementive or early sowing seeds. Certain species of wheat are only sown to make fodder for cattle, and are known by the name of “farrago,”99 or mixed grain; the same, too, with the leguminous plants, the vetch, for instance. The lupine,100 however, is grown in common as food for both cattle and men.

All the leguminous101 plants, with the exception of the bean, have a single root, hard and tough, like wood, and destitute of numerous ramifications; the chick-pea has the deepest root of all. Corn has numerous fibrous roots, but no ramifications. Barley makes its appearance102 above ground the seventh day after sowing; the leguminous plants on the fourth, or at the very latest, the seventh; the bean from the fifteenth day to the twentieth: though in Egypt the leguminous plants appear as early as the third day after they are sown. In barley, one extremity of the grain throws out the root, and the other the21 blade; this last flowers, too, before the other grain. In the cereals in general it is the thicker end of the seed that throws out the root, the thinner end the blossom; while in the other seeds both root and blossom issue from the same part.

During the winter, corn is in the blade; but in the spring winter corn throws out a tall stem. As for millet and panic, they grow with a jointed and grooved103 stalk, while sesame has a stem resembling that of fennel-giant. The fruit of all these seeds is either contained in an ear, as in wheat and barley, for instance, and protected from the attacks of birds and small animals by a prickly beard bristling like so many palisades; or else it is enclosed in pods, as in the leguminous plants, or in capsules, as in sesame and the poppy. Millet and panic can only be said to belong to the grower and the small birds in common, as they have nothing but a thin membrane to cover them, without the slightest protection. Panic receives that name from the panicule104 or down that is to be seen upon it; the head of it droops languidly, and the stalk tapers gradually in thickness, being of almost the toughness and consistency of wood: the head is loaded with grain closely packed, there being a tuft upon the top, nearly a foot in length. In millet the husks which embrace the grain bend downward with a wavy tuft upon the edge. There are several varieties of panic, the mammose, for instance, the ears of which are in clusters with small edgings of down, the head of the plant being double; it is distinguished also according to the colour, the white, for instance, the black, the red, and the purple even. Several kinds of bread are made from millet, but very little from panic: there is no grain known that weighs heavier than millet, and which swells more in baking. A modius of millet will yield sixty pounds’ weight of bread; and three sextarii steeped in water will make one modius of fermenty.105 A kind of millet106 has been introduced from India into Italy within the last ten years, of a swarthy colour, large grain, and a22 stalk like that of the reed. This stalk springs up to the height of seven feet, and has tufts of a remarkable size, known by the name of “phobæ.”107 This is the most prolific of all the cereals, for from a single grain no less than three sextarii108 are produced: it requires, however, to be sown in a humid soil.

Some kinds of corn begin to form the ear at the third joint, and others at the fourth, though at its first formation the ear remains still concealed. Wheat, however, has four109 articulations, spelt110 six, and barley eight. In the case of these last, the ear does not begin to form before the number of joints, as above mentioned, is complete. Within four or five days, at the very latest, after the ear has given signs of forming, the plant begins to flower, and in the course of as many days or a little more, sheds its blossom: barley blossoms at the end of seven days at the very latest. Varro says that the grains are perfectly formed at the end of four times111 nine days from their flowering, and are ready for cutting at the ninth month.

The bean, again, first appears in leaf, and then throws out a stalk, which has no articulations112 upon it. The other leguminous plants have a tough, ligneous stalk, and some of them throw out branches, the chick-pea, the fitch, and the lentil, for instance. In some of the leguminous plants, the pea, for example, the stem creeps along the ground, if care is not taken to support it by sticks: if this precaution is omitted, the quality is deteriorated. The bean and the lupine are the only ones among the leguminous plants that have a single stem: in all the others the stem throws out branches, being of a ligneous nature, very thin, and in all cases hollow. Some of these plants throw out the leaves from the root, others at the top.113 Wheat, barley, and the vetch, all the plants, in fact, which produce straw, have a single leaf only at the summit: in barley, however, this leaf is rough, while in the others it23 is smooth. * * * In the bean, again, the chick-pea, and the pea, the leaves are numerous and divided. In corn the leaf is similar to that of the reed, while in the bean it is round, as also in a great proportion of the leguminous plants. In the ervilia114 and the pea the leaf is long,115 in the kidney-bean veined, and in sesame116 and irio the colour of blood. The lupine and the poppy are the only ones among these plants that lose117 their leaves.

The leguminous plants remain a longer time in flower, the fitch and the chick-pea more particularly; but the bean is in blossom the longest of them all, for the flower remains on it forty days; not, indeed, that each stalk retains its blossom for all that length of time, but, as the flower goes off in one, it comes on in another. In the bean, too, the crop is not ripe all at once, as is the case with corn; for the pods make their appearance at different times, at the lowest parts first, the blossom mounting upwards by degrees.

When the blossom is off in corn, the stalk gradually thickens, and it ripens within forty days at the most. The same is the case, too, with the bean, but the chick-pea takes a much shorter time to ripen; indeed, it is fit for gathering within forty days from the time that it is sown. Millet, panic, sesame, and all the summer grains are ripe within forty days after blossoming, with considerable variations, of course, in reference to soil and weather. Thus, in Egypt, we find barley cut at the end of six months, and wheat at the end of seven, from the time of sowing. In Hellas, again, barley is cut in the seventh month, and in Peloponnesus in the eighth; the wheat being got in at a still later period.

Those grains which grow on a stalk of straw are enclosed in an envelope protected by a prickly beard; while in the bean and the leguminous plants in general they are enclosed in pods upon branches which shoot alternately from either side. The cereals are the best able to withstand the winter, but the leguminous plants afford the most substantial food. In wheat, the24 grain has several coats, but in barley,118 more particularly, it is naked and exposed; the same, too, with arinca,119 but most of all, the oat. The stem is taller in wheat than it is in barley, but the ear is more bearded120 in the last. Wheat, barley, and winter-wheat121 are threshed out; they are cleaned, too, for sowing just as they are prepared for the mill, there being no necessity for parching122 them. Spelt, on the other hand, millet, and panic, cannot be cleaned without parching them; hence it is that they are always sown raw and with the chaff on. Spelt is preserved in the husk, too, for sowing, and, of course, is not in such case parched by the action of fire.

Of all these grains barley is the lightest,123 its weight rarely exceeding fifteen pounds to the modius, while that of the bean is twenty-two. Spelt is much heavier than barley, and wheat heavier than spelt. In Egypt they make a meal124 of olyra,125 a third variety of corn that grows there. The Gauls have also a kind of spelt peculiar to that country: they give it the name of “brace,”126 while to us it is known as “sandala:” it has a grain of remarkable whiteness. Another difference, again, is the fact that it yields nearly four pounds more of bread to the modius than any other kind of spelt. Verrius states that for three hundred years the Romans made use of no other meal than that of corn.

There are numerous kinds of wheat which have received their names from the countries where they were first produced. For my part, however, I can compare no kind of wheat to that of Italy either for whiteness or weight, qualities for which it is more particularly distinguished: indeed it is only with the produce of the more mountainous parts of Italy that the foreign wheats can be put in comparison. Among these the wheat of Bœotia127 occupies the first rank, that of Sicily the second, and that of Africa the third. The wheats of Thrace, Syria, and, more recently, of Egypt, used to hold the third rank for weight, these facts having been ascertained through the medium of the athletes; whose powers of consumption, equal to those of beasts of burden, have established the gradations in weight, as already stated. Greece, too, held the Pontic128 wheat in high esteem; but this has not reached Italy as yet. Of all the varieties of grain, however, the Greeks gave the preference to the kinds called dracontion, strangia, and Selinusium, the chief characteristic of which is a stem of remarkable thickness: it was this, in the opinion of the Greeks, that marked them as the peculiar growth of a rich soil. On the other hand, they recommended for sowing in humid soils an extremely light and diminutive species of grain, with a remarkably thin stalk, known to them as speudias, and standing in need of an abundance of nutriment. Such, at all events, were the opinions generally entertained in the reign of Alexander the Great, at a time when Greece was at the height of her glory, and the most powerful country in the world. Still, however, nearly one hundred and forty-four years before the death of that prince we find the poet Sophocles, in his Tragedy of “Triptolemus,” praising the corn of Italy before all others. The passage, translated word for word, is to the following effect:—

“And favour’d Italy grows white with hoary wheat.”

And it is this whiteness that is still one of the peculiar merits of the Italian wheat; a circumstance which makes me the more surprised to find that none of the Greek writers of a later period have made any reference to it.

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Of the various kinds of wheat which are imported at the present day into Rome, the lightest in weight are those which come from Gaul and Chersonnesus; for, upon weighing them, it will be found that they do not yield more than twenty pounds to the modius. The grain of Sardinia weighs half a pound more, and that of Alexandria one-third of a pound more than that of Sardinia; the Sicilian wheat is the same in weight as the Alexandrian. The Bœotian wheat, again, weighs a whole pound more than these last, and that of Africa a pound and three quarters. In Italy beyond the Padus, the spelt, to my knowledge, weighs twenty-five pounds to the modius, and, in the vicinity of Clusium, six-and-twenty. We find it a rule, universally established by Nature, that in every kind of commissariat bread129 that is made, the bread exceeds the weight of the grain by one-third; and in the same way it is generally considered that that is the best kind of wheat, which, in kneading, will absorb one congius of water.130 There are some kinds of wheat which give, when used by themselves, an additional weight equal to this: the Balearic wheat, for instance, which to a modius of grain yields thirty-five pounds weight of bread. Others, again, will only give this additional weight by being mixed with other kinds, the Cyprian wheat and the Alexandrian, for example; which, if used by themselves, will yield no more than twenty pounds to the modius. The wheat of Cyprus is swarthy, and produces a dark bread; for which reason it is generally mixed with the white wheat of Alexandria; the mixture yielding twenty-five pounds of bread to the modius of grain. The wheat of Thebais, in Egypt, when made into bread, yields twenty-six pounds to the modius. To knead the meal with sea-water, as is mostly done in the maritime districts, for the purpose of saving the salt, is extremely pernicious; there is nothing, in fact, that will more readily predispose the human body to disease. In Gaul and Spain, where they make a drink131 by steeping corn in the way that has been already described—they employ the foam132 which thickens upon the surface as a leaven: hence it is that the bread in those countries is lighter than that made elsewhere.

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There are some differences, also, in the stem of wheat; for the better the kind the thicker it is. In Thrace, the stem of the wheat is covered with several coats,133 which are rendered absolutely necessary by the excessive cold of those regions. It is the cold, also, that led to the discovery there of the three-month134 wheat, the ground being covered with snow most of the year. At the end mostly of three months after it has been sown, this wheat is ready for cutting, both in Thrace and in other parts of the world as well. This variety is well known, too, throughout all the Alpine range, and in the northern provinces there is no kind of wheat that is more prolific; it has a single stem only, is by no means of large size in any part of it, and is never sown but in a thin, light soil. There is a two-month135 wheat also found in the vicinity of Ænos, in Thrace, which ripens the fortieth day after sowing; and yet it is a surprising fact, that there is no kind of wheat that weighs heavier than this, while at the same time it produces no bran. Both Sicily and Achaia grow it, in the mountainous districts of those countries; as also Eubœa, in the vicinity of Carystus. So greatly, then, is Columella in error,136 in supposing that there is no distinct variety of three-month wheat even; the fact being that these varieties have been known from the very earliest times. The Greeks give to these wheats the name of “setanion.” It is said that in Bactria the grains of wheat are of such an enormous size, that a single one is as large as our ears of corn.137

Of all the cereals the first that is sown is barley. We shall state the appropriate time for sowing each kind when we come to treat of the nature of each individually. In India, there is28 both a cultivated and a wild138 barley, from which they make excellent bread, as well as alica.139 But the most favourite food of all there is rice,140 from which they prepare a ptisan141 similar to that made from barley in other parts of the world. The leaves of rice are fleshy,142 very like those of the leek, but broader; the stem is a cubit in height, the blossom purple, and the root globular, like a pearl in shape.143

Barley is one of the most ancient aliments of man, a fact that is proved by a custom of the Athenians, mentioned by Menander,144 as also by the name of “hordearii,”145 that used to be given to gladiators. The Greeks, too, prefer barley to anything else for making polenta.146 This food is made in various ways: in Greece, the barley is first steeped in water, and then left a night to dry. The next day they parch it, and then grind it in the mill. Some persons parch it more highly, and then sprinkle it again with a little water; after which they dry it for grinding. Others shake the grain from out of the ear while green, and, after cleaning and soaking it in water, pound it in a mortar. They then wash the paste in baskets, and leave it to dry in the sun; after which they pound it again, clean it, and grind it in the mill. But whatever the mode of preparation adopted, the proportions are always twenty pounds of barley to three pounds of linseed,147 half a pound of coriander, and fifteen drachmæ148 of salt: the ingredients are first parched, and then ground in the mill.

Those who want it for keeping, store it in new earthen vessels, with fine flour and bran. In Italy, the barley is parched without being steeped in water, and then ground to a29 fine meal, with the addition of the ingredients already mentioned, and some millet as well. Barley bread, which was extensively used by the ancients, has now fallen into universal disrepute, and is mostly used as a food for cattle only.

With barley, too, the food called ptisan149 is made, a most substantial and salutary aliment, and one that is held in very high esteem. Hippocrates, one of the most famous writers on medical science, has devoted a whole volume to the praises of this aliment. The ptisan of the highest quality is that which is made at Utica; that of Egypt is prepared from a kind of barley, the grain of which grows with two points.150 In Bætica and Africa, the kind of barley from which this food is made is that which Turranius calls the “smooth”151 barley: the same author expresses an opinion, too, that olyra152 and rice are the same. The method of preparing ptisan is universally known.

In a similar manner, too, tragum is prepared from seed153 wheat, but only in Campania and Egypt.

Amylum is prepared from every kind of wheat, and from winter-wheat154 as well; but the best of all is that made from three-month wheat. The invention of it we owe to the island of Chios, and still, at the present day, the most esteemed kind comes from there; it derives its name from its being made without the help of the mill.155 Next to the amylum made with three-month wheat, is that which is prepared from the lighter kinds of wheat. In making it, the grain is soaked in30 fresh water, placed in wooden vessels; care being taken to keep it covered with the liquid, which is changed no less than five times in the course of the day. If it can be changed at night as well, it is all the better for it, the object being to let it imbibe the water gradually and equally. When it is quite soft, but before it turns sour, it is passed through linen cloth, or else wicker-work, after which it is poured out upon a tile covered with leaven, and left to harden in the sun. Next to the amylum of Chios, that of Crete is the most esteemed, and next to that the Ægyptian. The tests of its goodness are its being light and smooth: it should be used, too, while it is fresh. Cato,156 among our writers, has made mention of it.

Barley-meal, too, is employed for medicinal purposes; and it is a curious fact, that for beasts of burden they make a paste of it, which is first hardened by the action of fire, and then ground. It is then made up into balls, which are introduced with the hand into the paunch, the result of which is, that the vigour and muscular strength of the animal is considerably increased. In some kinds of barley, the ears have two rows of grains,157 and in others more; in some cases, as many as six.158 The grain itself, too, presents certain differences, being long and thin, or else short or round, white, black,159 or, in some instances, of a purple colour. This last kind is employed for making polenta: the white is ill adapted for standing the severity of the weather. Barley is the softest of all the grains: it can only be sown in a dry, loose soil,160 but fertile withal. The chaff of barley ranks among the very best; indeed, for litter there is none that can be compared with it. Of all grain, barley is the least exposed to accidents, as it is gathered before the time that mildew begins to attack wheat; for which reason it is that the provident agriculturist sows only as much wheat31 as may be required for food. The saying is, that “barley is sown in a money-bag,” because it so soon returns a profit. The most prolific kind of all is that which is got in at Carthage,161 in Spain, in the month of April. It is in the same month that it is sown in Celtiberia, and yet it yields two harvests in the same year. All kinds of barley are cut sooner than other grain, and immediately after they are ripe; for the straw is extremely brittle, and the grain is enclosed in a husk of remarkable thinness. It is said, too, that a better polenta162 is made from it, if it is gathered before it is perfectly ripe.

The several kinds of corn are not everywhere the same; and even where they are the same, they do not always bear a similar name. The kinds most universally grown are spelt, by the ancients known as “adorea,” winter wheat,163 and wheat;164 all these being common to many countries. Arinca was originally peculiar to Gaul, though now it is widely diffused over Italy as well. Egypt, too, Syria, Cilicia, Asia, and Greece, have their own peculiar kinds, known by the names of zea,165 olyra, and tiphe.166 In Egypt, they make a fine flour from wheat of their own growth, but it is by no means equal to that of Italy. Those countries which employ zea, have no spelt. Zea, however, is to be found in Italy, and in Campania more particularly, where it is known by the name of “seed.”167 The grain that bears this name enjoys a very considerable celebrity, as we shall have occasion to state168 on another occasion; and it is in honour of this that Homer169 uses the expression, ζείδωρος ἄρουρα, and not, as some suppose, from the fact of the earth giving life.170 Amylum is made, too, from this grain, but of a32 coarser171 quality than the kind already mentioned;172 this, however, is the only difference that is perceptible.

The most hardy kind, however, of all the grains is spelt, and the best to stand the severity of the weather; it will grow in the very coldest places, as also in localities that are but half tilled, or soils that are extremely hot, and destitute of water. This was the earliest food of the ancient inhabitants of Latium; a strong proof of which is the distributions of adorea that were made in those times, as already stated.173 It is evident, too, that the Romans subsisted for a long time upon pottage,174 and not bread; for we find that from its name of “puls,” certain kinds of food are known, even at the present day, as “pulmentaria.”175 Ennius, too, the most ancient of our poets, in describing the famine in a siege, relates how that the parents snatched away the messes of pottage176 from their weeping children. At the present day, even, the sacrifices in conformity with the ancient rites, as well as those offered upon birthdays, are made with parched pottage.177 This food appears to have been as much unknown in those days in Greece as polenta was in Italy.

There is no grain that displays a greater avidity than wheat, and none that absorbs a greater quantity of nutriment. With all propriety I may justly call winter wheat178 the very choicest of all the varieties of wheat. It is white, destitute of all flavour,179 and not oppressive180 to the stomach. It suits moist33 localities particularly well, such as we find in Italy and Gallia Comata; but beyond the Alps it is found to maintain its character only in the territory of the Allobroges and that of the Memini; for in the other parts of those countries it degenerates at the end of two years into common wheat.181 The only method of preventing this is to take care and sow the heaviest grains only.

(9.) Winter wheat furnishes bread of the very finest quality and the most esteemed delicacies of the bakers. The best bread that is known in Italy is made from a mixture of Campanian winter wheat with that of Pisæ. The Campanian kind is of a redder colour, while the latter is white; when mixed with chalk,182 it is increased in weight. The proper proportion for the yield of Campanian wheat to the modius of grain is four sextarii of what is known as bolted flour;183 but when it is used in the rough and has not been bolted, then the yield should be five sextarii of flour. In addition to this, in either case there should be half a modius of white meal, with four sextarii of coarse meal, known as “seconds,” and the same quantity of bran.184 The Pisan wheat produces five sextarii of fine flour to the modius; in other respects it yields the same as that of Campania. The wheat of Clusium and Arretium gives another sextarius of fine flour, but the yield is similar to that of the kinds already mentioned in all other respects. If, however, as much of it as possible is converted into fine wheat meal, the modius will yield sixteen pounds weight of white bread, and three of seconds, with half a modius of bran. These differences, however, depend very materially upon the grinding; for when the grain is ground quite dry it produces more meal, but when sprinkled with salt water185 a whiter flour, though at the same time a greater quantity of bran. It is very evident that “farina,” the name we give to meal, is derived from “far.” A modius of meal made from Gallic winter34 wheat, yields twenty-two pounds of bread; while that of Italy, if made into bread baked in tins,186 will yield two or three pounds more. When the bread is baked in the oven,187 two pounds must be added in weight in either case.

(10.) Wheat yields a fine flour188 of the very highest quality. In African wheat the modius ought to yield half a modius of fine flour and five sextarii of pollen, that being the name given to fine wheat meal, in the same way that that of winter wheat is generally known as “flos,” or the “flower.” This fine meal is extensively used in copper works and paper manufactories. In addition to the above, the modius should yield four sextarii of coarse meal, and the same quantity of bran. The finest wheaten flour will yield one hundred189 and twenty-two pounds of bread, and the fine meal of winter wheat one hundred189 and seventeen, to the modius of grain. When the prices of grain are moderate, meal sells at forty asses the modius, bolted wheaten flour at eight asses more, and bolted flour of winter wheat, at sixteen asses more. There is another distinction again in fine wheaten flour, which originated formerly in the days of L. Paulus. There were three classes of wheat; the first of which would appear to have yielded seventeen pounds of bread, the second eighteen, and the third nineteen pounds and a third: to these were added two pounds and a half of seconds,190 and the same quantity of brown190 bread, with six sextarii of bran.191

Winter wheat never ripens all at once, and yet there is none of the cereals that can so ill brook any delay; it being of so delicate a nature, that the ears directly they are ripe will begin to shed their grain. So long, however, as it is in stalk, it is exposed to fewer risks than other kinds of wheat, from the fact35 of its always having the ear upright, and not retaining the dew, which is a prolific cause of mildew.

From arinca192 a bread of remarkable sweetness is made. The grains in this variety lie closer than they do in spelt; the ear, too, is larger and more weighty. It is rarely the case that a modius of this grain does not weigh full sixteen pounds. In Greece they find great difficulty in threshing it; and hence it is that we find Homer193 saying that it is given to beasts of burden, this being the same as the grain that he calls “olyra.” In Egypt it is threshed without any difficulty, and is remarkably prolific. Spelt has no beard, and the same is the case with winter wheat, except194 that known as the Laconian variety. To the kinds already mentioned we have to add bromos,195 the winter wheat just excepted, and tragos,196 all of them exotics introduced from the East, and very similar to rice. Tiphe197 also belongs to the same class, from which in our part of the world a cleaned grain resembling rice is prepared. Among the Greeks, too, there is the grain known as zea; and it is said that this, as well as tiphe, when cleaned from the husk and sown, will degenerate198 and assume the form of wheat; not immediately, but in the course of three years.

There is no grain more prolific than wheat, Nature having bestowed upon it this quality, as being the substance which she destined for the principal nutriment of man. A modius of36 wheat, if the soil is favourable, as at Byzacium,199 a champaign district of Africa, will yield as much as one hundred and fifty200 modii of grain. The procurator of the late Emperor Augustus sent him from that place—a fact almost beyond belief—little short of four hundred shoots all springing from a single grain; and we have still in existence his letters on the subject. In a similar manner, too, the procurator of Nero sent him three hundred and sixty stalks all issuing from a single grain.201 The plains of Leontium in Sicily, and other places in that island, as well as the whole of Bætica, and Egypt more particularly, yield produce a hundred-fold. The most prolific kinds of wheat are the ramose wheat,202 and that known as the “hundred-grain”203 wheat. Before now, as many as one hundred beans, too, have been found on a single stalk.

We have spoken204 of sesame, millet, and panic as belonging to the summer grains. Sesame205 comes from India, where they extract an oil from it; the colour of its grain is white. Similar in appearance to this is the erysimum of Asia and Greece, and indeed it would be identical with it were it not that the grain is better filled.206 It is the same grain that is known among us as “irio;” and strictly speaking, ought rather to be classed among the medicaments than the cereals. Of the same nature, too, is the plant called “horminum”207 by the Greeks, though resembling cummin208 in appearance; it is sown at the same time as sesame: no animal will eat either this or irio while green.

All the grains are not easily broken. In Etruria they first37 parch the spelt in the ear, and then pound it with a pestle shod with iron at the end. In this instrument the iron is notched209 at the bottom, sharp ridges running out like the edge of a knife, and concentrating in the form of a star; so that if care is not taken to hold the pestle perpendicularly while pounding, the grains will only be splintered and the iron teeth broken. Throughout the greater part of Italy, however, they employ a pestle that is only rough210 at the end, and wheels turned by water, by means of which the corn is gradually ground. I shall here set forth the opinions given by Mago as to the best method of pounding corn. He says that the wheat should be steeped first of all in water, and then cleaned from the husk; after which it should be dried in the sun, and then pounded with the pestle; the same plan, he says, should be adopted in the preparation of barley. In the latter case, however, twenty sextarii of grain require only two sextarii of water. When lentils are used, they should be first parched, and then lightly pounded with the bran; or else, adopting another method, a piece of unbaked brick and half a modius of sand211 should be added to every twenty sextarii of lentils.

Ervilia should be treated in the same way as lentils. Sesame should be first steeped in warm water, and then laid out to dry, after which it should be rubbed out briskly, and then thrown into cold water, so that the chaff may be disengaged by floating to the surface. After this is done, the grain should again be spread out in the sun, upon linen cloths, to dry. Care, however, should be taken to lose no time in doing this, as it is apt to turn musty, and assume a dull, livid colour. The grains, too, which are just cleaned from the husk, require various methods of pounding. When the beard is ground by itself, without the grain, the result is known as “acus,”212 but it is only used by goldsmiths.213 If, on the other hand, it is beaten38 out on the threshing-floor, together with the straw, the chaff has the name of “palea,” * * * * and in most parts of the world is employed as fodder for beasts of burden. The residue of millet, panic, and sesame, is known to us as “apluda;” but in other countries it is called by various other names.

Campania is particularly prolific in millet, and a fine white porridge is made from it: it makes a bread, too, of remarkable sweetness. The nations of Sarmatia214 live principally on this porridge, and even the raw meal, with the sole addition of mares’ milk, or else blood215 extracted from the thigh of the horse. The Æthiopians know of no other grain but millet and barley.

The people of Gaul, and of Aquitania216 more particularly, make use of panic; the same is the case, too, in Italy beyond the Padus, with the addition, however, of the bean, without which they prepare none of their food. There is no aliment held in higher esteem than panic by the nations of Pontus. The other summer grains thrive better in well-watered soils than in rainy localities; but water is by no means beneficial to millet or panic when they are coming into blade. It is recommended not to sow them among vines or fruit-trees, as it is generally thought that these crops impoverish the soil.

Millet is more particularly employed for making leaven; and if kneaded with must,217 it will keep a whole year. The same is done, too, with the fine wheat-bran of the best quality; it is kneaded with white must three days old, and then dried in the sun, after which it is made into small cakes. When required for making bread, these cakes are first soaked in water,39 and then boiled with the finest spelt flour, after which the whole is mixed up with the meal; and it is generally thought that this is the best method of making bread. The Greeks have established a rule that for a modius of meal eight ounces of leaven is enough.

These kinds of leaven, however, can only be made at the time of vintage, but there is another leaven which may be prepared with barley and water, at any time it may happen to be required. It is first made up into cakes of two pounds in weight, and these are then baked upon a hot hearth, or else in an earthen dish upon hot ashes and charcoal, being left till they turn of a reddish brown. When this is done, the cakes are shut close in vessels, until they turn quite sour: when wanted for leaven, they are steeped in water first. When barley bread used to be made, it was leavened with the meal of the fitch,218 or else the chicheling vetch,219 the proportion being, two pounds of leaven to two modii and a half of barley meal. At the present day, however, the leaven is prepared from the meal that is used for making the bread. For this purpose, some of the meal is kneaded before adding the salt, and is then boiled to the consistency of porridge, and left till it begins to turn sour. In most cases, however, they do not warm it at all, but only make use of a little of the dough that has been kept from the day before. It is very evident that the principle which causes the dough to rise is of an acid nature, and it is equally evident that those persons who are dieted upon fermented bread are stronger220 in body. Among the ancients, too, it was generally thought that the heavier wheat is, the more wholesome it is.

It seems to me quite unnecessary to enter into an account of the various kinds of bread that are made. Some kinds, we find, receive their names from the dishes with which they are eaten, the oyster-bread,221 for instance: others, again, from their peculiar delicacy, the artolaganus,222 or cake-bread, for example; and others from the expedition with which they are40 prepared, such as the “speusticus,”223 or “hurry-bread.” Other varieties receive their names from the peculiar method of baking them, such as oven-bread,224 tin-bread,225 and mould-bread.226 It is not so very long since that we had a bread introduced from Parthia, known as water-bread,227 from a method in kneading it, of drawing out the dough by the aid of water, a process which renders it remarkably light, and full of holes, like a sponge: some call this Parthian bread. The excellence of the finest kinds of bread depends principally on the goodness of the wheat, and the fineness of the bolter. Some persons knead the dough with eggs or milk, and butter even has been employed for the purpose by nations that have had leisure to cultivate the arts of peace, and to give their attention to the art of making pastry. Picenum still maintains its ancient reputation for making the bread which it was the first to invent, alica228 being the grain employed. The flour is kept in soak for nine days, and is kneaded on the tenth with raisin juice, in the shape of long rolls; after which it is baked in an oven in earthen pots, till they break. This bread, however, is never eaten till it has been well229 soaked, which is mostly done in milk mixed with honey.

There were no bakers at Rome until230 the war with King Perseus, more than five hundred and eighty years after the building of the City. The ancient Romans used to make their own bread, it being an occupation which belonged to the women, as we see the case in many nations even at the present day. Plautus speaks of the artopta, or bread-tin, in his Comedy of the Aulularia,231 though there has been considerable discussion for that very reason among the learned, whether or41 not that line really belongs to him. We have the fact, too, well ascertained, in the opinion of Ateius Capito, that the cooks in those days were in the habit of making the bread for persons of affluence, while the name of “pistor”232 was only given to the person who pounded, or “pisebat,” the spelt. In those times, they had no cooks in the number of their slaves, but used to hire them for the occasion from the market. The Gauls were the first to employ the bolter that is made of horse-hair; while the people of Spain make their sieves and meal-dressers of flax,233 and the Egyptians of papyrus and rushes.

But among the very first things of all, we ought to speak of the method employed in preparing alica,234 a most delightful and most wholesome food, and which incontestably confers upon Italy the highest rank among the countries that produce the cereals. This delicacy is prepared, no doubt, in Egypt as well, but of a very inferior quality, and not worth our notice. In Italy, however, it is prepared in numerous places, the territories of Verona and Pisæ, for example; but that of Campania is the most highly esteemed. There, at the foot of mountains capped with clouds, runs a plain, not less in all than forty miles in extent. The land here—to give a description first of the nature of the soil—is dusty on the surface, but spongy below, and as porous as pumice. The inconveniences that generally arise from the close vicinity of mountains are here converted into so many advantages: for the soil, acting on it as a sort of filter, absorbs the water of the abundant rains that fall; the consequence of which is, that the water not being left to soak or form mud on the surface, the cultivation is greatly facilitated thereby. This land does not return, by the aid of any springs, the moisture it has thus absorbed, but thoroughly digests it, by warming it in its bosom, in a heated oven as it were. The ground is kept cropped the whole year through, once with panic, and twice with spelt; and yet in the spring, when the soil is allowed to have a moment’s repose,42 it will produce roses more odoriferous by far than the cultivated rose: for the earth here is never tired of producing, a circumstance in which originated the common saying, that Campania produces more unguents235 than other countries do oil.

In the same degree, however, that the Campanian soil excels that of all other countries, so does that part of it which is known to us as Laboriæ,236 and to the Greeks as Phlegræum, surpass all the rest. This district is bounded on two sides by the consular high road, which leads from Puteoli to Capua on the one side, and from Cumæ on the other.

Alica is prepared from the grain called zea, which we have already mentioned237 as being known to us as “seed” wheat. The grain is cleansed in a wooden mortar, for fear lest stone, from its hardness, should have the effect of grating it. The motive power for raising the pestle, as is generally known, is supplied by slaves working in chains, the end of it being enclosed in a case of iron. After the husks have been removed by this process, the pure grain is broken to pieces, the same implements being employed. In this way, there are three different kinds of alica made, the finest, the seconds, and the coarse, which last is known as “aphærema.”238 Still, however, these various kinds have none of them that whiteness as yet for which they are so distinguished, though even now they are preferable to the Alexandrian alica. With this view—a most singular fact—chalk239 is mixed with the meal, which, upon becoming well incorporated with it, adds very materially to both the whiteness and the shortness240 of the mixture. This chalk is found between Puteoli and Neapolis, upon a hill called Leucogæum;241 and there is still in existence a decree of the late Emperor Augustus, (who established a colony at Capua), which orders a sum of twenty thousand sesterces to be paid annually from his exchequer to the people of Neapolis, for the lease of this hill. His motive for paying this rent, he stated, was the fact that the people of Campania had alleged that it43 was impossible to make their alica without the help of this mineral. In the same hill, sulphur is found as well, and the springs of Araxus issue from its declivities, the waters of which are particularly efficacious for strengthening the sight, healing wounds, and preventing the teeth from becoming loose.

A spurious kind of alica is made, more particularly of a degenerate kind of zea grown in Africa; the ears of it are larger and blacker than those of the genuine kind, and the straw is short. This grain is pounded with sand, and even then it is with the greatest difficulty that the outer coats are removed; when stripped, the grain fills one half only of the original measure. Gypsum, in the proportion of one fourth, is then sprinkled242 over it, and after the mixture has been well incorporated, it is bolted through a meal-sieve. The portion that remains behind, after this is done, is known as “excepticia,”243 and consists of the coarser parts; while that which has passed through is submitted to a second process, with a finer sieve; and that which then refuses to pass has the name of “secundaria.”244 That, again, which, in a similar manner, is submitted to a third sifting, with a sieve of the greatest fineness, which will only admit of sand passing through it, is known as “cribraria,”245 when it remains on the top of the sieve.

There is another method, again, that is employed every where for adulterating it. They pick out the whitest and largest grains of wheat, and parboil them in earthen pots; these are then dried in the sun till they have regained their original size, after which they are lightly sprinkled with water, and then ground in a mill. A better granæum246 is made from zea than from wheat, although it is nothing else, in fact, but a spurious alica: it is whitened by the addition of boiled milk, in place of chalk.

We now come to the history of the leguminous plants, among which the place of honour must be awarded to the44 bean;247 indeed, some attempts have even been made to use it for bread. Bean meal is known as “lomentum;” and, as is the case with the meal of all leguminous plants, it adds considerably, when mixed with flour, to the weight of the bread. Beans are on sale at the present day for numerous purposes, and are employed for feeding cattle, and man more particularly. They are mixed, also, among most nations, with wheat,248 and panic more particularly, either whole or lightly broken. In our ancient ceremonials, too, bean pottage249 occupies its place in the religious services of the gods. Beans are mostly eaten together with other food, but it is generally thought that they dull the senses, and cause sleepless nights attended with dreams. Hence it is that the bean has been condemned250 by Pythagoras; though, according to some, the reason for this denunciation was the belief which he entertained that the souls of the dead are enclosed in the bean: it is for this reason, too, that beans are used in the funereal banquets of the Parentalia.251 According to Varro, it is for a similar cause that the Flamen abstains from eating beans: in addition to which, on the blossom of the bean, there are certain letters of ill omen to be found.

There are some peculiar religious usages connected with the bean. It is the custom to bring home from the harvest a bean by way of auspice, which, from that circumstance, has the name of “referiva.”252 In sales by public auction, too, it is thought lucky to include a bean in the lot for sale. It is a fact, too, that the bean is the only one among all the grains that fills out at the increase of the moon,253 however much it may have been eaten away: it can never be thoroughly boiled in sea-water, or indeed any other water that is salt.

45

The bean is the first leguminous plant that is sown; that being done before the setting of the Vergiliæ, in order that it may pass the winter in the ground. Virgil254 recommends that it should be sown in spring, according to the usage of the parts of Italy near the Padus: but most people prefer the bean that has been sown early to that of only three months’ growth; for, in the former case, the pods as well as the stalk afford a most agreeable fodder for cattle. When in blossom more particularly, the bean requires water; but after the blossom has passed off, it stands in need of but very little. It fertilizes255 the ground in which it has been sown as well as any manure; hence it is that in the neighbourhood of Thessaly and Macedonia, as soon as it begins to blossom, they turn up256 the ground.

The bean, too, grows wild in most countries, as in those islands of the Northern Ocean, for instance, which for that reason have been called by us the “Fabariæ.”257 In Mauritania, also, it is found in a wild state in various parts, but so remarkably hard that it will never become soft by boiling.

In Egypt there is a kind of bean258 which grows upon a thorny stalk; for which reason the crocodiles avoid it, being apprehensive of danger to their eyes. This stalk is four cubits in length, and its thickness, at the very most, that of the finger: were it not for the absence of articulations in it, it would resemble a soft reed in appearance. The head is similar to that of the poppy, being of a rose colour: the beans enclosed in this head are not above thirty in number; the leaves are large, and the fruit is bitter and odoriferous. The root, however, is highly esteemed by the natives as a food, whether eaten raw or well boiled; it bears a strong resemblance to that of the reed. This plant grows also in Syria and Cilicia, and upon the banks of Lake Torone in Chalcidice.

Among the leguminous plants the lentil is sown in the month of November, and the pea,259 among the Greeks. The lentil thrives best in a soil that is rather thin than rich, and mostly stands in need of dry weather. There are two kinds of lentil grown in Egypt; one of which is rounder and blacker than the other, which has a peculiar shape of its own. The name of this plant has been applied to various uses, and among others has given origin to our word “lenticula.”260 I find it stated in some authors that a lentil diet is productive of evenness of temper. The pea requires to be sown in a warm, sunny spot, and is ill able to endure cold; hence in Italy and the more rigorous climates, it is sown in the spring only, a light, loose soil being chosen for the purpose.

The chick-pea261 is naturally salt,262 for which reason it is apt to scorch the ground, and should only be sown after it has been steeped a day in water. This plant presents considerable differences in reference to size, colour,263 form, and taste. One variety resembles in shape a ram’s head, from which circumstance it has received the name of “arietinum;” there are both the white and the black arietinum. There is also the columbine chick-pea, by some known as the “pea of Venus;” it is white, round, and smooth, being smaller than the arietinum, and is employed in the observances of the night festivals or vigils. The chicheling vetch,264 too, is a diminutive kind of chick-pea, unequal and angular, like265 the pea. The chick-pea that is the sweetest in flavour is the one that bears the closest resemblance to the fitch; the pod in the black and the red kinds is more firmly closed than in the white ones.

The pod of the chick-pea is rounded, while in other leguminous plants it is long and broad, like the seed which it contains; in the pea, again, it is of a cylindrical form. In the case of the kidney-bean266 it is usual to eat the pod together with the seed. This last may be sown in all kinds of soils indifferently, between the ides of October267 and the calends of November.268 As soon as ever the leguminous plants begin to ripen, they ought to be plucked, for the pods will very soon open and the seed fall out, in which case it is very difficult to find: the same is the case, too, with the lupine. But before we pass on to the lupine, it will be as well to make some mention of the rape.269

The Latin writers have only treated of this plant in a cursory manner, while those of Greece have considered it a little more attentively; though even they have ranked it among the garden plants. If, however, a methodical arrangement is to be strictly observed, it should be spoken of immediately after corn, or the bean, at all events; for next to these two productions, there is no plant that is of more extensive use. For, in the first place, all animals will feed upon it as it grows; and it is far from being the least nutritious plant in the fields for various kinds of birds, when boiled in water more particularly. Cattle, too, are remarkably fond of the leaves of rape; and the stalks and leaves, when in season, are no less esteemed as a food for man than the sprouts of the cabbage;269 these, too, when turned yellow and left to die in the barn, are even more highly esteemed than270 when green. As to the rape itself, it will keep all the better if left in its mould, after which it should be dried in the open air till the next crop is nearly ripe, as a resource in case of scarcity. Next to those of the48 grape and corn, this is the most profitable harvest of all for the countries that lie beyond the Padus. The rape is by no means difficult to please in soil, for it will grow almost anywhere, indeed where nothing else can be sown. It readily derives nutriment from fogs and hoar-frosts, and grows to a marvelous size; I have seen them weighing upwards of forty pounds.271 It is prepared for table among us in several ways, and is made to keep till the next crop, its fermentation272 being prevented by preserving it in mustard. It is also tinted with no less than six colours in addition to its own, and with purple even; indeed, that which is used by us as food ought to be of no other colour.273

The Greeks have distinguished two principal species of rape, the male and the female,274 and have discovered a method of obtaining them both from the same seed; for when it is sown thick, or in a hard, cloggy soil, the produce will be male. The smaller the seed the better it is in quality. There are three kinds of rape in all; the first is broad and flat, the second of a spherical shape, and the third, to which the name of “wild” rape275 has been given, throws out a long root, similar in appearance to a radish, with an angular, rough leaf, and an acrid juice, which, if extracted about harvest, and mixed with a woman’s milk, is good for cleansing the eyes and improving defective sight. The colder the weather the sweeter they are, and the larger, it is generally thought; heat makes them run to leaf. The finest rape of all is that grown in the district of Nursia: it is valued at as much as one sesterce276 per pound, and, in times of scarcity, two even. That of the next best quality is produced on Mount Algidus.

The turnip277 of Amiternum, which is pretty nearly of the49 same nature as the rape, thrives equally well in a cold soil. It is sown just before the calends of March,278 four sextarii of seed to the jugerum. The more careful growers recommend that the ground should be turned up five times before putting in the turnip, and four for rape, care being taken, in both cases, to manure it well. Rape, they say, will thrive all the better, if it is sown together with some chaff. They will have it, too, that the sower ought to be stripped, and that he should offer up a prayer while sowing, and say: “I sow this for myself and for my neighbours.” The proper time for sowing both kinds is the period that intervenes between the festivals279 of the two divinities, Neptune and Vulcan. It is said, too—and it is the result of very careful observation—that these plants will thrive wonderfully well, if they are sown as many days after the festival of Neptune as the moon was old when the first snow fell the previous winter. They are sown in spring as well, in warm and humid localities.

The lupine is the next among the leguminous plants that is in extensive use, as it serves for food for man in common with the hoofed quadrupeds. To prevent it from springing out of the pod280 while being gathered, and so lost, the best plan is to gather it immediately after a shower. Of all the seeds that are sown, there is not one of a more marvellous nature than this, or more favoured by the earth. First of all, it turns every day with the sun,281 and shows the hour to the husbandman, even though the weather should happen to be cloudy and overcast. It blossoms, too, no less than three times, and so attached is it to the earth, that it does not require to be covered with the soil; indeed, this is the only seed that does not require the earth to be turned up for sowing it. It thrives more particularly on a sandy, dry, and even gravelly soil; and requires no further care to be taken in its cultivation. To such a degree is it attached to the earth, that even50 though left upon a soil thickly covered with brambles, it will throw out a root amid the leaves and brakes, and so contrive to reach the ground. We have already stated282 that the soil of a field or vineyard is enriched by the growth of a crop of lupines; indeed, so far is it from standing in need of manure, that the lupines will act upon it as well as the very best. It is the only seed that requires no outlay at all, so much so, in fact, that there is no necessity to carry it even to the spot where it is sown; for it may be sown the moment it is brought from the threshing-floor:283 and from the fact that it falls from the pod of its own accord, it stands in need of no one to scatter it.

This is284 the very first grain sown and the last that is gathered, both operations generally taking place in the month of September; indeed, if this is not done before winter sets in, it is liable to receive injury from the cold. And then, besides, it may even be left with impunity to lie upon the ground, in case showers should not immediately ensue and cover it in, it being quite safe from the attacks of all animals, on account of its bitter taste: still, however, it is mostly covered up in a slight furrow. Among the thicker soils, it is attached to a red earth more particularly. In order to enrich285 this earth, it should be turned up just after the third blossom; but where the soil is sandy, after the second. Chalky and slimy soils are the only ones that it has an aversion to; indeed, it will never come to anything when sown in them. Soaked in warm water, it is used as a food, too, for man. One modius is a sufficient meal for an ox, and it is found to impart considerable vigour to cattle; placed, too, upon the abdomen286 of children, it acts as a remedy in certain cases. It is an excellent plan to season the lupine by smoking it; for when it is kept in a moist state, maggots are apt to attack the germ, and render it useless for reproduction. If cattle have eaten it off while in leaf, as a matter of necessity it should be ploughed in as soon as possible.

The vetch,287 too, enriches the soil, and its cultivation entails no labour on the agriculturist. It is sown after the ground has been but once turned up, and requires neither hoeing nor manuring; nothing at all, indeed, except harrowing. There are three periods for sowing it; the first is about the setting of Arcturus, when it is intended for feeding cattle in the month of December, while in the blade; this crop, too, is the best of all for seed, for, although grazed upon, it will bear just as well. The second crop is sown in the month of January, and the last in March; this last being the best crop for fodder. Of all the seeds this is the one that thrives best in a dry soil; still, however, it manifests no repugnance to a shaded locality. This grain, if gathered when quite ripe, produces a chaff superior to that of any other. If sown near vines supported by trees, the vetch will draw away the juices from the vines, and make them languid.

The cultivation of the fitch,288 too, is attended with no difficulty. It requires weeding, however, more than the vetch. Like it, the fitch has certain medicinal289 properties; for we find the fact still kept in remembrance by some letters of his, that the late Emperor Augustus was cured by its agency. Five modii will sow as much ground as a yoke of oxen can plough in a day. If sown in the month of March,290 it is injurious, they say, to oxen: and when sown in autumn, it is apt to produce head-ache. If, however, it is put in the ground at the beginning of spring, it will be productive of no bad results.

Silicia,291 or, in other words, fenugreek, is sown after a light ploughing292 merely, the furrows being no more than some four52 fingers in depth; the less the pains that are bestowed upon it the better it will thrive—a singular fact that there should be anything that profits from neglect. The kinds, however, that are known as “secale” and “farrago” require harrowing only.

The people of Taurinum, at the foot of the Alps, give to secale293 the name of “asia;” it is a very inferior294 grain, and is only employed to avert positive famine. It is prolific, but has a straw of remarkable thinness; it is also black and sombre-looking, but weighs extremely heavy. Spelt is mixed with this grain to modify its bitterness,295 and even then it is very disagreeable to the stomach. It will grow upon any soil, and yields a hundred-fold; it is employed also as a manure for enriching the land.

Farrago, a mixture made of the refuse of “far,” or spelt, is sown very thick, the vetch being sometimes mingled with it; in Africa, this mixture is sometimes made with barley. All these mixtures, however, are only intended for cattle, and the same is the case with the cracca,296 a degenerate kind of leguminous plant. Pigeons, it is said, are so remarkably fond of this grain, that they will never leave the place where it has been given to them.

Among the ancients there was a sort of fodder, to which Cato297 gives the name of “ocinum;” it was employed by them to stop scouring in oxen. This was a mixture of various kinds of fodder, cut green before the frosts came on. Mamilius Sura, however, explains the term differently, and says that ten modii of beans, two of vetches, and the same quantity of ervilia,298 were mixed and sown in autumn on a jugerum of land. He53 states, also, that it is a still better plan to mix some Greek oats299 with it, the grain of which never falls to the ground; this mixture, according to him, was ocinum, and was usually sown as a food for oxen. Varro300 informs us that it received its name on account of the celerity with which it springs up, from the Greek ὠκέως, “quickly.”

Lucerne301 is by nature an exotic to Greece even, it having been first introduced into that country from Media,302 at the time of the Persian wars with King Darius; still it deserves to be mentioned among the very first of these productions. So superior are its qualities, that a single sowing will last more than thirty303 years. It resembles trefoil in appearance, but the stalk and leaves are articulated. The longer it grows in the stalk, the narrower is the leaf. Amphilochus has devoted a whole book to this subject and the cytisus.304 The ground in which it is sown, being first cleaned and cleared of stones, is turned up in the autumn, after which it is ploughed and harrowed. It is then harrowed a second and a third time, at intervals of five days; after which manure is laid upon it. This seed requires either a soil that is dry, but full of nutriment, or else a well-watered one. After the ground has been thus prepared, the seed is put in in the month of May;305 for if sown earlier, it is in danger from the frosts. It is necessary to sow the seed very thick, so that all the ground may be occupied, and no room left for weeds to shoot up in the intervals; a result which may be secured by sowing twenty modii to the jugerum. The seed must be stirred at once with the rake, to prevent the sun from scorching it, and it should be covered over with earth as speedily as possible. If the soil is naturally damp or weedy, the lucerne will be overpowered, and the spot54 degenerate into an ordinary pasture; it is necessary, therefore, directly the crop is an inch in height, to disengage it from all weeds, by hand, in preference to the weeding-hook.

It is cut when it is just beginning to flower, and this is repeated as often as it throws out new blossoms; which happens mostly six306 times in the year, and four at the very least. Care should be taken to prevent it from running to seed, as it is much more valuable as fodder, up to the third year. It should be hoed in the spring, and cleared of all other plants; and in the third year the surface should be well worked with the weeding-hook. By adopting this method, the weeds will be effectually destroyed, though without detriment to the lucerne, in consequence of the depth of its roots. If the weeds should happen to get ahead of it, the only remedy is to turn it up repeatedly with the plough, until the roots of the weeds are thoroughly destroyed. This fodder should never be given to cattle to satiety, otherwise it may be necessary to let blood; it is best, too, when used while green. When dry, it becomes tough and ligneous, and falls away at last into a thin, useless dust. As to the cytisus, which also occupies the very foremost rank among the fodders, we have already spoken307 of it at sufficient length when describing the shrubs. It remains for us now to complete our account of all the cereals, and we shall here devote a portion of it to the diseases to which they are subject.

The foremost feature of disease in wheat is the oat.308 Barley, too, will degenerate into the oat; so much so, in fact, that the oat has become an equivalent for corn; for the people of Germany are in the habit of sowing it, and make their porridge of nothing else. This degeneracy is owing more particularly to humidity of soil and climate; and a second cause is a weakness in the seed, the result of its being retained too long in the ground before it makes its appearance above it. The same, too, will55 be the consequence, if the seed is decayed when put in the ground. This may be known, however, the moment it makes its appearance, from which it is quite evident that the defect lies in the root. There is another form of disease, too, which closely resembles the oat, and which supervenes when the grain, already developed to its full size, but not ripe, is struck by a noxious blast, before it has acquired its proper body and strength; in this case, the seed pines away in the ear, by a kind of abortion, as it were, and totally disappears.

The wind is injurious to wheat and barley, at three309 periods of the year in particular: when they are in blossom, directly the blossom has passed off, and just as the seed is beginning to ripen. In this last case, the grain wastes away, while in the two former ones it is prevented from being developed. Gleams of sunshine, every now and then, from the midst of clouds, are injurious to corn. Maggots, too, breed310 in the roots, when the rains that follow the seed-time are succeeded by a sudden heat, which encloses the humidity in the ground. Maggots make their appearance,311 also, in the grain, when the ear ferments through heat succeeding a fall of rain. There is a small beetle, too, known by the name of “cantharis,”312 which eats away the blade. All these insects die, however, as soon as their nutriment fails them. Oil,313 pitch, and grease are prejudicial to grain, and care should be taken not to let them come in contact with the seed that is sown. Rain is only beneficial to grain while in the blade; it is injurious to wheat and barley while they are in blossom, but is not detrimental to the leguminous plants, with the exception of the chick-pea. When grain is beginning to ripen, rain is injurious, and to barley in particular. There is a white grass314 that grows in the fields, very similar to panic in appearance, but fatal to cattle. As to56 darnel,315 the tribulus,316 the thistle,317 and the burdock,318 I can consider them, no more than the bramble, among the maladies that attack the cereals, but rather as so many pests inflicted on the earth. Mildew,319 a malady resulting from the inclemency of the weather, and equally attacking the vine320 and corn, is in no degree less injurious. It attacks corn most frequently in localities which are exposed to dews, and in vallies which have not a thorough draught for the wind; windy and elevated spots, on the other hand, are totally exempt from it. Another evil, again, in corn, is over-luxuriance, when it falls to the ground beneath the weight321 of the grain. One evil, however, to which all crops in common, the chick-pea even, are exposed, is the attacks of the caterpillar, when the rain, by washing away the natural saltness of the vegetation, makes it322 all the more tempting for its sweetness.

There is a certain plant,323 too, which kills the chick-pea and the fitch, by twining around them; the name of it is “orobanche.” In a similar manner, also, wheat is attacked by darnel,324 barley by a long-stalked plant, called “ægilops,”325 and the lentil by an axe-leafed grass, to which, from the resemblance326 of the leaf, the Greeks have given the name of “pelecinon.” All these plants, too, kill the others by entwining around them. In the neighbourhood of Philippi, there is a plant known as ateramon,327 which grows in a rich soil, and57 kills the bean, after it has been exposed, while wet, to the blasts of a certain wind: when it grows in a thin, light soil, this plant is called “teramon.” The seed of darnel is extremely minute, and is enclosed in a prickly husk. If introduced into bread, it will speedily produce vertigo; and it is said that in Asia and Greece, the bath-keepers, when they want to disperse a crowd of people, throw this seed upon burning coals. The phalangium, a diminutive insect of the spider genus,328 breeds in the fitch, if the winter happens to be wet. Slugs, too, breed in the vetch, and sometimes a tiny snail makes its way out of the ground, and eats it away in a most singular manner.

These are pretty nearly all the maladies to which grain is subject.

The best remedy for these maladies, so long as grain is in the blade, is the weeding-hook, and, at the moment of sowing, ashes.329 As to those diseases which develope themselves in the seed and about the root, with due care precautions may be effectually employed against them. It is generally supposed that if seed has been first steeped in wine,330 it will be less exposed to disease. Virgil331 recommends that beans should be drenched with nitre and amurca of olives; and he says that if this is done, they will be all the larger. Some persons, again, are of opinion, that they will grow of increased size, if the seed is steeped for three days before it is sown in a solution of urine and water. If the ground, too, is hoed three times, a modius of beans in the pod, they say, will yield not less than a modius58 of shelled332 beans. Other seeds, again, it is said, will be exempt from the attacks of maggots, if bruised cypress333 leaves are mixed with them, or if they are sown just at the moon’s conjunction. Many persons, for the more effectual protection of millet, recommend that a bramble-frog should be carried at night round the field before the hoeing is done, and then buried in an earthen vessel in the middle of it. If this is done, they say, neither sparrows nor worms will attack the crop. The frog, however, must be disinterred before the millet is cut; for if this is neglected, the produce will be bitter. It is pretended, too, that all seeds which have been touched by the shoulders of a mole are remarkably productive.

Democritus recommends that all seeds before they are sown should be steeped in the juice of the herb known as “aizoüm,”334 which grows on tiles or shingles, and is known to us by the Latin name of “sedum” or “digitellum.”335 If blight prevails, or if worms are found adhering to the roots, it is a very common remedy to sprinkle the plants with pure amurca of olives without salt, and then to hoe the ground. If, however, the crop should be beginning to joint, it should be stubbed at once, for fear lest the weeds should gain the upper hand. I know for certain336 that flights of starlings and sparrows, those pests to millet and panic, are effectually driven away by means of a certain herb, the name of which is unknown to me, being buried at the four corners of the field: it is a wonderful thing to relate, but in such case not a single bird will enter it. Mice are kept away by the ashes of a weasel or a cat being steeped in water and then thrown upon the seed, or else by using the water in which the body of a weasel or a cat has been boiled. The odour, however, of these animals makes itself perceived in the bread even; for which reason it is generally thought a better plan to steep the seed in ox-gall.337 As for mildew, that greatest curse of all to corn, if branches of laurel are59 fixed in the ground, it will pass away from the field into the leaves of the laurel. Over-luxuriance in corn is repressed by the teeth of cattle,338 but only while it is in the blade; in which case, if depastured upon ever so often, no injury to it when in the ear will be the result. If the ear, too, is once cut off, the grain, it is well known, will assume a larger339 form, but will be hollow within and worthless, and if sown, will come to nothing.

At Babylon, however, they cut the blade twice, and then let the cattle pasture on it a third time, for otherwise it would run to nothing but leaf. Even then, however, so fertile is the soil, that it yields fifty, and, indeed, with care, as much as a hundred, fold. Nor is the cultivation of it attended with any difficulty, the only object being to let the ground be under water as long as possible, in order that the extreme richness and exuberance of the soil may be modified. The Euphrates, however, and the Tigris do not deposit a slime, in the same way that the Nilus does in Egypt, nor does the soil produce vegetation spontaneously; but still, so great is the fertility, that, although the seed is only trodden in with the foot, a crop springs up spontaneously the following year. So great a difference in soils as this, reminds me that I ought to take this opportunity of specifying those which are the best adapted for the various kinds of grain.

This, then, is the opinion expressed by Cato340 on the subject: “In a dense and fertile soil wheat should be sown: but if the locality is subject to fogs, rape, radishes, millet, and panic. Where the land341 is cold and moist, sowing should be commenced earlier; but where it is hot, at a later period. In a red, black, or gravelly soil, provided it is not watery, lupines should be sown; but in chalk, red earth, or a watery soil, spelt.342 Where a locality is dry, free from weeds, and not overshadowed, wheat should be put in; and where the soil is60 strong and powerful, beans. Vetches should be grown in a soil as free from water and weeds as possible; while wheat and winter wheat are best adapted to an open, elevated locality, fully exposed to the warmth of the sun. The lentil thrives best in a meagre, red earth, free from weeds. Barley is equally suited for fallow land and for a soil that is not intended to be fallow, and three-month wheat, for a soil upon which a crop of ordinary wheat would never ripen, but strong enough to bear.”

The following, too, is sound advice:343 Those plants should be sown in a thin soil which do not stand in need of much nutriment, the cytisus, for instance, and such of the leguminous plants, with the exception of the chick-pea, as are taken up by the roots and not cut. From this mode of gathering them—“legere”—the legumina derive their name. Where it is a rich earth, those plants should be grown which require a greater proportion of nutriment, coleworts for instance, wheat, winter-wheat, and flax. The result, then, will be, that a light soil will be given to barley—the root of that grain standing in need of less nutriment—while a more dense, though easily-worked soil, will be assigned to wheat. In humid localities spelt should be sown in preference to wheat; but where the soil is of moderate temperature, either wheat or barley may be grown. Declivities produce a stronger growth of wheat, but in smaller quantities. Spelt and winter-wheat adopt a moist, cretaceous soil in preference to any other.

(18.) The only occasion on which there ever was a prodigy connected with grain, at least that I am aware of, was in the consulship of P. Ælius and Cneius Cornelius, the year344 in which Hannibal was vanquished: on that occasion, we find it stated, corn was seen growing upon trees.345

As we have now spoken at sufficient length of the several varieties of grain and soil, we shall proceed to treat of the methods adopted in tilling the ground, taking care, in the very61 first place, to make mention of the peculiar facilities enjoyed by Egypt in this respect. In that country, performing the duties of the husbandman, the Nile begins to overflow, as already stated,346 immediately after the summer solstice or the new moon, gradually at first, but afterwards with increased impetuosity, as long as the sun remains in the sign of Leo. When the sun has passed into Virgo, the impetuosity of the overflow begins to slacken, and when he has entered Libra the river subsides. Should it not have exceeded twelve cubits in its overflow, famine is the sure result; and this is equally the case if it should chance to exceed sixteen; for the higher it has risen, the more slowly it subsides, and, of course, the seed-time is impeded in proportion. It was formerly a very general belief that immediately upon the subsiding of the waters the Egyptians were in the habit of driving herds of swine over the ground, for the purpose of treading the seed into the moist soil—and it is my own impression that this was done in ancient times. At the present day even, the operation is not attended with much greater labour. It is well known, however, that the seed is first laid upon the slime that has been left by the river on its subsidence, and then ploughed in; this being done at the beginning of November. After this is done, a few persons are employed in stubbing, an operation known there as “botanismos.” The rest of the labourers, however, have no occasion to visit the land again till a little before the calends of April,347 and then it is with the reaping-hook. The harvest is completed in the month of May. The stem is never so much as a cubit in length, as there is a stratum of sand beneath the slime, from which last alone the grain receives its support. The best wheat of all is that of the region of Thebais, Egypt348 being of a marshy character.

The method adopted at Seleucia in Babylonia is very similar to this, but the fertility there is still greater, owing to the overflow of the Euphrates and Tigris,349 the degree of irrigation being artificially modified in those parts. In Syria, too, the furrows are made extremely light, while in many parts of62 Italy, again, it takes as many as eight oxen to pant and blow at a single plough. All the operations of agriculture, but this in particular, should he regulated by the oracular precept—“Remember that every locality has its own tendencies.”

Ploughs are of various kinds. The coulter350 is the iron part that cuts up the dense earth before it is broken into pieces, and traces beforehand by its incisions the future furrows, which the share, reversed,351 is to open out with its teeth. Another kind—the common plough-share—is nothing more than a lever, furnished with a pointed beak; while another variety, which is only used in light, easy soils, does not present an edge projecting from the share-beam throughout, but only a small point at the extremity. In a fourth kind again, this point is larger and formed with a cutting edge; by the agency of which implement, it both cleaves the ground, and, with the sharp edges at the sides, cuts up the weeds by the roots. There has been invented, at a comparatively recent period, in that part of Gaul352 known as Rhætia, a plough with the addition of two small wheels, and known by the name of “plaumorati.”353 The extremity of the share in this has the form of a spade: it is only used, however, for sowing in cultivated lands, and upon soils which are nearly fallow. The broader the plough-share, the better it is for turning up the clods of earth. Immediately after ploughing, the seed is put into the ground, and then harrows354 with long teeth are drawn over it. Lands which have been sown in this way require no hoeing, but two or three pairs of oxen are employed in ploughing. It is a fair estimate to consider that a single yoke of oxen can work forty jugera of land in the year, where the soil is light, and thirty where it is stubborn.

In ploughing, the most rigid attention should be paid to the63 oracular precepts given by Cato355 on the subject. “What is the essence of good tillage? Good ploughing. What is the second point? Ploughing again. What is the third point? Manuring. Take care not to make crooked furrows. Be careful to plough at the proper time.” In warm localities it is necessary to open the ground immediately after the winter solstice, but where it is cold, directly after the vernal equinox: this, too, should be done sooner in dry districts than in wet ones, in a dense soil than a loose one, in a rich land than a meagre one. In countries where the summers are hot and oppressive, the soil cretaceous or thin, it is the best plan to plough between the summer solstice and the autumnal equinox. Where, on the other hand, the heat is moderate, with frequent falls of rain, and the soil rich and full of vegetation, the ploughing should be done during the prevalence of the heat. A deep, heavy soil, again, should be ploughed in winter; but one that is very thin and dry, only just before putting in the seed.

Tillage, too, has its own particular rules356—Never touch the ground while it is wet and cloggy; plough with all your might; loosen the ground before you begin to plough. This method has its advantages, for by turning up the clods the roots of the weeds are killed. Some persons recommend that in every case the ground should be turned up immediately after the vernal equinox. Land that has been ploughed once in spring, from that circumstance has the name of “vervactum.”357 This, too, is equally necessary in the case of fallow land, by which term is meant land that is sown only in alternate years. The oxen employed in ploughing should be harnessed as tightly as possible, to make them plough with their heads up; attention paid to this point will prevent them from galling the neck. If it is among trees and vines that you are ploughing, the oxen should be muzzled, to prevent them from eating off the tender buds. There should be a small bill-hook, too, projecting from the plough-tail, for the purpose of cutting up the roots; this plan being preferable to that of turning them up with the share, and so straining the oxen. When ploughing, finish the furrow at one spell, and never stop to take breath in the middle.

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It is a fair day’s work to plough one jugerum, for the first time, nine inches in depth; and the second time, one jugerum and a half—that is to say, if it is an easy soil. If this, however, is not the case, it will take a day to turn up half a jugerum for the first time, and a whole jugerum the second; for Nature has set limits to the powers of animals even. The furrows should be made, in every case, first in a straight line, and then others should be drawn, crossing them obliquely.358 Upon a hill-side the furrows are drawn transversely359 only, the point of the share inclining upwards at one moment and downwards360 at another. Man, too, is so well fitted for labour, that he is able to supply the place of the ox even; at all events, it is without the aid of that animal that the mountain tribes plough, having only the hoe to help them.361

The ploughman, unless he stoops to his work, is sure to prevaricate,362 a word which has been transferred to the Forum, as a censure upon those who transgress—at any rate, let those be on their guard against it, where it was first employed. The share should be cleaned every now and then with a stick pointed with a scraper. The ridges that are left between every two furrows, should not be left in a rough state, nor should large clods be left protruding from the ground. A field is badly ploughed that stands in need of harrowing after the seed is in; but the work has been properly done, when it is impossible to say in which direction the share has gone. It is a good plan, too, to leave a channel every now and then, if the nature of the spot requires it, by making furrows of a larger size, to draw off the water into the drains.

(20.) After the furrows have been gone over again transversely, the clods are broken, where there is a necessity for it, with either the harrow or the rake;363 and this operation is repeated65 after the seed has been put in. This last harrowing is done, where the usage of the locality will allow of it, with either a toothed harrow, or else a plank attached to the plough. This operation of covering in the seed is called “lirare,” from which is derived the word “deliratio.”364 Virgil,365 it is generally thought, intends to recommend sowing after four ploughings, in the passage where he says that land will bear the best crop, which has twice felt the sun and twice the cold. Where the soil is dense, as in most parts of Italy, it is a still better plan to go over the ground five times before sowing; in Etruria, they give the land as many as nine ploughings first. The bean, however, and the vetch may be sown with no risk, without turning up the land at all; which, of course, is so much labour saved.

We must not here omit to mention still one other method of ploughing, which the devastations of warfare have suggested in Italy that lies beyond the Padus. The Salassi,366 when ravaging the territories which lay at the foot of the Alps, made an attempt to lay waste the crops of panic and millet that were just appearing above the ground. Finding, however, that Nature resisted all their endeavours, they passed the plough over the ground, the result of which was that the crops were more abundant than ever; and this it was that first taught us the method of ploughing in, expressed by the word “artrare,” otherwise “aratrare,” in my opinion the original form. This is done either just as the stem begins to develope itself, or else when it has put forth as many as two or three leaves. Nor must we withhold from the reader a more recent method, which was discovered the year but one before this,367 in the territory of the Treviri. The crops having been nipped by the extreme severity of the winter, the people sowed the land over again in the month of March, and had a most abundant harvest.

We shall now proceed to a description of the peculiar methods employed in cultivating each description of grain.

For winter wheat, spelt, wheat, zea,368 and barley, harrow, hoe and stub upon the days which will be mentioned369 in the sequel. A single hand per jugerum will be quite enough for any one of these kinds of grain. The operation of hoeing loosens the ground in spring when it has been hardened and saddened by the rigours of the winter, and admits the early sun to the interior. In hoeing, every care must be taken not to go beneath the roots of the corn; in the case of wheat, zea, and barley, it is best to give a couple of hoeings. Stubbing,370 when the crop is just beginning to joint, cleanses it of all noxious weeds, disengages the roots of the corn, and liberates the growing blade from the clods. Among the leguminous plants, the chick-pea requires the same treatment that spelt does. The bean requires no stubbing, being quite able of itself to overpower all weeds; the lupine, too, is harrowed only. Millet and panic are both harrowed and hoed; but this operation is never repeated, and they do not require stubbing. Fenugreek and the kidney-bean require harrowing only.

There are some kinds of ground, the extreme fertility of which obliges the grower to comb down the crops while in the blade—this is done with a sort of harrow371 armed with pointed iron teeth—and even then he is obliged to depasture cattle upon them. When, however, the blade has been thus eaten down, it stands in need of hoeing to restore it to its former vigour.

But in Bactria, and at Cyrenæ in Africa, all this trouble has been rendered quite unnecessary by the indulgent benignity of the climate, and after the seed is in, the owner has no occasion to return to the field till the time has come for getting in the harvest. In those parts the natural dryness of the soil prevents noxious weeds from springing up, and, aided by the night dews alone, the soil supplies its nutriment to the grain. Virgil372 recommends that the ground should be left to enjoy repose every other year; and this, no doubt, if the extent of the farm will admit of it, is the most advantageous plan. If, however, circumstances67 will not allow of it, spelt should be sown upon the ground that has been first cropped with lupines, vetches, or beans; for all these have a tendency to make the soil more fertile. We ought to remark here more particularly, that here and there certain plants are sown for the benefit of others, although, as already stated in the preceding Book,373 not to repeat the same thing over again, they are of little value themselves. But it is the nature of each soil that is of the greatest importance.

There is a city of Africa, situate in the midst of the sands as you journey towards the Syrtes and Great Leptis, Tacape374 by name. The soil there, which is always well-watered, enjoys a degree of fertility quite marvellous. Through this spot, which extends about three miles each way, a spring of water flows—in great abundance it is true—but still, it is only at certain hours that its waters are distributed among the inhabitants. Here, beneath a palm of enormous size, grows the olive, beneath the olive the fig, beneath the fig, again, the pomegranate, beneath the pomegranate the vine, and beneath the vine we find sown, first wheat, then the leguminous plants, and after them garden herbs—all in the same year, and all growing beneath another’s shade. Four cubits square of this same ground—the cubit375 being measured with the fingers contracted and not extended—sell at the rate of four denarii.376 But what is more surprising than all, is the fact that here the vine bears twice, and that there are two vintages in the year. Indeed, if the fertility of the soil were not distributed in this way among a multitude of productions, each crop would perish from its own exuberance: as it is, there is no part of the year that there is not some crop or other being gathered in; and yet, it is a well-known fact, that the people do nothing at all to promote this fruitfulness.

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There are very considerable differences, too, in the nature of water, as employed for the purposes of irrigation. In the province of Gallia Narbonensis there is a famous fountain, Orge by name; within it there grow plants which are sought for with such eagerness by the cattle, that they will plunge over head into the water to get at them; it is a well ascertained377 fact, however, that these plants, though growing in the water, receive their nutriment only from the rains that fall. It is as well then that every one should be fully acquainted with the nature, not only of the soil, but of the water too.

If the soil is of that nature which we have already378 spoken of as “tender,”379 after a crop of barley has been grown upon it, millet may be sown, and after the millet has been got in, rape. In succession to these, again, barley may be put in, or else wheat, as in Campania; and it will be quite enough, in such case, to plough the ground when the seed is sown. There is another rotation again—when the ground has been cropped with spelt,380 it should lie fallow the four winter months; after which, spring beans should be put in, to keep it occupied till the time comes for cropping it with winter beans. Where the soil is too rich, it may lie fallow one year, care being taken after sowing it with corn to crop it with the leguminous plants the third year.381 Where, on the other hand, it is too thin, the land should lie fallow up to the third year even. Some persons recommend that corn should never be sown except in land which has lain fallow the year before.

The proper method of manuring is here a very important subject for consideration—we have already treated of it at some length in the preceding Book.382 The only point that is69 universally agreed upon is, that we must never sow without first manuring the ground; although in this respect even there are certain rules to be observed. Millet, panic, rape, and turnips should never be sown in any but a manured soil. If, on the other hand, the land is not manured, sow wheat there in preference to barley. The same, too, with fallow lands; though in these it is generally recommended that beans should be sown. It should be remembered, however, that wherever beans are sown, the land should have been manured at as recent a period as possible. If it is intended to crop ground in autumn, care must be taken to plough in manure in the month of September, just after rain has fallen. In the same way, too, if it is intended to sow in spring, the manure should be spread in the winter. It is the rule to give eighteen cart-loads of manure to each jugerum, and to spread it well before ploughing it in,383 or sowing the seed.384 If this manuring, however, is omitted, it will be requisite to spread the land with aviary dust just before hoeing is commenced. To clear up any doubts with reference to this point, I would here observe that the fair price for a cart-load of manure is one denarius; where, too, sheep furnish one cart-load, the larger cattle should furnish ten:385 unless this result is obtained, it is a clear proof that the husbandman has littered his cattle badly.

There are some persons who are of opinion that the best method of manuring land is to pen sheep there, with nets erected to prevent them from straying. If land is not manured, it will get chilled; but if, on the other hand, it is over-manured, it becomes burnt up: it is a much better plan, too, to manure little and often than in excess. The warmer the soil is by nature, the less manure it requires.

The best seed of all is that which is of the last year’s growth. That which is two years old is inferior, and three the worst of all—beyond70 that, it is unproductive.386 The same definite rule which applies to one kind of seed is applicable to them all: the seed which falls to the bottom387 on the threshing-floor, should be reserved for sowing, for being the most weighty it is the best in quality: there is no better method, in fact, of ascertaining its quality. The grains of those ears which have intervals between the seed should be rejected. The best grain is that which has a reddish hue,388 and which, when broken between the teeth, presents the same389 colour; that which has more white within is of inferior quality. It is a well-known fact that some lands require more seed than others, from which circumstance first arose a superstition that exists among the peasantry; it is their belief that when the ground demands the seed with greater avidity than usual, it is famished, and devours the grain. It is consistent with reason to put in the seed where the soil is humid sooner than elsewhere, to prevent the grain from rotting in the rain: on dry spots it should be sown later, and just before the fall of a shower, so that it may not have to lie long without germinating and so come to nothing. When the seed is put in early it should be sown thick, as it is a considerable time before it germinates; but when it is put in later, it should be sown thinly, to prevent it from being suffocated. There is a certain degree of skill, too, required in scattering the seed evenly; to ensure this, the hand must keep time390 with the step, moving always with the right foot. There are certain persons, also, who have a secret method391 of their own, having been born392 with a happy hand which imparts fruitfulness to the grain. Care should be taken not to sow seed in a warm locality which has been grown in a cold71 one, nor should the produce of an early soil be sown in a late one. Those who give advice to the contrary have quite misapplied their pains.

393 In a soil of middling quality, the proper proportion of seed is five modii of wheat or winter-wheat to the jugerum, ten of spelt or of seed-wheat—that being the name which we have mentioned394 as being given to one kind of wheat—six of barley, one-fifth more of beans than of wheat, twelve of vetches, three of chick-pease, chicheling vetches, and pease, ten of lupines, three of lentils—(these last, however, it is said, must be sown with dry manure)—six of fitches, six of fenugreek, four of kidney-beans, twenty of hay grass,395 and four sextarii of millet and panic. Where the soil is rich, the proportion must be greater, where it is thin, less.396

There is another distinction, too, to be made; where the soil is dense, cretaceous, or moist, there should be six modii of wheat or winter-wheat to the jugerum, but where the land is loose, dry, and prolific, four will be enough. A meagre soil, too, if the crop is not very thinly sown, will produce a diminutive, empty ear. Rich lands give a number of stalks to each grain, and yield a thick crop from only a light sowing. The result, then, is, that from four to six modii must be sown, according to the nature of the soil; though there are some who make it a rule that five modii is the proper proportion for sowing, neither more nor less, whether it is a densely-planted locality, a declivity, or a thin, meagre soil. To this subject bears reference an oracular precept which never can be too carefully observed397—“Don’t rob the harvest.”398 Attius, in his Praxidicus,399 has added that the proper time for sowing is,72 when the moon is in Aries, Gemini, Leo, Libra, and Aquarius. Zoroaster says it should be done when the sun has passed twelve degrees of Scorpio, and the moon is in Taurus.

We now come to a subject which has been hitherto deferred by us, and which requires our most careful attention—the proper times for sowing. This is a question that depends in a very great degree upon the stars; and I shall therefore make it my first care to set forth all the opinions that have been written in reference to the subject. Hesiod, the first writer who has given any precepts upon agriculture, speaks of one period only for sowing—the setting of the Vergiliæ: but then he wrote in Bœotia, a country of Hellas, where, as we have already stated,400 they are still in the habit of sowing at that period.

It is generally agreed by the most correct writers, that with the earth, as with the birds and quadrupeds, there are certain impulses for reproduction; and the epoch for this is fixed by the Greeks at the time when the earth is warm and moist. Virgil401 says that wheat and spelt should be sown at the setting of the Vergiliæ, barley between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice, and vetches,402 kidney-beans, and lentils at the setting of Boötes:403 it is of great importance, therefore, to ascertain the exact days of the rising and setting of these constellations, as well as of the others. There are some, again, who recommend the sowing to be done before the setting of the Vergiliæ, but only in a dry soil, and in those provinces where the weather is hot; for the seed, they say,404 if put in the ground will keep, there being no moisture to spoil it, and within a single day after the next fall of rain, will make its appearance above ground. Others, again, are of opinion that sowing should begin about seven days after the setting of the Vergiliæ, a period which is mostly followed by rain. Some think that cold soils should be sown immediately after the autumnal equinox, and a warm soil later, so that the blade may not put forth too luxuriantly before winter.

It is universally agreed, however, that the sowing should73 not be done about the period of the winter solstice; for this very good reason—the winter seeds, if put in before the winter solstice, will make their appearance above ground on the seventh day, whereas, if they are sown just after it, they will hardly appear by the fortieth. There are some, however, who begin very early, and have a saying to justify their doing so, to the effect that if seed sown too early often disappoints, seed put in too late always does so. On the other hand, again, there are some who maintain that it is better to sow in spring than in a bad autumn; and they say that if they find themselves obliged to sow in spring, they would choose the period that intervenes between the prevalence of the west winds405 and the vernal equinox. Some persons, however, take no notice of the celestial phenomena, and only regulate their movements by the months. In spring they put in flax, the oat, and the poppy, up to the feast of the Quinquatria,406 as we find done at the present day by the people of Italy beyond the Padus. There, too, they sow beans and winter-wheat in the month of November, and spelt at the end of September, up to the ides of October:407 others, however, sow this last after the ides of October, as late as the calends of November.408

The persons who do this take no notice, consequently, of the phenomena of Nature, while others, again, lay too much stress upon them, and hence, by these refined subtleties and distinctions, only add to their blindness; for here are ignorant rustics, not only dealing with a branch of learning, but that branch astronomy! It must still, however, be admitted that the observation of the heavens plays a very important part in the operations of agriculture; and Virgil,409 we find, gives it as his advice, that before any thing else, we should learn the theory of the winds, and the revolutions of the stars; for, as he says, the agriculturist, no less than the mariner, should regulate his movements thereby. It is an arduous attempt, and almost beyond all hope of success, to make an endeavour to introduce the divine science of the heavens to the uninformed74 mind of the rustic; still, however, with a view to such vast practical results as must be derived from this kind of knowledge, I shall make the attempt. There are some astronomical difficulties, however, which have been experienced by the learned even, that ought to be first submitted for consideration, in order that the mind may feel some encouragement on abandoning the study of the heavens, and may be acquainted with facts at least, even though it is still unable to see into futurity.

In the first place, it is almost an utter impossibility to calculate with a fair degree of accuracy the days of the year and the movements of the sun. To the three hundred and sixty-five days there are still to be added the intercalary days, the result of the additional quarters of a day and night: hence it is, that it is found impossible to ascertain with exactness the proper periods for the appearance of the stars. To this we must add, too, a certain degree of uncertainty connected with these matters, that is universally admitted; thus, for instance, bad and wintry weather will often precede, by several days, the proper period for the advent of that season, a state of things known to the Greeks as προχειμάζειν;410 while at another time, it will last longer than usual, a state of circumstances known as ἐπιχειμάζειν.411 The effects, too, of the changes that take place in the seasons will sometimes be felt later, and at other times earlier, upon their reaching the face of the earth; and we not unfrequently hear the remark made, upon the return of fine weather, that the action of such and such a constellation is now completed.412 And then, again, as all these phænomena depend upon certain stars, arranged and regulated in the vault of heaven, we find intervening, in accordance with the movements; of certain stars, hailstorms and showers, themselves productive of no slight results, as we have already observed,413 and apt to interfere with the anticipated regular recurrence of the seasons. Nor are we to suppose that these disappointments fall upon the human race only, for other animated beings, as well as ourselves,75 are deceived in regard to them, although endowed with even a greater degree of sagacity upon these points than we are, from the fact of their very existence depending so materially upon them. Hence it is, that we sometimes see the summer birds killed by too late or too early cold, and the winter birds by heat coming out of the usual season. It is for this reason, that Virgil414 has recommended us to study the courses of the planets, and has particularly warned us to watch the passage of the cold star Saturn.

There are some who look upon the appearance of the butterfly as the surest sign of spring, because of the extreme delicacy of that insect. In this present year,415 however, in which I am penning these lines, it has been remarked that the flights of butterflies have been killed three several times, by as many returns of the cold; while the foreign birds, which brought us by the sixth of the calends of February416 every indication of an early spring, after that had to struggle against a winter of the greatest severity. In treating of these matters, we have to meet a twofold difficulty: first of all, we have to ascertain whether or not the celestial phænomena are regulated by certain laws, and then we have to seek how to reconcile those laws with apparent facts. We must, however, be more particularly careful to take into account the convexity of the earth, and the differences of situation in the localities upon the face of the globe; for hence it is, that the same constellation shows itself to different nations at different times, the result being, that its influence is by no means perceptible everywhere at the same moment. This difficulty has been considerably enhanced, too, by various authors, who, after making their observations in different localities, and indeed, in some instances, in the same locality, have yet given us varying or contradictory results.

There have been three great schools of astronomy, the Chaldæan, the Ægyptian, and the Grecian. To these has been added a fourth school, which was established by the Dictator Cæsar among ourselves, and to which was entrusted the duty of regulating the year in conformity with the sun’s revolution,417 under the auspices of Sosigenes, an astronomer of considerable learning and skill. His theory, too, upon the discovery of certain errors, has since been corrected, no intercalations having76 been made for twelve418 successive years, upon its being found that the year which before had anticipated the constellations, was now beginning to fall behind them. Even Sosigenes himself, too, though more correct than his predecessors, has not hesitated to show, by his continual corrections in the three several treatises which he composed, that he still entertained great doubts on the subject. The writers, too, whose names are inserted at the beginning of this work,419 have sufficiently revealed the fact of these discrepancies, the opinions of one being rarely found to agree with those of another. This, however, is less surprising in the case of those whose plea is the difference of the localities in which they wrote. But with reference to those who, though living in the same country, have still arrived at different results, we shall here mention one remarkable instance of discrepancy. Hesiod—for under his name, also, we have a treatise extant on the Science of the Stars420—has stated that the morning setting of the Vergiliæ takes place at the moment of the autumnal equinox; whereas Thales, we find, makes it the twenty-fifth day after the equinox, Anaximander the twenty-ninth, and Euctemon the forty-eighth.

As for ourselves, we shall follow the calculations made by Julius Cæsar,421 which bear reference more particularly to Italy; though at the same time, we shall set forth the dicta of various other writers, bearing in mind that we are treating not of an individual country, but of Nature considered in her totality. In doing this, however, we shall name, not the writers themselves, for that would be too lengthy a task, but the countries in reference to which they speak. The reader must bear in mind, then, that for the sake of saving space, under the head of Attica, we include the islands of the Cyclades as well; under that of Macedonia, Magnesia and Thracia; under that of Egypt,77 Phœnice, Cyprus, and Cilicia; under that of Bœotia, Locris, Phocis, and the adjoining countries; under that of Hellespont, Chersonesus, and the contiguous parts as far as Mount Athos; under that of Ionia, Asia422 and the islands of Asia; under that of Peloponnesus, Achaia, and the regions lying to the west of it. Chaldæa, when mentioned, will signify Assyria and Babylonia, as well.

My silence as to Africa,423 Spain, and the provinces of Gaul, will occasion no surprise, from the fact that no one has published any observations made upon the stars in those countries. Still, however, there will be no difficulty in calculating them, even for these regions as well, on reference being made to the parallels which have been set forth in the Sixth Book.424 By adopting this course, an accurate acquaintance may be made with the astronomical relations, not only of individual nations, but of cities even as well. By taking the circular parallels which we have there appended to the several portions of the earth respectively, and applying them to the countries in question, that are similarly situate, it will be found that the rising of the heavenly bodies will be the same for all parts within those parallels, where the shadows projected are of equal length. It is also deserving of remark, that the seasons have their periodical recurrences, without any marked difference, every four years, in consequence of the influence425 of the sun, and that the characteristics of the seasons are developed in excess every eighth year, at the revolution of every hundredth moon.

The whole of this system is based upon the observation of three branches of the heavenly phænomena, the rising of the constellations, their setting, and the regular recurrence of the seasons. These risings and settings may be observed in two different ways:—The stars are either concealed, and cease to be seen at the rising of the sun, or else present themselves to our view at his setting—this last being more generally known by the name of “emersion” than of “rising,” while their disappearance78 is rather an “occultation” than a “setting.”—Considered, again, in another point of view, when upon certain days they begin to appear or disappear, at the setting or the rising of the sun, as the case may be, these are called their morning or their evening settings or risings, according as each of these phænomena takes place at day-break or twilight. It requires an interval of three quarters of an hour at least before the rising of the sun or after his setting, for the stars to be visible to us. In addition to this, there are certain stars which rise and set twice.426 All that we here state bears reference, it must be remembered, to the fixed stars only.

The year is divided into four periods or seasons, the recurrence of which is indicated by the increase or diminution of the daylight. Immediately after the winter solstice the days begin to increase, and by the time of the vernal equinox, or in other words, in ninety days and three hours, the day is equal in length to the night. After this, for ninety-four days and twelve hours, the days continue to increase, and the nights to diminish in proportion, up to the summer solstice; and from that point the days, though gradually decreasing, are still in excess of the nights for ninety-two days, twelve hours, until the autumnal equinox. At this period the days are of equal length with the nights, and after it they continue to decrease inversely to the nights until the winter solstice, a period of eighty-eight days and three hours. In all these calculations, it must be remembered, equinoctial427 hours are spoken of, and not those measured arbitrarily in reference to the length of any one day in particular. All these seasons, too, commence at the eighth degree of the signs of the Zodiac. The winter solstice begins at the eighth degree of Capricorn, the eighth428 day before the calends of January, in general;429 the vernal equinox at the eighth degree of Aries; the summer solstice, at the eighth degree of Cancer; and the autumnal equinox at the eighth degree of Libra: and it is rarely that79 these days do not respectively give some indication of a change in the weather.

These four seasons again, are subdivided, each of them, into two equal parts. Thus, for instance, between the summer solstice and the autumnal equinox, the setting of the Lyre,430 on the forty-sixth day, indicates the beginning of autumn; between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice, the morning setting of the Vergiliæ, on the forty-fourth day, denotes the beginning of winter; between the winter solstice and the vernal equinox, the prevalence of the west winds on the forty-fifth day, denotes the commencement of spring; and between the vernal equinox and the summer solstice, the morning rising of the Vergiliæ, on the forty-eighth day, announces the commencement of summer. We shall here make seed-time, or in other words, the morning setting of the Vergiliæ, our starting-point;431 and shall not interrupt the thread of our explanation by making any mention of the minor constellations, as such a course would only augment the difficulties that already exist. It is much about this period that the stormy constellation of Orion departs, after traversing a large portion of the heavens.432

Most persons anticipate the proper time for sowing, and begin to put in the corn immediately after the eleventh day of the autumnal equinox, at the rising of the Crown, when we may reckon, almost to a certainty, upon several days of rainy weather in succession. Xenophon433 is of opinion, that sowing should not be commenced until the Deity has given us the signal for it, a term by which Cicero understands the rains that prevail in November. The true method to be adopted, however, is not to sow until the leaves begin to fall. Some persons are of opinion that this takes place at the setting of the80 Vergiliæ, or the third day before the ides of November, as already stated,434 and they carefully observe it, for it is a constellation very easily remarked in the heavens, and warns us to resume our winter clothes.435 Hence it is, that immediately on its setting, the approach of winter is expected, and care is taken by those who are on their guard against the exorbitant charges of the shop-keepers, to provide themselves with an appropriate dress. If the Vergiliæ set with cloudy weather, it forebodes a rainy winter, and the prices of cloaks436 immediately rise; but if, on the other hand, the weather is clear at that period, a sharp winter is to be expected, and then the price of garments of other descriptions is sure to go up. But as to the husbandman, unacquainted as he is with the phænomena of the heavens, his brambles are to him in place of constellations, and if he looks at the ground he sees it covered with their leaves. This fall of the leaves, earlier in one place and later in another, is a sure criterion of the temperature of the weather; for there is a great affinity between the effects produced by the weather in this respect, and the nature of the soil and climate. There is this peculiar advantage, too, in the careful observation of these effects, that they are sure to be perceptible throughout the whole earth, while at the same time they have certain features which are peculiar to each individual locality.—A person may perhaps be surprised at this, who does not bear in mind that the herb pennyroyal,437 which is hung up in our larders, always blossoms on the day of the winter solstice; so firmly resolved is Nature that nothing shall remain concealed from us, and in that spirit has given us the fall of the leaf as the signal for sowing.

Such is the true method of interpreting all these phænomena, granted to us by Nature as a manifestation of her will. It is in this way that she warns us to prepare the ground, makes us a promise of a manure, as it were, in the fall of the leaves, announces to us that the earth and the productions thereof are thus protected by her against the cold, and warns us to hasten the operations of agriculture.

Varro438 has given no other sign but this439 for our guidance in sowing the bean. Some persons are of opinion that it should be sown at full moon, the lentil between the twenty-fifth and thirtieth day of the moon, and the vetch on the same days of the moon; and they assure us that if this is done they will be exempt from the attacks of slugs. Some say, however, that if wanted for fodder, they may be sown at these periods, but if for seed, in the spring. There is another sign, more evident still, supplied us by the marvellous foresight of Nature, with reference to which we will give the words employed by Cicero440 himself:

“The lentisk, ever green and ever bent
Beneath its fruits, affords a threefold crop:
Thrice teeming, thrice it warns us when to plough.”

One of the periods here alluded to, is the same that is now under consideration, being the appropriate time also for sowing flax and the poppy.441 With reference to this last, Cato gives the following advice: “Burn, upon land where corn has been grown, the twigs and branches which are of no use to you, and when that is done, sow the poppy there.” The wild poppy, which is of an utility that is quite marvellous, is boiled in honey as a remedy for diseases in the throat,442 while the cultivated kind is a powerful narcotic. Thus much in reference to winter sowing.

And now, in order to complete what we may call in some measure an abridgment of the operations of agriculture, it is as well to add that it will be a good plan at the same period to manure the roots of trees, and to mould up the vines—a single hand being sufficient for one jugerum. Where, too, the nature of the locality will allow it, the vines, and the trees upon which they are trained, should be lopped, and the soil turned up with82 the mattock for seed plots; trenches, too, should be opened out, and the water drained from off the fields, and the presses443 should be well washed and put away. Never put eggs beneath the hen between the calends of November444 and the winter solstice:445 during all the summer and up to the calends of November, you may put thirteen under the hen; but the number must be smaller in winter, not less than nine, however. Democritus is of opinion, that the winter will turn out of the same character446 as the weather on the day of the winter solstice and the three succeeding days; the same too with the summer and the weather at the summer solstice. About the winter solstice, for about twice seven days mostly, while the halcyon447 is sitting, the winds are lulled, and the weather serene;448 but in this case, as in all others, the influence of the stars must only be judged of by the result, and we must not expect the changes of the weather, as if out upon their recognizances,449 to make their appearance exactly on certain predetermined days.

Be careful never to touch the vine at the winter solstice. Hyginus recommends us to strain and even rack-off wine at the seventh day after the winter solstice, provided the moon is seven days old. About this period, also, the cherry-tree, he says, should be planted. Acorns, too, should now be put in soak for the oxen, a modius for each pair. If given in larger quantities, this food will prove injurious to their health; and whenever it is given, if they are fed with it for less than thirty days in succession, an attack of scab in the spring, it is said, will be sure to make you repent.

This, too, is the period that we have already assigned450 for cutting timber—other kinds of work, again, may be found for the hours of the night, which are then so greatly prolonged. There are baskets, hurdles, and panniers to be woven, and wood83 to be cut for torches: squared stays451 for the vine may be prepared, too, thirty in the day time, and if rounded,452 as many as sixty. In the long hours of the evening, too, some five squared stays, or ten rounded ones may be got ready, and the same number while the day is breaking.

Between the winter solstice and the period when the west winds begin to prevail, the following, according to Cæsar, are the more important signs afforded by the constellations: the Dog sets in the morning, upon the third453 day before the calends of January; a day on the evening of which the Eagle sets to the people of Attica and the adjoining countries. On the day before454 the nones of January, according to Cæsar’s computation, the Dolphin rises in the morning, and on the next day, the Lyre, upon the evening of which the Arrow sets to the people of Egypt. Upon the sixth455 day before the ides of January, the Dolphin sets in the evening, and Italy has many days of continuous cold; the same is the case also when the sun enters Aquarius, about the sixteenth456 day before the calends of February. On the eighth457 before the calends of February, the star which Tubero calls the Royal Star458 sets in the morning in the breast of Leo, and in the evening of the day before459 the nones of February, the Lyre sets.

During the latter days of this period, whenever the nature of the weather will allow of it, the ground should be turned up with a double mattock, for planting the rose and the vine—sixty men to a jugerum. Ditches, too, should be cleaned out, or new ones made; and the time of day-break may be usefully employed in sharpening iron tools, fitting on handles, repairing such dolia460 as may have been broken, and rubbing up and cleaning their staves.

Between the prevalence of the west winds and the vernal equinox, the fourteenth day before461 the calends of March, according to Cæsar, announces three days of changeable weather; the same is the case, too, with the eighth462 before the calends of March, at the first appearance of the swallow, Arcturus rising on the evening of the next day. Cæsar has observed, that the same takes place on the third463 before the nones of March, at the rising of Cancer; and most authorities say the same with reference to the emersion of the Vintager.464 On the eighth465 before the ides of March, the northern limb of Pisces466 rises, and on the next day Orion, at which period also, in Attica, the Kite is first seen. Cæsar has noted, too, the setting of Scorpio on the ides of March,467 a day that was so fatal to him; and on the fifteenth468 before the calends of April, the Kite appears in Italy. On the twelfth469 before the calends of April, the Horse sets in the morning.

This interval of time is a period of extreme activity for the agriculturist, and affords him a great number of occupations, in reference to which, however, he is extremely liable to be deceived. He is summoned to the commencement of these labours, not upon the day on which the west winds ought to begin, but upon the day on which they really do begin, to blow. This moment then must be looked for with the most careful attention, as it is a signal which the Deity has vouchsafed us in this month, attended with no doubts or equivocations, if only looked for with scrupulous care. We have already stated in the Second Book,470 the quarter in which this wind blows, and the exact point from which it comes, and before long we shall have occasion to speak of it again still more in detail.

In the mean time, however, setting out from the day, whatever85 it may happen to be, on which the west winds begin to prevail (for it is not always on the seventh before the ides of February471 that they do begin), whether, in fact, they begin to blow before the usual time, as is the case with an early spring, or whether after, which generally happens when the winter is prolonged—there are subjects innumerable to engage the attention of the agriculturist, and those, of course, should be the first attended to, which will admit of no delay. Three month wheat must now be sown, the vine pruned in the way we have already472 described, the olive carefully attended to, fruit-trees put in and grafted, vineyards cleaned and hoed, seedlings laid out, and replaced in the nursery by others, the reed, the willow, and the broom planted and lopped, and the elm, the poplar, and the plane planted in manner already mentioned. At this period, also, the crops of corn ought to be weeded,473 and the winter kinds, spelt more particularly, well hoed. In doing this, there is a certain rule to be observed, the proper moment being when four blades have made their appearance, and with the bean this should never be done until three leaves have appeared above ground; even then, however, it is a better plan to clean them only with a slight hoeing, in preference to digging up the ground—but in no case should they ever be touched the first fifteen days of their blossom. Barley must never be hoed except when it is quite dry: take care, too, to have all the pruning done by the vernal equinox. Four men will be sufficient for pruning a jugerum of vineyard, and each hand will be able to train fifteen vines to their trees.474

At this period, too, attention should be paid to the gardens and rose-beds, subjects which will be separately treated of in succeeding Books; due care should be given to ornamental gardening as well. It is now, too, the very best time for making ditches. The ground should now be opened for future purposes, as we find recommended by Virgil475 in particular, in order that the sun may thoroughly warm the clods. It is a piece of even more sound advice, which recommends us to plough no lands in the middle of spring but those of middling quality; for if this is done with a rich soil, weeds will be sure to spring up in the furrows immediately; and if, on the86 other hand, it is a thin, meagre land, as soon as the heat comes on, it will be dried up, and so lose all the moisture which should be reserved to nourish the seed when sown. It is a much better plan, beyond a doubt, to plough such soils as these in autumn.

Cato476 lays down the following rules for the operations of spring. “Ditches,” he says, “should be dug in the seed-plots, vines should be grafted, and the elm, the fig, the olive, and other fruit-trees planted in dense and humid soils. Such meadows477 as are not irrigated, must be manured in a dry moon, protected from the western blasts, and carefully cleaned: noxious weeds must be rooted up, fig-trees cleared, new seed-plots made, and the old ones dressed: all this should be done before you begin to hoe the vineyard. When the pear is in blossom, too, you should begin to plough, where it is a meagre gravelly soil. When you have done all this, you may plough the more heavy, watery soils, doing this the last of all.”

The proper time for ploughing, then,478 is denoted by these two signs, the earliest fruit of the lentisk479 making its appearance, and the blossoming of the pear. There is a third sign however, as well, the flowering of the squill among the bulbous,480 and of the narcissus among the garland, plants. For both the squill and the narcissus, as well as the lentisk, flower three times, denoting by their first flowering the first period for ploughing, by the second flowering the second, and by the third flowering the last; in this way it is that one thing affords hints for another. There is one precaution, too, that is by no means the least important among them all, not to let ivy touch the bean while in blossom; for at this period the ivy is noxious481 to it, and most baneful in its effects. Some plants, again afford certain signs which bear reference more particularly to themselves, the fig for instance; when a few leaves only are found shooting from the summit, like a cup in shape, then it is more particularly that the fig-tree should be planted.

The vernal equinox appears to end on the eighth482 day before87 the calends of April. Between the equinox and the morning rising of the Vergiliæ, the calends483 of April announce, according to Cæsar, [stormy weather].484 Upon the third485 before the nones of April, the Vergiliæ set in the evening in Attica, and the day after in Bœotia, but according to Cæsar and the Chaldæans, upon the nones.486 In Egypt, at this time, Orion and his Sword begin to set. According to Cæsar, the setting of Libra on the sixth before487 the ides of April announces rain. On the fourteenth before488 the calends of May, the Suculæ set to the people of Egypt in the evening, a stormy constellation, and significant of tempests both by land and sea. This constellation sets on the sixteenth489 in Attica, and on the fifteenth, according to Cæsar, announcing four days of bad weather in succession: in Assyria it sets upon the twelfth490 before the calends of May. This constellation has ordinarily the name of Parilicium, from the circumstance that the eleventh491 before the calends of May is observed as the natal day of the City of Rome; upon this day, too, fine weather generally returns, and gives us a clear sky for our observations. The Greeks call the Suculæ by the name of “Hyades,”492 in consequence of the rain and clouds which they bring with them; while our people, misled by the resemblance of the Greek name to another word493 of theirs, meaning a “pig,” have imagined that the constellation receives its name from that word, and have consequently given it, in their ignorance, the name of “Suculæ,” or the “Little Pigs.”

In the calculations made by Cæsar, the eighth494 before the calends of May is a day remarked, and on the seventh495 before the calends, the constellation of the Kids rises in Egypt. On the sixth before496 the calends, the Dog sets in the evening in Bœotia and Attica, and the Lyre rises in the morning. On the fifth497 before the calends of May, Orion has wholly set88 to the people of Assyria, and on the fourth498 before the calends the Dog. On the sixth before499 the nones of May, the Suculæ rise in the morning, according to the calculation of Cæsar, and on the eighth before500 the ides, the She-goat, which announces rain. In Egypt the Dog sets in the evening of the same day. Such are pretty nearly the movements of the constellations up to the sixth before501 the ides of May, the period of the rising of the Vergiliæ.

In this interval of time, during the first fifteen days, the agriculturist must make haste and do all the work for which he has not been able to find time before the vernal equinox; and he should bear in mind that those who are late in pruning their vines are exposed to jibes and taunts, in imitation of the note of the bird of passage known to us as the cuckoo.502 For it is looked upon as a disgrace, and one that subjects him to well-merited censure, for that bird, upon its arrival, to find him only then pruning his vines. Hence it is, too, that we find those cutting jokes,503 of which our peasantry are the object, at the beginning of spring. Still, however, all such jokes are to be looked upon as most abominable, from the ill omens504 they convey.

In this way, then, we see that, in agricultural operations, the most trifling things are construed as so many hints supplied us by Nature. The latter part of this period is the proper time for sowing panic and millet; the precise moment, however, is just after the barley has ripened. In the case of the very same land, too, there is one sign that points in common both to the ripening of the barley and the sowing of panic and millet—the appearance of the glow-worm, shining in the fields at night. “Cicindelæ”505 is the name given by the country people to these flying stars, while the Greeks call them “lampyrides,”—another manifestation of the incredible bounteousness of Nature.

Nature had already formed the Vergiliæ, a noble group of89 stars, in the heavens; but not content with these, she has made others as well for the face of the earth, crying aloud, as it were:506 “Why contemplate the heavens, husbandman? Why, rustic, look up at the stars? Do not the nights already afford you a sleep too brief for your fatigues? Behold now! I scatter stars amid the grass for your service, and I reveal them to you in the evening, as you return from your work; and that you may not disregard them, I call your attention to this marvel. Do you not see how the wings of this insect cover a body bright and shining like fire, and how that body gives out light in the hours of the night even? I have given you plants to point out to you the hours, and, that you may not have to turn your eyes from the earth, even to view the sun, the heliotropium and the lupine have been made by me to move with his movements. Why then still look upwards, and scan the face of heaven? Behold, here before your very feet are your Vergiliæ; upon a certain day do they make their appearance, and for a certain time do they stay. Equally certain, too, it is that of that constellation they are the offspring. Whoever, then, shall put in his summer seeds before they have made their appearance, will infallibly find himself in the wrong.”

It is in this interval, too, that the little bee comes forth, and announces that the bean is about to blossom; for it is the bean in flower that summons it forth. We will here give another sign, which tells us when the cold is gone; as soon as ever you see the mulberry507 in bud, you have no occasion to fear any injury from the rigour of the weather.

It is the time, now, to put in cuttings of the olive, to clear away between the olive-trees, and, in the earlier days of the equinox, to irrigate the meadows. As soon, however, as the grass puts forth a stem, you must shut off the water from the fields.508 You must now lop the leafy branches of the vine, it being the rule that this should be done as soon as the branches have attained four fingers in length; one labourer will be sufficient for a jugerum. The crops of corn, too, should be hoed over again, an operation which lasts twenty days. It is generally thought, however, that it is injurious to both vine and corn to begin hoeing directly after the equinox. This is the proper time, too, for washing sheep.

90

After the rising of the Vergiliæ the more remarkable signs are, according to Cæsar, the morning rising of Arcturus, which takes place on the following day;509 and the rising of the Lyre on the third510 before the ides of May. The She-goat sets in the evening of the twelfth before511 the calends of June, and in Attica the Dog. On the eleventh512 before the calends of June, according to Cæsar, Orion’s Sword begins to appear; and, according to the same writer, on the fourth513 before the nones of June the Eagle rises in the evening, and in Assyria as well. On the seventh514 before the ides of June Arcturus sets in the morning to the people of Italy, and on the fourth515 before the ides the Dolphin rises in the evening. On the seventeenth516 before the calends of July Orion’s Sword rises in Italy, and, four days later, in Egypt. On the eleventh517 before the calends of July, according to Cæsar’s reckoning, Orion’s Sword begins to set; and the eighth518 before the calends of July, the longest day in the year, with the shortest night, brings us to the summer solstice.

In this interval of time the vine should be cleared of its superfluous branches, and care taken to give an old vine one turning up at the roots, a young tree two. Sheep, too, are sheared at this period, lupines turned up for manuring the land, the ground dug, vetches cut for fodder, and beans gathered in and threshed.

(28.) About the calends of June519 the meadows are mown; the cultivation of which, the one which is the easiest of all, and requires the smallest outlay, leads me to enter into some further details relative to it. Meadow lands should be selected in a rich, or else a moist or well-watered, soil, and care should be taken to drain the rain-water upon them from the high-road. The best method of ensuring a good crop of grass, is first to plough the land, and then to harrow it: but, before passing the harrow over it, the ground should be sprinkled with such seed as may have fallen from the hay in the hay-lofts and mangers. The land should not be watered, however, the first year,520 nor should cattle be put to graze upon it before91 the second hay-harvest, for fear lest the blade should be torn up by the roots, or be trodden down and stunted in its growth. Meadow land will grow old in time, and it requires to be renovated every now and then, by sowing upon it a crop of beans, or else rape or millet, after which it should be sown the next year with corn, and then left for hay the third. Care, too, should be taken, every time the grass is cut, to pass the sickle over the ground, and so cut the aftermath which the mowers have left behind; for it is a very bad plan to leave any of the grass and let it shed its seed there. The best crop for meadow land is trefoil,521 and the next best is grass;522 nummulus523 is the very worst of all, as it bears a pod which is particularly injurious; equisætis,524 too, which derives its name from its resemblance to horse-hair, is of a noxious character. The proper time for mowing grass is when the ear begins to shed its blossom and to grow strong: care must be taken to cut it before it becomes dry and parched. “Don’t mow your hay too late,” says Cato;525 “but cut it before the seed is ripe.” Some persons turn the water upon it the day before mowing, where it is practicable to do so. It is the best plan to cut hay in the night while the dews are falling.526 In some parts of Italy the mowing is not done till after harvest.

This operation, too, was a very expensive one in ancient times. In those days the only whetstones527 known were those of Crete and other places beyond sea, and they only used oil to sharpen the scythe with. For this purpose the mower moved along, with a horn, to hold the oil, fastened to his thigh. Italy has since furnished us with whetstones which are used with water, and give an edge to the iron quite equal to that imparted by the file; these water-whetstones, however, turn green very quickly. Of the scythe528 there are two varieties;92 the Italian,529 which is considerably shorter than the other, and can be handled among underwood even; and the Gallic, which makes quicker work530 of it, when employed on extensive domains, for there they cut the grass in the middle only, and pass over the shorter blades. The Italian mowers cut with one hand only. It is a fair day’s work for one man to cut a jugerum of grass, and for another to bind twelve hundred sheaves of four pounds each. When the grass is cut it should be turned towards the sun, and must never be stacked until it is quite dry. If this last precaution is not carefully taken, a kind of vapour will be seen arising from the rick in the morning, and as soon as the sun is up it will ignite to a certainty, and so be consumed. When the grass has been cut, the meadow must be irrigated again, for the purpose of ensuring a crop in the autumn, known to us as the “cordum,” or aftermath. At Interamna in Umbria the grass is cut four times531 a-year, and this although the meadows there are not irrigated,—in most places, three. After all this has been done, too, the pasturage of the land is found no less lucrative than the hay it has produced. This, however, is a matter of consideration for those more particularly who rear large herds of cattle, and every one whose occupation it is to breed beasts of burden, will have his own opinions upon the subject: it is found, however, the most lucrative of all by those whose business it is to train chariot-horses.

We have already stated532 that the summer solstice arrives at the eighth degree of Cancer, and upon the eighth day before533 the calends of July: this is an important crisis in the year, and of great interest to the whole earth. Up to this period from the time of the winter solstice the days have gone on increasing, and the sun has continued for six months making his ascension towards the north; having now surmounted the heights of the heavens, at this point he reaches the goal, and93 after doing so, commences his return towards the south; the consequence of which is, that for the next six months he increases the nights and subtracts from the length of the days. From this period, then, it is the proper time to gather in and store away the various crops in succession, and so make all due preparations for the rigour and severity of the winter.

It was only to be expected that Nature should point out to us the moment of this change by certain signs of an indubitable character; and she has accordingly placed them beneath the very hands of the agriculturist, bidding the leaves turn round534 upon that day, and so denote that the luminary has now run its course. And it is not the leaves of trees only that are wild and far remote that do this, nor have those persons who are on the look-out for these signs to go into devious forests and mountain tracts to seek them. Nor yet, on the other hand, are they to be seen in the leaves of trees only that are grown in the vicinity of cities or reared by the hand of the ornamental gardener, although in them they are to be seen as well. Nature upon this occasion turns the leaf of the olive which meets us at every step; she turns the leaf of the linden, sought by us, as it is, for a thousand purposes; she turns the leaf of the white poplar, too, wedded to the vine that grows upon its trunk. And still, for her, all this is not enough. “You have the elm,” she says, “reared for the support of the vine, and the leaf of that I will make to turn as well. The leaves of this tree you have to gather for fodder, the leaves of the vine you prune away. Only look upon them, and there you behold the solstice;535 they are now pointing towards a quarter of the heavens the reverse of that towards which they looked the day before. The twigs of the withy, that most lowly of trees, you employ for tying things without number. You are a head taller than it—I will make its leaves to turn round as well. Why complain, then, that you are but a rustic peasant? It shall be no fault of mine if you do not understand the heavens and become acquainted with the movements of the celestial bodies. I will give another sign, too, that shall address itself to your ear—only listen for the cooing of the ring-doves; and beware of supposing94 that the summer solstice is past, until you see the wood-pigeon sitting on her eggs.”

Between the summer solstice and the setting of the Lyre, on the sixth day before the calends of July,536 according to Cæsar’s reckoning, Orion rises, and upon the fourth537 before the nones of July, his Belt rises to the people of Assyria. Upon the morning of the same day, also, the scorching constellation of Procyon rises. This last constellation has no name with the Romans, unless, indeed, we would consider it as identical with Canicula,538 or Lesser Dog, which we find depicted among the stars; this last is productive of excessive heat, as we shall shortly have further occasion to state. On the fourth539 before the nones of July, the Crown sets in the morning to the people of Chaldæa, and in Attica, the whole of Orion has risen by that day. On the day before540 the ides of July, the rising of Orion ends to the Egyptians also; on the sixteenth541 before the calends of August, Procyon rises to the people of Assyria, and, the day but one after, of nearly all other countries as well, indicating a crisis that is universally known among all nations, and which by us is called the rising of the Dog-star; the sun at this period entering the first degree of Leo. The Dog-star rises on the twenty-third day after the summer solstice; the influence of it is felt by both ocean, and earth, and even by many of the animals as well, as stated by us elsewhere on the appropriate occasions.542 No less veneration, in fact, is paid to this star, than to those that are consecrated to certain gods; it kindles the flames of the sun, and is one great source of the heats of summer.

On the thirteenth543 day before the calends of August, the Eagle sets in the morning to the people of Egypt, and the breezes that are the precursors of the Etesian winds, begin to blow; these, according to Cæsar, are first perceived in Italy, on the tenth before544 the calends of August. The Eagle sets in the morning of that day to the people of Attica, and on the95 third before545 the calends of August, the Royal Star in the breast of Leo rises in the morning, according to Cæsar. On the eighth before546 the ides of August, one half of Arcturus has ceased to be visible, and on the third before547 the ides the Lyre, by its setting, opens the autumn,—according to Cæsar at least; though a more exact calculation has since shown, that this takes place on the sixth day before548 the ides of that month.

The time that intervenes between these periods is one that is of primary importance in the cultivation of the vine; as the constellation of which we have spoken, under the name of Canicula, has now to decide upon the fate of the grape. It is at this period that the grapes are said to be charred,549 a blight falling upon them which burns them away, as though red-hot coals had been applied to them. There is no hail that can be compared with this destructive malady, nor yet any of those tempests, which have been productive of such scarcity and dearth. For the evil effects of these, at the very utmost, are only felt in isolated districts, while the coal blight,550 on the other hand, extends over whole countries, far and wide. Still, however, the remedy would not be very difficult, were it not that men would much rather calumniate Nature, than help themselves. It is said that Democritus,551 who was the first to comprehend and demonstrate that close affinity which exists between the heavens and the earth, finding his laborious researches upon that subject slighted by the more opulent of his fellow-citizens, and presaging the high price of oil, which was about to result upon the rising of the Vergiliæ, (as we have already mentioned,552 and shall have to explain more fully hereafter), bought up all the oil in the country, which was then at a very low figure, from the universal expectation of a fine crop of olives; a proceeding which greatly surprised all who knew that a life of poverty and learned repose was so entirely the object of his aspirations. When, however, his motives had been fully justified by the result, and vast riches had flowed in upon him apace, he returned all his profits to the disappointed96 proprietors, whose avarice had now taught them to repent, thinking it quite sufficient to have thus proved how easy it was for him to acquire riches whenever he pleased. At a more recent period, again, Sextius,553 a Roman philosopher residing at Athens, made a similar application of his knowledge. Such, then, is the utility of science, the instruction provided by which it shall be my aim, as clearly and as perspicuously as possible, to apply to the various occupations of a country life.

Most writers have said that it is the dew, scorched by a burning sun, that is the cause of mildew554 in corn, and of coal blight in the vine; this, however, seems to me in a great measure incorrect, and it is my opinion that all blights result entirely from cold, and that the sun is productive of no injurious effects whatever. This, in fact, will be quite evident, if only a little attention is paid to the subject; for we find that the blight makes its appearance at first in the night time only, and before the sun has shone with any vigour. The natural inference is, that it depends entirely upon the moon, and more particularly as such a calamity as this is never known to happen except at the moon’s conjunction, or else at the full moon, periods at which the influence of that heavenly body is at its greatest height. For at both of these periods, as already555 stated by us more than once, the moon is in reality at the full; though during her conjunction she throws back to the heavens all the light which she has received from the sun. The difference in the effects produced by the moon at these two periods is very great, though at the same time equally apparent; for at the conjunction, that body is extremely hot in summer, but cold in winter; while, on the other hand, at the full moon, the nights are cold in summer, but warm in winter. The reason of this, although Fabianus and the Greek writers adopt another method of explaining it, is quite evident. During the moon’s conjunction in summer, she must of necessity move along with the sun in an orbit nearer to the earth, and so become warmed97 by the heat which she receives by reason of her closer vicinity to the sun. In winter, again, at the time of the conjunction, she is farther off from us, the sun being also removed to a greater distance. On the other hand, again, when the moon is at the full in summer, she is more remote from the earth, and in opposition with the sun; while, in winter, she approaches nearer to us at that period, by adopting the same orbit as at her conjunction in summer. Naturally humid herself, as often as from her position she is cold, she congeals to an unlimited extent the dews which fall at that period of the year.

But we ought always to bear in mind, more particularly, that there are two varieties of evils that are inflicted upon the earth by the heavens. The first of these, known by us under the name of “tempests,” comprehends hail-storms, hurricanes and other calamities of a similar nature; when these take place at the full moon, they come upon us with additional intensity. These tempests take their rise in certain noxious constellations, as already stated by us on several occasions, Arcturus, for instance, Orion, and the Kids.

The other evils that are thus inflicted upon us, supervene with a bright, clear sky, and amid the silence of the night, no one being sensible of them until we have perceived their effects. These dispensations are universal and of a totally different character from those previously mentioned, and have various names given to them, sometimes mildew, sometimes blast, and sometimes coal blight; but in all cases sterility is the infallible result. It is of these last that we have now to speak, entering into details which have not hitherto been treated of by any writer; and first of all we will explain the causes of them.

(29.) Independently of the moon, there are two principal causes of these calamities, which emanate more particularly from two quarters of the heavens of but limited extent. On the one hand, the Vergiliæ exercise an especial influence on our harvests, as it is with their rising that the summer begins, and with their setting, the winter; thus embracing, in the space of six months, the harvest, the vintage, and the ripening of all the vegetable productions. In addition to this, there is a circular tract in the heavens, quite visible to the human eye even, known98 as the Milky Way. It is the emanations from this, flowing as it were from the breast, that supply their milky556 nutriment to all branches of the vegetable world. Two constellations more particularly mark this circular tract, the Eagle in the north, and Canicula in the south; of this last, we have already made mention557 in its appropriate place. This circle traverses also Sagittarius and Gemini, and passing through the centre of the sun, cuts the equinoctial line below, the constellation of the Eagle making its appearance at the point of intersection on the one side, and Canicula on the other. Hence it is that the influences of both these constellations develope themselves upon all cultivated lands; it being at these points only that the centre of the sun is brought to correspond with that of the earth. If, then, at the moments of the rising and the setting of these constellations, the air, soft and pure, transmits these genial and milky emanations to the earth, the crops will thrive and ripen apace; but if, on the other hand, the moon, as already558 mentioned, sheds her chilling dews, the bitterness thereof infuses itself into these milky secretions, and so kills the vegetation in its birth. The measure of the injury so inflicted on the earth depends, in each climate, upon the combination of the one or other of these causes; and hence it is that it is not felt in equal intensity throughout the whole earth, nor even precisely at the same moment of time. We have already559 said that the Eagle rises in Italy on the thirteenth day560 before the calends of January, and the ordinary course of Nature does not permit us before that period to reckon with any degree of certainty upon the fruits of the earth; for if the moon should happen to be in conjunction at that time, it will be a necessary consequence, that all the winter fruits, as well as the early ones, will receive injury more or less.

The life led by the ancients was rude and illiterate; still, as will be readily seen, the observations they made were not less remarkable for ingenuity than are the theories of the present day. With them there were three set periods for gathering in the produce of the earth, and it was in honour of these periods that they instituted the festive days, known as the99 Robigalia,561 the Floralia, and the Vinalia. The Robigalia were established by Numa in the fortieth year of his reign, and are still celebrated on the seventh day before the calends of May, as it is at this period that mildew562 mostly makes its first attacks upon the growing corn. Varro fixes this crisis at the moment at which the sun enters the tenth degree of Taurus, in accordance with the notions that prevailed in his day: but the real cause is the fact, that thirty-one563 days after the vernal equinox, according to the observations of various nations, the Dog-star sets between the seventh and fourth before the calends of May, a constellation baneful in itself, and to appease which a young dog should first be sacrificed.564 The same people also, in the year of the City 513, instituted the Floralia, a festival held upon the fourth before565 the calends of May, in accordance with the oracular injunctions of the Sibyl, to secure a favourable season for the blossoms and flowers. Varro fixes this day as the time at which the sun enters the fourteenth degree of Taurus. If there should happen to be a full moon during the four days at this period, injury to the corn and all the plants that are in blossom, will be the necessary result. The First Vinalia, which in ancient times were established on the ninth before566 the calends of May, for the purpose of tasting567 the wines, have no signification whatever in reference to the fruits of the earth, any more than the festivals already mentioned have in reference to the vine and the olive; the germination of these last not commencing, in fact, till the rising of the Vergiliæ, on the Sixth day before568 the ides of100 May, as already mentioned on previous occasions.569 This, again, is another period of four days, which should never be blemished by dews, as the chilling constellation of Arcturus, which sets on the following day, will be sure to nip the vegetation; still less ought there to be a full moon at this period.

On the fourth before570 the nones of June, the Eagle rises again in the evening, a critical day for the olives and vines in blossom, if there should happen to be a full moon. For my part, I am of opinion that the eighth571 before the calends of July, the day of the summer solstice, must be a critical day, for a similar reason; and that the rising of the Dog-star, twenty-three days after the summer solstice, must be so too, in case the moon is then in conjunction; for the excessive heat is productive of injurious effects, and the grape becomes prematurely ripened, shrivelled, and tough. Again, if there is a full moon on the fourth before572 the nones of July, when Canicula rises to the people of Egypt, or at least on the sixteenth before573 the calends of August, when it rises in Italy, it is productive of injurious results. The same is the case, too, from the thirteenth day before574 the calends of August, when the Eagle sets, to the tenth before575 the calends of that month. The Second Vinalia, which are celebrated on the fourteenth576 before the calends of September, bear no reference to these influences. Varro fixes them at the period at which the Lyre begins its morning setting, and says that this indicates the beginning of autumn, the day having been set apart for the purpose of propitiating the weather: at the present day, however, it is observed that the Lyre sets on the sixth before577 the ides of August.

Within these periods there are exerted the sterilizing influences of the heavens, though I am far from denying that they may be considerably modified by the nature of the locality, according as it is cold or hot. Still, however, it is sufficient for me to have demonstrated the theory; the modifications of its results depending, in a great degree, upon attentive observation. It is beyond all question too, that either one of these two causes101 will be always productive of its own peculiar effects, the full moon, I mean, or else the moon’s conjunction. And here it suggests itself how greatly we ought to admire the bounteous provisions made for us by Nature; for, in the first place, these calamitous results cannot by any possibility befall us every year, in consequence of the fixed revolutions of the stars; nor indeed, when they do happen, beyond a few nights in the year, and it may be easily known beforehand which nights those are likely to be. In order, too, that we might not have to apprehend these injuries to vegetation in all the months, Nature has so ordained that the times of the moon’s conjunction in summer, and of the full moon in winter, with the exception of two days only at those respective periods, are well ascertained, and that there is no danger to be apprehended on any but the nights of summer, and those nights the shortest of all; in the day-time, on the other hand, there is nothing to fear. And then, besides, these phænomena may be so easily understood, that the ant even, that most diminutive of insects, takes its rest during the moon’s conjunction, but toils on, and that during the night as well, when the moon is at the full; the bird, too, called the “parra”578 disappears upon the day on which Sirius rises, and never reappears until that star has set; while the witwall,579 on the other hand, makes its appearance on the day of the summer solstice. The moon, however, is productive of no noxious effects at either of these periods, except when the nights are clear, and every movement of the air is lulled; for so long as clouds prevail, or the wind is blowing, the night dews never fall. And then, besides, there are certain remedies to counteract these noxious influences.

When you have reason to fear these influences, make bonfires in the fields and vineyards of cuttings or heaps of chaff, or else of the weeds that have been rooted up; the smoke580 will act as a good preservative. The smoke, too, of burning chaff will be an effectual protection against the effects of fogs, when likely to be injurious. Some persons recommend that three102 crabs should be burnt581 alive among the trees on which the vines are trained, to prevent these from being attacked by coal blight; while others say that the flesh of the silurus582 should be burnt in a slow fire, in such a way that the smoke may be dispersed by the wind throughout the vineyard.

Varro informs us, that if at the setting of the Lyre, which is the beginning of autumn, a painted grape583 is consecrated in the midst of the vineyard, the bad weather will not be productive of such disastrous results as it otherwise would. Archibius584 has stated, in a letter to Antiochus, king of Syria, that if a bramble-frog585 is buried in a new earthen vessel, in the middle of a corn-field, there will be no storms to cause injury.

The following are the rural occupations for this interval of time—the ground must have another turning up, and the trees must be cleared about the roots and moulded up, where the heat of the locality requires it. Those plants, however, which are in bud must not be spaded at the roots, except where the soil is particularly rich. The seed-plots, too, must be well cleared with the hoe, the barley-harvest got in, and the threshing-floor prepared for the harvest with chalk, as Cato586 tells us, slackened with amurca of olives; Virgil587 makes mention of a method still more laborious even. In general, however, it is considered sufficient to make it perfectly level, and then to cover it with a solution of cow-dung588 and water; this being thought sufficient to prevent the dust from rising.

The mode of getting in the harvest varies considerably. In the vast domains of the provinces of Gaul a large hollow frame,589 armed with teeth and supported on two wheels, is driven through the standing corn, the beasts being yoked590 behind it; the result being, that the ears are torn off and fall within the frame. In other countries the stalks are cut with the sickle in the middle, and the ears are separated by the aid of paddle-forks.591 In some places, again, the corn is torn up by the roots; and it is asserted by those who adopt this plan, that it is as good as a light turning up for the ground, whereas, in reality, they deprive it of its juices.592 There are differences in other respects also: in places where they thatch their houses with straw, they keep the longest haulms for that purpose; and where hay is scarce, they employ the straw for litter. The straw of panic is never used for thatching, and that of millet is mostly burnt; barley-straw, however, is always preserved, as being the most agreeable of all as a food for oxen. In the Gallic provinces panic and millet are gathered, ear by ear, with the aid of a comb carried in the hand.

In some places the corn is beaten out by machines593 upon the threshing-floor, in others by the feet of mares, and in104 others with flails. The later wheat is cut, the more prolific594 it is; but if it is got in early, the grain is finer and stronger. The best rule is to cut it before the grain hardens, and just as it is changing colour:595 though the oracles on husbandry say that it is better to begin the harvest two days too soon than two days too late. Winter and other wheat must be treated exactly the same way both on the threshing-floor and in the granary. Spelt, as it is difficult to be threshed, should be stored with the chaff on, being only disengaged of the straw and the beard.

Many countries make use of chaff596 for hay; the smoother and thinner it is, and the more nearly resembling dust, the better; hence it is that the chaff597 of millet is considered the best, that of barley being the next best, and that of wheat the worst of all, except for beasts that are hard worked. In stony places they break the haulms, when dry, with staves, for the cattle to lie upon: if there is a deficiency of chaff, the straw as well is ground for food. The following is the method employed in preparing it: it is cut early and sprinkled with bay salt,598 after which it is dried and rolled up in trusses, and given to the oxen as wanted, instead of hay. Some persons set fire to the stubble in the fields, a plan that has been greatly extolled by Virgil:599 the chief merit of it is that the seed of the weeds is effectually destroyed. The diversity of the methods employed in harvesting mainly depends upon the extent of the crops and the price of labour.

Connected with this branch of our subject is the method of storing corn. Some persons recommend that granaries should be built for the purpose at considerable expense, the walls105 being made of brick, and not less than three600 feet thick; the corn, they say, should be let in from above, the air being carefully excluded, and no windows allowed. Others, again, say that the granary should have an aspect in no direction but the north-east or north, and that the walls should be built without lime, that substance being extremely injurious601 to corn; as to what we find recommended in reference to amurca of olives, we have already mentioned it on a former602 occasion. In some places they build their granaries of wood, and upon pillars,603 thinking it the best plan to leave access for the air on every side, and from below even. Some persons think, however, that the grain diminishes in bulk if laid on a floor above the level of the ground, and that it is liable to ferment beneath a roof of tiles. Many persons say, too, that the grain should never be stirred up to air604 it, as the weevil is never known to penetrate beyond four fingers in depth; consequently, beyond that depth there is no danger. According to Columella,605 the west wind is beneficial to grain, a thing that surprises me, as that wind is generally a very parching606 one. Some persons recommend that, before housing the corn, a bramble-frog should be hung up by one of the hind legs at the threshold of the granary. To me it appears that the most important precaution of all is to house the grain at the proper time; for if it is unripe when cut, and not sufficiently firm, or if it is got in in a heated state, it follows of necessity that noxious insects will breed in it.

There are several causes which contribute to the preservation of grain; the outer607 coats in some kinds are more numerous, as in millet, for instance; the juices are of an oleaginous nature,608 and so supply ample moisture, as in sesame, for example; while in other kinds, again, they are naturally106 bitter,609 as in the lupine and the chicheling vetch. It is in wheat more particularly that insects breed, as it is apt to heat from the density of its juices, and the grain is covered with a thick bran. In barley the chaff is thinner, and the same is the case with all the leguminous seeds: it is for this reason that they do not ordinarily breed insects. The bean, however, is covered with a coat of a thicker substance; and hence it is that it ferments. Some persons sprinkle wheat, in order to make it keep the longer, with amurca610 of olives, a quadrantal to a thousand modii: others, again, with powdered Chalcidian or Carian chalk, or with worm-wood.611 There is a certain earth found at Olynthus, and at Cerinthus, in Eubœa, which prevents grain from spoiling. If garnered in the ear, grain is hardly ever found to suffer any injury.

The best plan, however, of preserving grain, is to lay it up in trenches, called “siri,” as they do in Cappadocia, Thracia, Spain, and at * * * in Africa. Particular care is taken to dig these trenches in a dry soil, and a layer of chaff is then placed at the bottom; the grain, too, is always stored in the ear. In this case, if no air is allowed to penetrate to the corn, we may rest assured that no noxious insects will ever breed in it. Varro612 says, that wheat, if thus stored, will keep as long as fifty years, and millet a hundred; and he assures us that beans and other leguminous grain, if put away in oil jars with a covering of ashes, will keep for a great length of time. He makes a statement, also, to the effect that some beans were preserved in a cavern in Ambracia from the time of King Pyrrhus until the Piratical War of Pompeius Magnus, a period of about two hundred and twenty years.

The chick-pea is the only grain in which no insect will breed while in the granary. Some persons place upon the heaps of the leguminous grains pitchers full of vinegar and coated with pitch, a stratum of ashes being laid beneath; and they fancy that if this is done, no injury will happen. Some, again, store them in vessels which have held salted provisions, with a coating of plaster on the top, while other persons are107 in the habit of sprinkling lentils with vinegar scented with laser,613 and, when dry, giving them a covering of oil. But the most effectual method of all is to get in everything that you would preserve from injury at the time of the moon’s conjunction; and hence it is of the greatest importance to know, when getting in the harvest, whether it is for garnering or whether for immediate sale. If cut during the increase of the moon, grain will increase in size.

In accordance with the ordinary divisions of the year, we now come to autumn, a period which extends from the setting of the Lyre to the autumnal equinox, and from that to the setting of the Vergiliæ and the beginning of winter. In these intervals, the more important periods are marked by the rising of the Horse to the people of Attica, in the evening of the day before614 the ides of August; upon which day also the Dolphin sets in Egypt, and, according to Cæsar, in Italy. On the eleventh615 before the calends of September, the star called the Vintager begins to rise in the morning, according to Cæsar’s reckoning, and to the people of Assyria: it announces the ripening of the vintage, a sure sign of which is the change of colour in the grape. On the fifth616 before the calends of September, the Arrow sets in Assyria, and the Etesian winds cease to blow: on the nones617 of September, the Vintager rises in Egypt, and in the morning of that day, Arcturus rises to the people of Attica: on the same morning, too, the Arrow sets. In the fifth before618 the ides of September, according to Cæsar, the She-Goat rises in the evening; and one half of Arcturus becomes visible on the day before619 the ides of September, being portentous620 of boisterous weather for five days, both by land and sea.

The theory relative to the effects produced by Arcturus, is stated in the following terms: if showers prevail, it is said, at the setting of the Dolphin, they will not cease so long as Arcturus is visible. The departure of the swallows may be108 looked upon as the sign of the rising of Arcturus; for if overtaken by it, they are sure to perish.

On the sixteenth day before621 the calends of October, the Ear of Corn, which Virgo holds, rises to the people of Egypt in the morning, and by this day the Etesian winds have quite ceased to blow. According to Cæsar, this constellation rises on the fourteenth622 before the calends, and it affords its prognostics to the Assyrians on the thirteenth. On the eleventh before623 the calends of October, the point of junction624 in Pisces disappears, and upon the eighth625 is the autumnal equinox. It is a remarkable fact, and rarely the case, that Philippus, Callippus, Dositheus, Parmeniscus, Conon,626 Criton, Democritus, and Eudoxus, all agree that the She-Goat rises in the morning of the fourth before627 the calends of October, and on the third628 the Kids. On the sixth day before629 the nones of October, the Crown rises in the morning to the people of Attica, and upon the morning of the fifth,630 the Charioteer sets. On the fourth before631 the nones of October, the Crown, according to Cæsar’s reckoning, begins to rise, and on the evening of the day after is the setting of the constellation of the Kids. On the eighth before632 the ides of October, according to Cæsar, the bright star rises that shines in the Crown, and on the evening of the sixth before633 the ides the Vergiliæ, rise. Upon the ides634 of October, the Crown has wholly risen. On the seventeenth before635 the calends of November, the Suculæ rise in the evening, and on the day before the calends, according to Cæsar’s reckoning, Arcturus sets, and the Suculæ636 rise with the sun. In the evening of the fourth day before637 the nones of November, Arcturus sets. On the fifth before638 the ides of November, Orion’s Sword begins to set; and on the third639 before the ides the Vergiliæ set.

109

In this interval of time, the rural operations consist in sowing rape and turnips, upon the days which have been mentioned on a previous occasion.640 The people in the country are of opinion, that it is not a good plan to sow rape after the departure of the stork; but for my own part, I am of opinion that it should be sown after the Vulcanalia, and the early kind at the same time as panic. After the setting of the Lyre, vetches should be sown, kidney-beans and hay-grass: it is generally recommended that this should be done while the moon is in conjunction. This, too, is the proper time for gathering in the leaves: it is fair work for one woodman, to fill four baskets641 in the day. If the leaves are gathered while the moon is on the wane, they will not decay; they ought not to be dry, however, when gathered.

The ancients were of opinion, that the vintage is never ripe before the equinox; but at the present day I find that it is gathered in before that period; it will be as well, therefore, to give the signs and indications by which the proper moment may be exactly ascertained. The rules for getting in the vintage are to the following effect: Never gather the grape in a heated state,642 or in other words, when the weather is dry, and before the rains have fallen; nor ought it to be gathered when covered with dew,—or in other words, when dews have fallen during the night,—nor yet before the dews have been dispelled by the sun. Commence the vintage when the bearing-shoots begin to recline upon the stem, or when, after a grape is removed from the bunch, the space left empty is not filled up; this being a sure proof that the berry has ceased to increase in size. It is of the greatest consequence to the grape, that it should be gathered while the moon is on the increase. Each pressing should fill twenty culei,643 that being the fair proportion. To fill twenty culei and vats644 from twenty jugera of vineyard, a single press will be enough. In pressing the grape, some persons use a single press-board, but it is a better plan110 to employ two, however large the single ones may be. It is the length of them that is of the greatest consequence, and not the thickness: if wide, however, they press the fruit all the better. The ancients used to screw down the press-boards with ropes and leather thongs, worked by levers. Within the last hundred years the Greek press has been invented, with thick spiral grooves running down the645 stem. To this stem there are spokes attached, which project like the rays of a star, and by means of which the stem is made to lift a box filled with stones—a method that is very highly approved of. It is only within the last two-and-twenty years, that a plan has been discovered of employing smaller press-boards, and a less unwieldy press: to effect this, the height has been reduced, and the stem of the screw placed in the middle, the whole pressure being concentrated upon broad planks646 placed over the grapes, which are covered also with heavy weights above.

This is the proper time for gathering fruit; the best moment for doing so is when it has begun to fall through ripeness, and not from the effects of the weather. This is the season, too, for extracting the lees of wine, and for boiling defrutum:647 this last must be done on a night when there is no moon, or if it is a full moon, in the day-time. At other times of the year, it must be done either before the moon has risen, or after it has set. The grapes employed for this purpose should never be gathered from a young vine, nor yet from a tree that is grown in a marshy spot, nor should any grapes be used but those that are perfectly ripe: the liquor, too, should never be skimmed with anything but a leaf,648 for if the vessel should happen to be touched with wood, the liquor, it is generally thought, will have a burnt and smoky flavour.

The proper time for the vintage is between the equinox and the setting of the Vergiliæ, a period of forty-four days. It is a saying among the growers, that to pitch wine-vessels after that day, in consequence of the coldness of the weather, is only so much time lost. Still, however, I have seen, before now persons getting in the vintage on the calends of January649111 even, in consequence of the want of wine-vessels, and putting the must into receivers,650 or else pouring the old wine out of its vessels, to make room for new liquor of a very doubtful quality. This, however, happens not so often in consequence of an over-abundant crop, as through carelessness, or else the avarice which leads people to wait for a rise in prices. The method that is adopted by the most economical managers, is to use the produce supplied by each year,651 and this, too, is found in the end the most lucrative mode of proceeding. As for the other details relative to wines, they have been discussed at sufficient length already;652 and it has been stated on a previous occasion,653 that as soon as the vintage is got in, the olives should at once be gathered, with other particulars relative to the olive after the setting of the Vergiliæ.

I shall now proceed to add some necessary information relative to the moon, the winds, and certain signs and prognostics, in order that I may complete the observations I have to make with reference to the sidereal system. Virgil654 has even gone so far, in imitation of Democritus, as to assign certain operations to certain days655 of the moon; but my sole object shall be, as, indeed, it has been throughout this work, to consult that utility which is based upon a knowledge and appreciation of general principles.

All vegetable productions are cut, gathered, and housed to more advantage while the moon is on the wane than while it is on the increase. Manure must never be touched except when the moon is on the wane; and land must be manured more particularly while the moon is in conjunction, or else at the first quarter. Take care to geld your boars, bulls, rams, and kids, while the moon is on the wane. Put eggs under the hen at a new moon. Make your ditches in the night-time, when the moon is at full. Cover up the roots of trees, while the moon is at full. Where the soil is humid, put in seed112 at the moon’s conjunction, and during the four days about that period. It is generally recommended, too, to give an airing to corn and the leguminous grains, and to garner them, towards the end of the moon; to make seed-plots when the moon is above the horizon; and to tread out the grape, to fell timber, and to do many other things that have been mentioned in their respective places, when the moon is below it.

The observation of the moon, in general, as already observed in the Second Book,656 is not so very easy, but what I am about here to state even rustics will be able to comprehend: so long as the moon is seen in the west, and during the earlier hours of the night, she will be on the increase, and one half of her disk will be perceived; but when the moon is seen to rise at sunset and opposite to the sun, so that they are both perceptible at the same moment, she will be at full. Again, as often as the moon rises in the east, and does not give her light in the earlier hours of the night, but shows herself during a portion of the day, she will be on the wane, and one half of her only will again be perceptible: when the moon has ceased to be visible, she is in conjunction, a period known to us as “interlunium.”657 During the conjunction, the moon will be above the horizon the same time as the sun, for the whole of the first day; on the second, she will advance upon the night ten-twelfths of an hour and one-fourth of a twelfth;658 on the third day, the same as on the second, and * * * so on in succession up to the fifteenth day, the same proportional parts of an hour being added each day. On the fifteenth day she will be above the horizon all night, and below it all day. On the sixteenth, she will remain below the horizon ten-twelfths of an hour, and one-fourth of a twelfth, at the first hour of the night, and so on in the same proportion day after day, up to the period of her conjunction; and thus, the same time which, by remaining under the horizon, she withdraws from the first part of the night, she will add to the end of the night by remaining above the horizon. Her revolutions, too, will occupy thirty days one month, and twenty-nine the next, and so on alternately. Such is the theory of the revolutions of the moon.

The theory of the winds659 is of a somewhat more intricate nature. After observing the quarter in which the sun rises on any given day, at the sixth660 hour of the day take your position in such a manner as to have the point of the sun’s rising on your left; you will then have the south directly facing you, and the north at your back: a line drawn through a field in this direction661 is called the “cardinal”662 line. The observer must then turn round, so as to look upon his shadow, for it will be behind him. Having thus changed his position, so as to bring the point of the sun’s rising on that day to the right, and that of his setting to the left, it will be the sixth hour of the day, at the moment when the shadow straight before him is the shortest. Through the middle of this shadow, taken lengthwise, a furrow must be traced in the ground with a hoe, or else a line drawn with ashes, some twenty feet in length, say; in the middle of this line, or, in other words, at the tenth foot in it, a small circle must then be described: to this circle we may give the name of the “umbilicus,” or “navel.” That point in the line which lies on the side of the head of the shadow will be the point from which the north wind blows. You who are engaged in pruning trees, be it your care that the incisions made in the wood do not face this point; nor should the vine-trees663 or the vines have this aspect, except in the climates of Africa,664 Cyrenæ, or Egypt. When the wind blows, too, from this point, you must never plough, nor, in fact, attempt any other of the operations of which we shall have to make mention.665

That part of the line which lies between the umbilicus and the feet of the shadow will look towards the south, and indicate the point from which the south wind666 blows, to which, as already mentioned,667 the Greeks have given the name of Notus. When the wind comes from this quarter, you, husbandman, must never fell wood or touch the vine. In Italy114 this wind is either humid or else of a burning heat, and in Africa it is accompanied with intense heat668 and fine clear weather. In Italy the bearing branches should be trained to face this quarter, but the incisions made in the trees or vines when pruned must never face it. Let those be on their guard against this wind upon the four669 days at the rising of the Vergiliæ, who are engaged in planting the olive, as well as those who are employed in the operations of grafting or inoculating.

It will be as well, too, here to give some advice, in reference to the climate of Italy, as to certain precautions to be observed at certain hours of the day. You, woodman, must never lop the branches in the middle of the day; and you, shepherd, when you see midday approaching in summer, and the shadow gradually decreasing, drive your flocks from out of the sun into some well-shaded spot. When you lead the flocks to pasture in summer, let them face the west before midday,670 and after that time, the east: if this precaution is not adopted, calamitous results will ensue; the same, too, if the flocks are led in winter or spring to pastures covered with dew. Nor must you let them feed with their faces to the north, as already mentioned;671 for the wind will either close their eyes or else make them bleared, and they will die of looseness. If you wish to have females,672 you should let the dams have their faces towards the north while being covered.

We have already stated673 that the umbilicus should be described in the middle of the line. Let another line be drawn transversely through the middle of it, and it will be found to run from due east to due west; a trench cut through the land in accordance with this line is known by the name of “decumanus.” Two other lines must then be traced obliquely across them in the form of the letter X, in such a way as to115 run exactly from right and left of the northern point to left and right of the southern one. All these lines must pass through the centre of the umbilicus, and all must be of corresponding length, and at equal distances. This method should always be adopted in laying out land; or if it should be found necessary to employ it frequently, a plan674 of it may be made in wood, sticks of equal length being fixed upon the surface of a small tambour,675 but perfectly round. In the method which I am here explaining, it is necessary to point out one precaution that must always be observed by those who are unacquainted with the subject. The point that must be verified first of all is the south, as that is always the same; but the sun, it must be remembered, rises every day at a point in the heavens different to that of his rising on the day before, so that the east must never be taken as the basis for tracing the lines.

Having now ascertained the various points of the heavens, the extremity of the line that is nearest to the north, but lying to the east of it, will indicate the solstitial rising, or, in other words, the rising of the sun on the longest day, as also the point from which the wind Aquilo676 blows, known to the Greeks by the name of Boreas. You should plant all trees and vines facing this point, but take care never to plough, or sow corn, or plant in seed plots, while this wind is blowing, for it has the effect of drying up and blasting the roots of the trees while being transplanted. Be taught in time—one thing is good for grown trees, another for them while they are but young. Nor have I forgotten the fact, that it is at this point of the heavens that the Greeks place the wind, to which they give the name of Cæcias; Aristotle, a man of most extensive learning, who has assigned to Cæcias this position, explains that it is in consequence of the convexity of the earth, that Aquilo blows in an opposite direction to the wind called Africus.

The agriculturist, however, has nothing to fear from Aquilo, in respect to the operations before mentioned, all the year through; for this wind is softened by the sun in the middle of116 the summer, and, changing its name, is known by that of Etesias.677 When you feel the cold, then, be on your guard; for, whatever the noxious effects that are attributed to Aquilo, the more sensibly will they be felt when the wind blows from due north. In Asia, Greece, Spain, the coasts of Italy, Campania, and Apulia, the trees that support the vines, as well as the vines themselves, should have an aspect towards the north-east. If you wish to have male produce, let the flock feed in such a way, that this wind may have the opportunity of fecundating the male, whose office it is to fecundate the females. The wind Africus, known to the Greeks by the name of Libs, blows from the south-west, the opposite point to Aquilo; when animals, after coupling, turn their heads towards this quarter,678 you may be sure that female produce has been conceived.

The third679 line from the north, which we have drawn transversely through the shadow, and called by the name of “decumanus,” will point due east, and from this quarter the wind Subsolanus blows, by the Greeks called Apeliotes. It is to this point that, in healthy localities, farm-houses and vineyards are made to look. This wind is accompanied with soft, gentle showers; Favonius, however, the wind that blows from due west, the opposite quarter to it, is of a drier nature; by the Greeks it is known as Zephyrus. Cato has recommended that olive-yards should look due west. It is this wind that begins the spring, and opens the earth; it is moderately cool, but healthy. As soon as it begins to prevail, it indicates that the time has arrived for pruning the vine, weeding the corn, planting trees, grafting fruit-trees, and trimming the olive; for its breezes are productive of the most nutritious effects.

The fourth680 line from the north, and the one that lies nearest the south on the eastern side, will indicate the point of the sun’s rising at the winter solstice, and the wind Volturnus, known by the name of Eurus to the Greeks. This wind is warm and dry, and beehives and vineyards, in the climates of Italy and the Gallic provinces, should face this quarter. Directly opposite to Volturnus, the wind Corus blows; it indicates the point of the sun’s setting at the summer solstice,117 and lies on the western side next to the north. By the Greeks it is called Argestes, and is one of the very coldest of the winds, which, in fact, is the case with all the winds that blow from the north; this wind, too, brings hailstorms with it, for which reason it is necessary to be on our guard against it no less than the north. If Volturnus begins to blow from a clear quarter of the heavens, it will not last till night; but if it is Subsolanus, it will prevail for the greater part of the night. Whatever the wind that may happen to be blowing, if it is accompanied by heat, it will be sure to last for several days. The earth announces the approach of Aquilo, by drying on a sudden, while on the approach of Auster, the surface becomes moist without any apparent cause.

Having now explained the theory of the winds, it seems to me the best plan, in order to avoid any repetition, to pass on to the other signs and prognostics that are indicative of a change of weather. I find, too, that this is a kind of knowledge that greatly interested Virgil,681 for he mentions the fact, that during the harvest even, he has often seen the winds engage in a combat that was absolutely ruinous to the improvident agriculturist. There is a tradition, too, to the effect that Democritus, already mentioned, when his brother Damasus was getting in his harvest in extremely hot weather, entreated him to leave the rest of the crop, and house with all haste that which had been cut; and it was only within a very few hours that his prediction was verified by a most violent storm. On the other hand, it is particularly recommended never to plant reeds except when rain is impending, and only to sow corn just before a shower; we shall therefore briefly touch upon the prognostics of this description, making enquiry more particularly into those among them that have been found the most useful.

In the first place, then, we will consider those prognostics of the weather which are derived from the sun.682 If the sun is bright at its rising, and not burning hot, it is indicative of fine118 weather, but if pale, it announces wintry weather accompanied with hail. If the sun is bright and clear when it sets, and if it rises with a similar appearance, the more assured of fine weather may we feel ourselves. If it is hidden in clouds at its rising, it is indicative of rain, and of wind, when the clouds are of a reddish colour just before sunrise; if black clouds are intermingled with the red ones, they betoken rain as well. When the sun’s rays at its rising or setting appear to unite, rainy weather may be looked for. When the clouds are red at sunset, they give promise683 of a fine day on the morrow; but if, at the sun’s rising, the clouds are dispersed in various quarters, some to the south, and some to the north-east, even though the heavens in the vicinity of the sun may be bright, they are significant of rain and wind. If at the sun’s rising or setting, its rays appear contracted, they announce the approach of a shower. If it rains at sunset, or if the sun’s rays attract the clouds towards them, it is portentous of stormy weather on the following day. When the sun, at its rising, does not emit vivid rays, although there are no clouds surrounding it, rain may be expected. If before sunrise the clouds collect into dense masses, they are portentous of a violent storm; but if they are repelled from the east and travel westward, they indicate fine weather. When clouds are seen surrounding the face of the sun, the less the light they leave, the more violent the tempest will be: but if they form a double circle round the sun, the storm will be a dreadful one. If this takes place at sunrise or sunset, and the clouds assume a red hue, the approach of a most violent storm is announced: and if the clouds hang over the face of the sun without surrounding it, they presage wind from the quarter from which they are drifting, and rain as well, if they come from the south.

If, at its rising, the sun is surrounded with a circle, wind may be looked for in the quarter in which the circle breaks; but if it disappears equally throughout, it is indicative of fine weather. If the sun at its rising throws out its rays afar through the clouds, and the middle of its disk is clear, there will be rain; and if its rays are seen before it rises, both rain and wind as well. If a white circle is seen round the sun at its setting, there will be a slight storm in the night; but if there119 is a mist around it, the storm will be more violent. If the sun is pale at sunset, there will be wind, and if there is a dark circle round it, high winds will arise in the quarter in which the circle breaks.

The prognostics derived from the moon, assert their right to occupy our notice in the second place. In Egypt, attention is paid, more particularly, to the fourth day of the moon. If, when the moon rises, she shines with a pure bright light, it is generally supposed that we shall have fine weather; but if she is red, there will be wind, and if of a swarthy684 hue, rain. If upon the fifth day of the moon her horns are obtuse, they are always indicative of rain, but if sharp and erect, of wind, and this on the fourth day of the moon more particularly. If her northern horn is pointed and erect, it portends wind; and if it is the lower horn that presents this appearance, the wind will be from the south; if both of them are erect, there will be high winds in the night. If upon the fourth day of the moon she is surrounded by a red circle, it is portentous of wind and rain.

In Varro we find it stated to the following effect:—“If, at the fourth day of the moon, her horns are erect, there will be great storms at sea, unless, indeed, she has a circlet685 around her, and that circlet unblemished; for by that sign we are informed that there will be no stormy weather before full moon. If, at the full moon, one half of her disk is clear, it is indicative of fine weather, but if it is red, of wind, and if black, of rain. If a darkness comes over the face of the moon, covered with clouds, in whatever quarter it breaks, from that quarter wind may be expected. If a twofold circle surrounds the moon, the storm will be more violent, and even more so still, if there are three circles, or if they are black, broken, and disjointed. If the new moon at her rising has the upper horn obscured, there will be a prevalence of rainy weather, when she is on the wane; but if it is the lower horn that is obscured, there will be rain before full moon; if, again, the moon is darkened in the middle of her disk, there will be rain when she is at full. If the moon, when full, has a circle round her, it indicates wind from the quarter in the circle which is the brightest; but if at her rising the120 horns are obtuse, they are portentous of a frightful tempest. If, when the west wind prevails, the moon does not make her appearance before her fourth day, there will be a prevalence of stormy weather throughout the month. If on the sixteenth day the moon has a bright, flaming appearance, it is a presage of violent tempests.”

There are eight different epochs of the moon, or periods at which she makes certain angles of incidence with the sun, and most persons only notice the prognostics derived from the moon, according to the places which they occupy between these angles. The periods of these angles are the third day, the seventh, the eleventh, the fifteenth, the nineteenth, the twenty-third, the twenty-seventh, and that of the conjunction.

In the third rank must be placed the prognostics derived from the stars. These bodies are sometimes to be seen shooting to and fro;686 when this happens, winds immediately ensue, in that part of the heavens in which the presage has been afforded. When the heavens are equally bright throughout their whole expanse, at the periods previously mentioned,687 the ensuing autumn will be fine and cool. If the spring and summer have passed not without some rain, the autumn will be fine and settled,688 and there will be but little wind: when the autumn is fine, it makes a windy winter. When the brightness of the stars is suddenly obscured, though without689 clouds or fog, violent tempests may be expected. If numerous stars are seen to shoot,690 leaving a white track behind them, they presage wind from that quarter.691 If they follow in quick succession from the same quarter, the wind will blow steadily, but if from various quarters of the heavens, the wind will shift in sudden gusts and squalls. If circles are seen to surround any of the planets, there will be rain.692 In the constellation121 of Cancer, there are two small stars to be seen, known as the Aselli,693 the small space that lies between them being occupied by a cloudy appearance, which is known as the Manger;694 when this cloud is not visible in a clear sky, it is a presage of a violent storm. If a fog conceals from our view the one of these stars which lies to the north-east, there will be high winds from the south; but if it is the star which lies to the south that is so obscured, then the wind will be from the north-east. The rainbow, when double, indicates the approach695 of rain; but if seen after rain, it gives promise, though by no means a certain one, of fine weather. Circular clouds around some of the stars are indicative of rain.

When, in summer, there is more thunder than lightning, wind may be expected from that quarter; but if, on the other hand, there is not so much thunder as lightning, there will be a fall of rain. When it lightens in a clear sky, there will be rain, and if there is thunder as well, stormy weather; but if it lightens from all four quarters of the heavens, there will be a dreadful tempest. When it lightens from the north-east only, it portends rain on the following day; but when from the north, wind may be expected from that quarter. When it lightens on a clear night from the south, the west, or the north-west, there will be wind and rain from those quarters. Thunder696 in the morning is indicative of wind, and at midday of rain.

When clouds are seen moving in a clear sky, wind may be expected in the quarter from which they proceed; but if they accumulate in one spot, as they approach the sun they will disperse. If the clouds are dispersed by a north-east wind, it is a presage of high winds, but if by a wind from the south, of rain. If at sunset the clouds cover the heavens on either side of the sun, they are indicative of tempest; if they are black and lowering in the east, they threaten rain in the night, but if in the west, on the following day. If the clouds spread in122 large numbers from the east, like fleeces of wool in appearance, they indicate a continuance of rain for the next three days. When the clouds settle on the summits of the mountains,697 there will be stormy weather; but if the clouds clear away, it will be fine. When the clouds are white and lowering, a hailstorm, generally known as a “white”698 tempest, is close at hand. An isolated cloud, however small,699 though seen in a clear sky, announces wind and storm.

Mists descending from the summits of mountains, or from the heavens, or settling in the vallies,700 give promise of fine weather.

Next to these are the prognostics that are derived from fire kindled upon the earth.701 If the flames are pallid, and emit a murmuring noise, they are considered to presage stormy weather; and fungi upon the burning wick of the lamp are a sign of rain.702 If the flame is spiral and flickering, it is an indication of wind, and the same is the case when the lamp goes out of itself, or is lighted with difficulty. So, too, if the snuff hangs down, and sparks gather upon it, or if the burning coals adhere703 to vessels taken from off the fire, or if the fire, when covered up, sends out hot embers or emits sparks, or if the cinders gather into a mass upon the hearth, or the coals burn bright and glowing.

There are certain prognostics, too, that may be derived from123 water. If, when the sea is calm, the water ripples in the harbour, with a hollow, murmuring noise, it is a sign of wind, and if in winter, of rain as well. If the coasts and shores re-echo while the sea is calm, a violent tempest may be expected; and the same when the sea, though calm, is heard to roar, or throws up foam and bubbling spray. If sea pulmones704 are to be seen floating on the surface, they are portentous of stormy weather for many days to come. Very frequently, too, the sea is seen to swell in silence, and more so than when ruffled by an ordinary breeze; this is an indication that the winds are at work within its bosom already.

The reverberations, too, of the mountains, and the roaring of the forests, are indicative of certain phænomena; and the same is the case when the leaves are seen to quiver,705 without a breath of wind, the downy filaments of the poplar or thorn to float in the air, and feathers to skim along the surface of the water.706 In champaign countries, the storm gives notice of its approach by that peculiar muttering707 which precedes it; while the murmuring that is heard in the heavens affords us no doubtful presage of what is to come.

The animals, too, afford us certain presages; dolphins, for instance, sporting in a calm sea, announce wind in the quarter from which they make their appearance.708 When they throw up the water in a billowy sea, they announce the approach of a calm. The loligo,709 springing out of the water, shell-fish adhering to various objects, sea-urchins fastening by their stickles upon the sand, or else burrowing in it, are so many indications124 of stormy weather: the same, too, when frogs710 croak more than usual, or coots711 make a chattering in the morning. Divers, too, and ducks, when they clean their feathers with the bill, announce high winds; which is the case also when the aquatic birds unite in flocks, cranes make for the interior, and divers712 and sea-mews forsake the sea or the creeks. Cranes when they fly aloft in silence announce fine weather, and so does the owlet,713 when it screeches during a shower; but if it is heard in fine weather, it presages a storm. Ravens, too, when they croak with a sort of gurgling noise and shake their feathers, give warning of the approach of wind, if their note is continuous: but if, on the other hand, it is smothered, and only heard at broken intervals, we may expect rain, accompanied with high winds. Jackdaws, when they return late from feeding, give notice of stormy weather, and the same with the white birds,714 when they unite in flocks, and the land birds, when they descend with cries to the water and besprinkle themselves, the crow more particularly. The swallow,715 too, when it skims along the surface of the water so near as to ripple it every now and then with its wings, and the birds that dwell in the trees, when they hide themselves in their nests, afford similar indications; geese, too, when they set up a continuous gabbling,716 at an unusual time, and the heron,717 when it stands moping in the middle of the sands.

Nor, indeed, is it surprising that the aquatic birds, or any birds, in fact, should have a perception of the impending125 changes of the atmosphere. Sheep, however, when they skip and frisk with their clumsy gambols,718 afford us similar prognostics; oxen, when they snuff upwards towards the sky, and lick719 themselves against the hair; unclean swine, when they tear to pieces the trusses of hay that are put for other animals;720 bees, when, contrary to their natural habits of industry, they keep close within the hive; ants, when they hurry to and fro, or are seen carrying forth their eggs; and earthworms,721 emerging from their holes—all these indicate approaching changes in the weather.

It is a well-known fact, that trefoil bristles up, and its leaves stand erect, upon the approach of a tempest.

At our repasts, too, and upon our tables, when we see the vessels sweat in which the viands are served, and leave marks upon the side-board,722 it is an indication that a dreadful storm is impending.

Summary.—Remarkable facts, narratives, and observations, two thousand and sixty.

Roman authors quoted.—Massurius Sabinus,723 Cassius Hemina,724 Verrius Flaccus,725 L. Piso,726 Cornelius Celsus,727 Turranius Gracilis,728 D. Silanus,729 M. Varro,730 Cato the Censor,731 Scrofa,732 the Sasernæ,733 father and son, Domitius Calvinus,734126 Hyginus,735 Virgil,736 Trogus,737 Ovid,738 Græcinus,739 Columella,740 Tubero,741 L. Tarutius,742 who wrote in Greek on the Stars, Cæsar743 the Dictator, who wrote upon the Stars, Sergius Paulus,744 Sabinus Fabianus,745 M. Cicero,746 Calpurnius Bassus,747 Ateius Capito,748 Mamilius Sura,749 Attius,750 who wrote the Praxidica.

Foreign authors quoted.—Hesiod,751 Theophrastus,752 Aristotle,753 Democritus,754 King Hiero,755 King Attalus Philometor,756 King Archelaüs,757 Archytas,758 Xenophon,759 Amphilochus760 of127 Athens, Anaxipolis761 of Thasos, Aristophanes762 of Miletus, Apollodorus763 of Lemnos, Antigonus764 of Cymæ, Agathocles765 of Chios, Apollonius766 of Pergamus, Aristander767 of Athens, Bacchius768 of Miletus, Bion769 of Soli, Chæreas770 of Athens, Chæristus771 of Athens, Diodorus772 of Priene, Dion773 of Colophon, Epigenes774 of Rhodes, Euagon775 of Thasos, Euphronius776 of Athens, Androtiou777 who wrote on Agriculture, Æschrion778 who wrote on Agriculture, Lysimachus779 who wrote on Agriculture, Dionysius780 who translated Mago, Diophanes781 who made an Epitome from Dionysius, Thales,782 Eudoxus,783 Philippus,784 Calippus,785 Dositheus,786 Parmeniscus,787 Meton,788 Criton,789128 Œnopides,790 Zenon,791 Euctemon,792 Harpalus,793 Hecatæus,794 Anaximander,795 Sosigenes,796 Hipparchus,797 Aratus,798 Zoroaster,799 Archibius.800

CHAP. 1.—THE NATURE OF FLAX—MARVELLOUS FACTS RELATIVE THERETO.

We have now imparted a knowledge801 of the constellations and of the seasons, in a method unattended with difficulty for the most ignorant even, and free from every doubt; indeed, to those who understand these matters aright, the face of the earth contributes in no less a degree to a due appreciation of the celestial phænomena, than does the science of astronomy to our improvement in the arts of agriculture.

Many writers have made it their next care to treat of horticulture; but, for my own part, it does not appear to me altogether advisable to pass on immediately to that subject, and, indeed, I am rather surprised to find that some among the learned, who have either sought the pleasures of knowledge in these pursuits, or have grounded their celebrity upon them, have omitted so many particulars in reference thereto; for no mention do we find in their writings of numerous vegetable productions, both wild as well as cultivated, many of which are found, in ordinary life, to be of higher value and of more extended use to man than the cereals even.

To commence, then, with a production which is of an utility that is universally recognized, and is employed not only upon dry land but upon the seas as well, we will turn our attention to flax,802 a plant which is reproduced from seed, but which can neither be classed among the cereals nor yet among the garden plants. What department is there to be found of active life in which flax is not employed? and in what production of the earth are there greater marvels803 revealed to us130 than in this? To think that here is a plant which brings Egypt in close proximity to Italy!—so much so, in fact, that Galerius804 and Balbillus,805 both of them prefects of Egypt, made the passage to Alexandria from the Straits of Sicily, the one in six days, the other in five! It was only this very last summer, that Valerius Marianus, a senator of prætorian rank, reached Alexandria from Puteoli in eight days, and that, too, with a very moderate breeze all the time! To think that here is a plant which brings Gades, situate near the Pillars of Hercules, within six days of Ostia, Nearer Spain within three, the province of Gallia Narbonensis within two, and Africa within one!—this last passage having been made by C. Flavius, when legatus of Vibius Crispus, the proconsul, and that, too, with but little or no wind to favour his passage!

What audacity in man! What criminal perverseness! thus to sow a thing in the ground for the purpose of catching the winds and the tempests, it being not enough for him, forsooth, to be borne upon the waves alone! Nay, still more than this, sails even that are bigger than the very ships themselves will not suffice for him, and although it takes a whole tree to make a mast to carry the cross-yards, above those cross-yards sails upon sails must still be added, with others swelling at the prow and at the stern as well—so many devices, in fact, to challenge death! Only to think, in fine, that that which moves to and fro, as it were, the various countries of the earth, should spring from a seed so minute, and make its appearance in a stem so fine, so little elevated above the surface of the earth! And then, besides, it is not in all its native strength that it is employed for the purposes of a tissue; no, it must first be rent asunder, and then tawed and beaten, till it is reduced to the softness of wool; indeed, it is only by such violence done to its nature, and prompted by the extreme audacity of man, and806 * * * that it is rendered subservient to his purposes. The inventor of this art has been131 already mentioned by us on a more appropriate occasion;807 not satisfied that his fellow-men should perish upon land, but anxious that they should meet their end with no sepulchral rites to await them, there are no execrations808 to be found that can equal his demerits!

It is only in the preceding Book809 that I was warning the agriculturist, as he values the grain that is to form our daily sustenance, to be on his guard against the storm and the tempest; and yet, here we have man sowing with his own hand, man racking his invention how best to gather, an object the only aspirations of which upon the deep are the winds of heaven! And then, too, as if to let us understand all the better how highly favoured is this instrument of our punishment, there is no vegetable production that grows with greater facility;810 and, to prove to us that it is in despite of Nature herself that it exists, it has the property of scorching811 the ground where it is grown, and of deteriorating the quality of the very soil itself.

Flax is mostly sown in sandy812 soils, and after a single ploughing only. There is no plant that grows more rapidly813132 than this; sown in spring,814 it is pulled up in summer, and is, for this reason as well, productive of considerable injury to the soil.815 There may be some, however, who would forgive Egypt for growing it, as it is by its aid that she imports the merchandize of Arabia and India; but why should the Gallic provinces base any of their reputation upon this product?816 Is it not enough, forsooth, for them to be separated by mountains from the sea, and to have, upon the side on which they are bounded by the Ocean, that void and empty space, as it is called?817 The Cadurci,818 the Caleti, the Ruteni,819 the Bituriges,820 and the Morini,821 those remotest of all mankind, as it is supposed, the whole of the Gallic provinces, in fact, are in the habit of weaving sail-cloth; and at the present day our enemies even, who dwell beyond the Rhenus, have learned to do the same; indeed, there is no tissue that is more beautiful in the eyes of their females than linen. I am here reminded of the fact, that we find it stated by M. Varro, that it is a custom peculiar to the family of the Serrani822 for the women never to wear garments of linen. In Germany it is in caves823 deep under-ground that the linen-weavers ply their work; and the same is the case, too, in the Alian territory, in Italy, between the rivers Padus and Ticinus, the linen of which holds the third rank among the kinds manufactured in Europe, that of Sætabis824 claiming the first, and those of Retovium825 and of Faventia,133 in the vicinity of Alia, on the Æmilian Way, the second, place in general estimation. The linens of Faventia are preferred for whiteness to those of Alia, which are always un-bleached: those of Retovium are remarkable for their extreme fineness, combined with substance, and are quite equal in whiteness to the linens of Faventia; but they have none of that fine downy nap826 upon them, which is so highly esteemed by some persons, though equally disliked by others. A thread is made, too, from their flax, of considerable strength, smoother and more even, almost, than the spider’s web; when tested with the teeth, it emits a sharp, clear twang; hence it is, that it sells at double the price of the other kinds.

But it is the province of Nearer Spain that produces a linen of the greatest lustre, an advantage which it owes to the waters of a stream which washes the city of Tarraco827 there. The fineness, too, of this linen is quite marvellous, and here it is that the first manufactories of cambric828 were established. From the same province, too, of Spain, the flax of Zoëla829 has of late years been introduced into Italy, and has been found extremely serviceable for the manufacture of hunting-nets. Zoëla is a city of Callæcia, in the vicinity of the Ocean. The flax, too, of Cumæ, in Campania, has its own peculiar merits in the manufacture of nets for fishing and fowling; it is employed, also, for making hunting-nets. For it is from flax, in fact, that we prepare various textures, destined to be no less insidious to the brute creation than they are to ourselves. It is with toils made from the flax of Cumæ that wild boars are taken, the meshes being proof against their bristles,830 equally with the edge of the knife: before now, too, we have seen some of these toils of a fineness so remarkable831 as to allow of being134 passed through a man’s ring, running ropes and all, a single individual being able to carry an amount of nets sufficient to environ a whole forest—a thing which we know to have been done not long ago by Julius Lupus, who died prefect of Egypt. This, however, is nothing very surprising, but it really is quite wonderful that each of the cords was composed of no less than one hundred and fifty threads. Those, no doubt, will be astonished at this, who are not aware that there is preserved in the Temple of Minerva, at Lindus, in the Isle of Rhodes, the cuirass of a former king of Egypt, Amasis by name, each thread employed in the texture of which is composed of three hundred and sixty-five other threads. Mucianus, who was three times consul, informs us that he saw this curiosity very recently, though there was but little then remaining of it, in consequence of the injury it had experienced at the hands of various persons who had tried to verify the fact. Italy, too, holds the flax of the Peligni in high esteem, though it is only employed by fullers; there is no kind known that is whiter than this, or which bears a closer resemblance to wool. That grown by the Cadurci832 is held in high estimation for making mattresses;833 which, as well as flock,834 are an invention for which we are indebted to the Gauls: the ancient usage of Italy is still kept in remembrance in the word “stramentum,”835 the name given by us to beds stuffed with straw.

The flax of Egypt, though the least strong836 of all as a tissue, is that from which the greatest profits are derived. There are four varieties of it, the Tanitic, the Pelusiac, the Butic, and the Tentyritic—so called from the various districts in which they are respectively grown. The upper part of Egypt, in the vicinity of Arabia, produces a shrub, known by some as “gossypium,”837 but by most persons as “xylon;” hence the135 name of “xylina,” given to the tissues that are manufactured from it. The shrub is small, and bears a fruit, similar in appearance to a nut with a beard, and containing in the inside a silky substance, the down of which is spun into threads. There is no tissue known, that is superior to those made from this thread, either for whiteness, softness, or dressing: the most esteemed vestments worn by the priests of Egypt are made of it. There is a fourth kind of tissue, known by the name of “othoninum,” which is made from a kind of marsh-reed,838 the panicule only being employed for the purpose. In Asia, again, there is a thread made from broom,839 which is employed in the construction of fishing-nets, being found to be remarkably durable; for the purpose of preparing it, the shrub is steeped in water for ten days. The Æthiopians, also, and the people of India, prepare a kind of thread from a fruit which resembles our apple, and the Arabians, as already840 mentioned, from gourds that grow upon trees.

In our part of the world the ripeness of flax is usually ascertained by two signs, the swelling of the seed, and its assuming a yellowish tint. It is then pulled up by the roots, made up into small sheaves that will just fill the hand, and hung to dry in the sun. It is suspended with the roots upwards the first day, and then for the five following days the heads of the sheaves are placed, reclining one against the other, in such a way that the seed which drops out may fall into the middle. Linseed is employed for various medicinal841 purposes, and it is used by the country-people of Italy beyond the Padus in a certain kind of food, which is remarkable for its sweetness:136 for this long time past, however, it has only been in general use for sacrifices offered to the divinities. After the wheat harvest is over, the stalks of flax are plunged in water that has been warmed in the sun, and are then submitted to pressure with a weight; for there is nothing known that is more light and buoyant than this. When the outer coat is loosened, it is a sign that the stalks have been sufficiently steeped; after which842 they are again turned with the heads downwards, and left to dry as before in the sun: when thoroughly dried, they are beaten with a tow-mallet on a stone.

The part that lies nearest to the outer coat is known by the name of “stuppa;” it is a flax of inferior quality, and is mostly employed for making the wicks of lamps. This, however, requires to be combed out with iron hatchels, until the whole of the outer skin is removed. The inner part presents numerous varieties of flax, esteemed respectively in proportion to their whiteness and their softness. Spinning flax is held to be an honourable843 employment for men even: the husks, or outer coats, are employed for heating furnaces and ovens. There is a certain amount of skill required in hatchelling flax and dressing it: it is a fair proportion for fifty pounds in the sheaf to yield fifteen pounds of flax combed out. When spun into thread, it is rendered additionally supple by being soaked in water and then beaten out upon a stone; and after it is woven into a tissue, it is again beaten with heavy maces: indeed, the more roughly it is treated the better it is.

There has been invented also a kind of linen which is incombustible by flame. It is generally known as “live”844 linen, and I have seen, before now, napkins845 that were made of it137 thrown into a blazing fire, in the room where the guests were at table, and after the stains were burnt out, come forth from the flames whiter and cleaner than they could possibly have been rendered by the aid of water. It is from this material that the corpse-cloths of monarchs are made, to ensure the separation of the ashes of the body from those of the pile. This substance grows846 in the deserts of India,847 scorched by the burning rays of the sun: here, where no rain is ever known to fall, and amid multitudes of deadly serpents, it becomes habituated to resist the action of fire. Rarely to be found, it presents considerable difficulties in weaving it into a tissue, in consequence of its shortness; its colour is naturally red, and it only becomes white through the agency of fire. By those who find it, it is sold at prices equal to those given for the finest pearls; by the Greeks it is called “asbestinon,”848 a name which indicates its peculiar properties. Anaxilaüs849 makes a statement to the effect that if a tree is surrounded with linen made of this substance, the noise of the blows given by the axe will be deadened thereby, and that the tree may be cut down without their being heard. For these qualities it is that this linen occupies the very highest rank among all the kinds that are known.

The next rank is accorded to the tissue known as “byssus,”850 an article which is held in the very highest estimation by females, and is produced in the vicinity of Elis, in Achaia.851 I find it stated by some writers that a scruple of this sold formerly138 at four denarii, the same rate, in fact, as gold. The downy nap of linen, and more particularly that taken from the sails of sea-going ships, is very extensively employed for medicinal purposes, and the ashes of it have the same virtues as spodium.852 Among the poppies, too,853 there is a variety which imparts a remarkable degree of whiteness to fabrics made of linen.

Attempts, too, have even been made to dye linen, and to make it assume the frivolous colours854 of our cloths. This was first done in the fleet of Alexander the Great, while sailing upon the river Indus; for, upon one occasion, during a battle that was being fought, his generals and captains distinguished their vessels by the various tints of their sails, and astounded the people on the shores by giving their many colours to the breeze, as it impelled them on. It was with sails of purple, too, that Cleopatra accompanied M. Antonius to the battle of Actium, and it was by their aid that she took to flight: such being the distinguishing mark of the royal ship.

In more recent855 times linens alone have been employed for the purpose of affording shade in our theatres; Q. Catulus having been the first who applied them to this use, on the occasion of the dedication by him of the Capitol. At a later period, Lentulus Spinther, it is said, was the first to spread awnings of fine linen856 over the theatre, at the celebration of the Games in honour of Apollo. After this, Cæsar,139 when Dictator, covered with a linen awning the whole of the Roman Forum, as well as the Sacred Way, from his own house as far as the ascent to the Capitol, a sight, it is said, more wonderful even than the show of gladiators which he then exhibited. At a still later period, and upon the occasion of no public games, Marcellus, the son of Octavia, sister of Augustus, during his ædileship, and in the eleventh consulship of his uncle, on the * * * day before the calends of August, covered in the Forum with awnings, his object being to consult the health of those assembled there for the purposes of litigation—a vast change, indeed, from the manners prevalent in the days of Cato the Censor, who expressed a wish that the Forum was paved with nothing else but sharp pointed stones.

Awnings have been lately extended, too, by the aid of ropes, over the amphitheatres of the Emperor Nero, dyed azure, like the heavens, and bespangled all over with stars. Those which are employed by us to cover the inner court857 of our houses are generally red: one reason for employing them is to protect the moss that grows there from the rays858 of the sun. In other respects, white fabrics of linen have always held the ascendancy in public estimation. Linen, too, was highly valued as early as the Trojan war; for why else should it not have figured as much in battles as it did in shipwrecks? Thus Homer,859 we find, bears witness that there were but few among the warriors of those days who fought with cuirasses860 on made of linen; while, as for the rigging of the ships, of which that writer speaks, it is generally supposed by the more learned among the commentators, that it was made of this material; for the word “sparta,”861 which he employs, means nothing more than the produce of a seed.

For the fact is that spartum862 did not begin to be employed140 till many ages after the time of Homer; indeed, not before the first war that the Carthaginians waged in Spain. This, too, is a plant that grows spontaneously,863 and is incapable of being reproduced by sowing, it being a species of rush, peculiar to a dry, arid soil, a morbid production confined to a single country only; for in reality it is a curse to the soil, as there is nothing whatever that can be sown or grown in its vicinity. There is a kind of spartum grown in Africa,864 of a stunted nature, and quite useless for all practical purposes. It is found in one portion of the province of Carthage865 in Nearer Spain, though not in every part of that; but wherever it is produced, the mountains, even, are covered all over with it.

This material is employed by the country-people there for making866 their beds; with it they kindle their fires also, and prepare their torches; shoes867 also, and garments for the shepherds, are made of it. As a food for animals, it is highly injurious,868 with the sole exception of the tender tops of the shoots. When wanted for other uses, it is pulled up by the roots, with considerable labour; the legs of the persons so employed being protected by boots, and their hands with gloves, the plant being twisted round levers of bone or holm-oak, to get it up with the greater facility. At the present day it is gathered in the winter, even; but this work is done with the least difficulty between the ides of May869 and those of June, that being the period at which it is perfectly ripe.

When taken up it is made into sheaves, and laid in heaps for a couple of days, while it retains its life and freshness; on the third day the sheaves are opened out and spread in the sun141 to dry, after which it is again made up into sheaves, and placed under cover. It is then put to soak in sea-water, this being the best of all for the purpose, though fresh water will do in case sea-water cannot be procured: this done, it is again dried in the sun, and then moistened afresh. If it is wanted for immediate use, it is put in a tub and steeped in warm water, after which it is placed in an upright position to dry: this being universally admitted to be the most expeditious method of preparing it. To make it ready for use, it requires to be beaten out. Articles made of it are proof, more particularly, against the action of fresh or sea-water; but on dry land, ropes of hemp are generally preferred. Indeed, we find that spartum receives nutriment even from being under water, by way of compensation, as it were, for the thirst it has had to endure upon its native soil.

By nature it is peculiarly well adapted for repairing, and however old the material may be, it unites very well with new. The person, indeed, who is desirous duly to appreciate this marvellous plant, has only to consider the numerous uses to which, in all parts of the world, it is applied: from it are made, the rigging of ships, various appliances of mechanism employed in building, and numerous other articles which supply the wants of daily life. To suffice for all these requirements, we find it growing solely on a tract of ground which lies upon the sea-line of the province of New Carthage, somewhat less than thirty miles in breadth by one hundred in length. The expense precludes its being transported to any very considerable distance.

The Greeks used formerly to employ the rush for making ropes; so, at least, we are led to believe, from the name870 given by them to that plant; and at a later period they made them, it is very clear, from the leaves of the palm, and the inner bark of the linden-tree. It seems to me very probable, too, that it was from them that the Carthaginians borrowed the first hint for applying spartum to a similar purpose.

Theophrastus871 informs us, that there is a kind of bulb, which142 grows on the banks of rivers, and which encloses between the outer coat and the portion that is eaten a sort of woolly substance, of which felt socks, and other articles of dress, are made; but, in the copies, those at least which have fallen in my way, there is no mention made of the country in which it grows, or of any details in connection with it, beyond the fact that the name given to it is “eriophoron.”872 As to spartum, he makes no873 mention of it whatever, although he has given the history, with the greatest exactness, of all the known plants, three hundred and ninety years before our time—a fact to which I have already874 alluded on other occasions: from this it would appear that spartum has come into use since his day.

As we have here made a beginning of treating of the marvels of Nature, we shall proceed to examine them in detail; and among them the very greatest of all, beyond a doubt, is the fact that any plant should spring up and grow without a root. Such, for instance, is the vegetable production known as the truffle;875 surrounded on every side by earth, it is connected with it by no fibres, not so much as a single thread even, while the spot in which it grows, presents neither protuberance nor cleft to the view. It is found, in fact, in no way adhering to the earth, but enclosed within an outer coat; so much so, indeed, that though we cannot exactly pronounce it to be composed of earth, we must conclude that it is nothing else but a callous876 concretion of the earth.

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Truffles generally grow in dry, sandy soils, and spots that are thickly covered with shrubs; in size they are often larger than a quince, and are found to weigh as much877 as a pound. There are two kinds of them, the one full of sand, and consequently injurious to the teeth, the other free from sand and all impurities. They are distinguished also by their colour, which is red or black, and white within; those of Africa878 are the most esteemed. Whether the truffle grows gradually, or whether this blemish of the earth—for it can be looked upon as nothing else—at once assumes the globular form and magnitude which it presents when found; whether, too, it is possessed of vitality or not, are all of them questions, which, in my opinion, are not easy to be solved. It decays and rots in a manner precisely similar to wood.

It is known to me as a fact, that the following circumstance happened to Lartius Licinius, a person of prætorian rank, while minister of justice,879 a few years ago, at Carthage in Spain; upon biting a truffle, he found a denarius inside, which all but broke his fore teeth—an evident proof that the truffle is nothing else but an agglomeration of elementary earth. At all events, it is quite certain that the truffle belongs to those vegetable productions which spring up spontaneously, and are incapable of being reproduced from seed.880

Of a similar nature, too, is the vegetable production known in the province of Cyrenaica by the name of “misy,”881 remarkable144 for the sweetness of its smell and taste, but more fleshy than the truffle: the same, too, as to the iton882 of the Thracians, and the geranion of the Greeks.

The following peculiarities we find mentioned with reference to the truffle. When there have been showers in autumn, and frequent thunder-storms, truffles are produced, thunder883 contributing more particularly to their developement; they do not, however, last beyond a year, and are considered the most delicate eating when gathered in spring. In some places the formation of them is attributed to water; as at Mytilene,884 for instance, where they are never to be found, it is said, unless the rivers overflow, and bring down the seed from Tiara, that being the name of a place at which they are produced in the greatest abundance. The finest truffles of Asia are those found in the neighbourhood of Lampsacus and Alopeconnesus; the best in Greece are those of the vicinity of Elis.

Belonging to the mushroom genus, also, there is a species, known to the Greeks by the name of “pezica,”885 which grows without either root or stalk.

Next to these, laserpitium886 claims our notice, a very remarkable145 plant, known to the Greeks by the name of “silphion,” and originally a native of the province of Cyrenaica. The juice of this plant is called “laser,” and it is greatly in vogue for medicinal as well as other purposes, being sold at the same rate as silver. For these many years past, however, it has not been found in Cyrenaica,887 as the farmers of the revenue who hold the lands there on lease, have a notion that it is more profitable to depasture flocks of sheep upon them. Within the memory of the present generation, a single stalk888 is all that has ever been found there, and that was sent as a curiosity to the Emperor Nero. If it so happen that one of the flock, while grazing, meets with a growing shoot889 of it, the fact is easily ascertained by the following signs; the sheep, after eating of it, immediately falls asleep, while the goat is seized with a fit of sneezing.890 For this long time past, there has been no other laser imported into this country, but that produced in either Persis, Media, or Armenia, where it grows in considerable abundance, though much inferior891 to that of Cyrenaica; and even then it is extensively adulterated with gum, sacopenium,892 or pounded beans. I ought the less then to146 omit the facts, that in the consulship893 of C. Valerius and M. Herennius, there was brought to Rome, from Cyrenæ, for the public service, thirty pounds’ weight of laserpitium, and that the Dictator Cæsar, at the beginning of the Civil War, took from out of the public treasury, besides gold and silver, no less than fifteen hundred pounds of laserpitium.

We find it stated by the most trustworthy among the Greek writers,894 that this plant first made its appearance in the vicinity of the gardens of the Hesperides and the Greater Syrtis, immediately after the earth had been soaked on a sudden by a shower as black as pitch. This took place seven years before the foundation of the city of Cyrenæ, and in the year of Rome 143. The virtues of this remarkable fall of rain extended, it is said, over no less than four thousand stadia of the African territory; and upon this soil laserpitium began universally to grow, a plant that is in general wild and stubborn, and which, if attempted to be cultivated, will leave the spot where it has been sown quite desolate and barren. The roots of it are numerous and thick, the stalk being like that of fennel-giant, and of similar thickness. The leaves of this plant were known as “maspetum,” and bore a considerable resemblance to parsley; the seeds of it were foliaceous, and the plant shed its leaves every year. They used to feed the cattle there upon it; at first it purged them, but afterwards they would grow fat, the flesh being improved in flavour in a most surprising degree. After the fall of the leaf, the people themselves were in the habit of eating895 the stalk, either roasted or boiled: from the drastic effects of this diet the body was purged for the first forty days, all vicious humours being effectually removed.896

The juices of this plant were collected two different ways, either from the root or from the stalk; in consequence of which these two varieties of the juice were known by the distinguishing names of “rhizias” and “caulias,”897 the last being of inferior quality to the other, and very apt to turn putrid. Upon147 the root there was a black bark, which was extensively employed for the purposes of adulteration. The juice of the plant was received in vessels, and mixed there with a layer of bran; after which, from time to time it was shaken, till it had reached a proper state of maturity; indeed, if this precaution was neglected, it was apt to turn putrid. The signs that it had come to maturity were its colour, its dryness, and the absorption of all humidity.

There are some authors, however, who state that the root of laserpitium was more than a cubit in length, and that it presented a tuberosity above the surface of the earth. An incision, they say, was made in this tuberosity, from which a juice would flow, like milk in appearance; above the tuberosity grew a stalk, to which they give the name of “magydaris;”898 the leaves that grew upon this stalk were of the colour of gold, and, falling at the rising of the Dog-star, when the south winds begin to prevail, they acted as seed for the purposes of reproduction. It was from these leaves, too, they say, that laserpitium899 was produced, the root and the stalk attaining their full growth in the space of one year. The same writers also state, that it was the practice to turn up the ground about the plant, and that it had no such effect as purging the cattle that were fed upon it; though one result of using it as food was, that such cattle as were ailing were either cured of their distempers, or else died immediately upon eating of it, a thing, however, that but rarely happened. The first description, however, is found to agree more nearly with the silphium that comes from Persis.

There is another900 variety of this plant, known as “magydaris,”901 of a more delicate nature, less active in its effects, and destitute of juice. It grows in the countries adjacent to Syria,902 but is not to be found in the regions of Cyrenaica. There148 grows also upon Mount Parnassus,903 in great abundance, a plant to which some persons give the name of “laserpitium:” by means of all these varieties, adulterations are effected of a production that is held in the highest esteem for its salutary qualities and its general usefulness. The chief proofs of its genuineness consist in its colour, which ought to be slightly red without, and when broken quite white and transparent within; the drops of it, too, should melt very rapidly on the application of spittle. It is extensively employed for medicinal purposes.904

There are two other plants also, which are but little known to any but the herd of the sordid and avaricious, and this because of the large profits that are derived from them. The first of these is madder,905 the employment of which is necessary in dyeing wool and leather. The madder of Italy is the most esteemed, and that more particularly which is grown in the suburbs of the City; nearly all our provinces, too, produce it in great abundance.906 It grows spontaneously, but is capable of reproduction by sowing, much after the same manner as the fitch. The stem,907 however, is prickly, and articulated, with five leaves arranged round each joint: the seed is red. Its medicinal properties we shall have occasion to mention in the appropriate place.908

The plant known to us by the name of “radicula,”909 is the149 second of these productions. It furnishes a juice that is extensively employed in washing wool, and it is quite wonderful how greatly it contributes to the whiteness and softness of wool. It may be produced anywhere by cultivation, but that which grows spontaneously in Asia and Syria,910 upon rugged, rocky sites, is more highly esteemed. That, however, which is found beyond the Euphrates has the highest repute of all. The stalk of it is ferulaceous911 and thin, and is sought by the inhabitants of those countries as an article of food. It is employed also for making unguents, being boiled up with the other ingredients, whatever they may happen to be. In leaf it strongly resembles the olive. The Greeks have given it the name of “struthion.” It blossoms in summer, and is agreeable to the sight, but entirely destitute of smell. It is somewhat thorny, and has a stalk covered with down. It has an extremely diminutive seed, and a large root, which is cut up and employed for the purposes already mentioned.

Having made mention of these productions, it now remains for us to return to the cultivation of the garden,912 a subject recommended by its own intrinsic merits to our notice: for we find that in remote antiquity, even, there was nothing looked upon with a greater degree of admiration than the gardens of the Hesperides,913 those of the kings Adonis914 and Alcinoüs,915150 and the Hanging Gardens, whether they were the work of Semiramis, or whether of Cyrus, king of Assyria, a subject of which we shall have to speak in another work.916 The kings of Rome cultivated their gardens with their own hands; indeed, it was from his garden that Tarquinius Superbus917 sent to his son that cruel and sanguinary message of his. In our laws of the Twelve Tables, we find the word “villa,” or “farm,” nowhere mentioned; it is the word “hortus” that is always used with that signification, while the term “heredium” we find employed for “garden.”

There are certain religious impressions, too, that have been attached to this species of property,918 and we find that it is in the garden and the Forum only that statues of satyrs are consecrated, as a protection against the evil effects919 of spells and sorcery; although in Plautus, we find the gardens spoken of as being under the tutelage of Venus. At the present day, under the general name of gardens,920 we have pleasure-grounds situate in the very heart of the City, as well as extensive fields and villas.

Epicurus, that connoisseur921 in the enjoyments of a life of ease, was the first to lay out a garden at Athens;922 up to his time it had never been thought of, to dwell in the country in the middle of the town. At Rome, on the other hand, the garden923 constituted of itself the poor man’s field, and it was from the garden that the lower classes procured their daily food—an aliment how guiltlessly obtained! But still, it is a great deal better, no doubt,924 to dive into the abysses of the151 deep, and to seek each kind of oyster at the risk and peril of shipwreck, to go searching for birds beyond the river Phasis925 even, which, protected as they are by the terrors invented by fable,926 are only rendered all the more precious thereby—to go searching for others, again, in Numidia,927 and the very sepulchres of Æthiopia,928 or else to be battling with wild beasts, and to get eaten one’s self while trying to take a prey which another person is to eat! And yet, by Hercules! how little do the productions of the garden cost us in comparison with these! How more than sufficient for every wish and for every want!—were it not, indeed, that here, as in every thing else, turn which way we will, we find the same grounds for our wrath and indignation. We really might be content to allow of fruits being grown of the most exquisite quality, remarkable, some of them for their flavour, some for their size, some, again, for the monstrosities of their growth, morsels all of them forbidden to the poor!929 We might allow of wines being kept till they are mellowed with age, or enfeebled by being passed through930 cloth strainers, of men, too, however prolonged their lives, never drinking any but a wine that is still older than themselves! We might allow of luxury devising how best to extract the very aroma, as it were, and marrow931 only from grain; of people, too, living upon nothing but the choicest productions of the confectioner, and upon pastes fashioned in fantastic shapes: of one kind of bread being prepared for the rich, and another for the multitude; of the yearly produce of the field being classified in a descending scale, till it reaches the humble means of the very lowest classes—but do we not find that these refined distinctions have been extended to the very herbs even, and that riches have contrived to establish points of dissimilarity in articles of food which ordinarily sell for a single copper coin?932

In this department even, humble as it is, we are still destined152 to find certain productions that are denied to the community at large, and the very cabbages pampered to such an enormous extent that the poor man’s table is not large enough to hold them. Asparagus, by Nature, was intended to grow wild,933 so that each might gather it where he pleased—but, lo and behold! we find it in the highest state of cultivation, and Ravenna produces heads that weigh as much as three pounds934 even! Alas for the monstrous excess of gluttony! It would be surprising indeed, for the beasts of the field to be forbidden the thistle for food, and yet it is a thing forbidden935 to the lower classes of the community! These refined distinctions, too, are extended to the very water even, and, thanks to the mighty influence of money, there are lines of demarcation drawn in the very elements themselves. Some persons are for drinking ice, others for quaffing snow, and thus is the curse of the mountain steep turned into an appetizing stimulus for the palate!936 Cold is carefully treasured up for the summer heats, and man’s invention is racked how best to keep snow freezing in months that are not its own. Some again there are who first boil the water,937 and then bring it to the temperature of winter—indeed, there is nothing that pleases man in the fashion in which Nature originally made it.

And is it the fact, then, that any herb of the garden is reared only for the rich man’s table? It is so—but still let no one of the angered populace think of a fresh secession to Mount Sacer or Mount Aventine; for to a certainty, in the long run, all-powerful money will bring them back to just the same position as they were in when it wrought the severance. For, by Hercules!938 there was not an impost levied at Rome153 more grievous than the market-dues, an impost that aroused the indignation of the populace, who repeatedly appealed with loud clamours to all the chief men of the state to be relieved from it. At last they were relieved from this heavy tax upon their wares; and then it was found that there was no tax more lucrative, more readily collected, or less obnoxious to the caprices of chance, than the impost that was levied in exchange for it, in the shape of a property-tax, extended to the poorest classes: for now the very soil itself is their surety that paid the tax will be, their means are patent to the light of day, and the superficial extent of their possessions, whatever the weather may chance to be, always remains the same.

Cato,939 we find, speaks in high praise of garden cabbages:—indeed, it was according to their respective methods of garden cultivation that the agriculturists of early times were appreciated, and it was immediately concluded that it was a sign of a woman being a bad and careless manager of her family, when the kitchen-garden—for this was looked upon as the woman’s department more particularly—was negligently cultivated; as in such case her only resource was, of course, the shambles or the herb-market. But cabbages were not held in such high esteem in those days as now: indeed, all dishes were held in disrepute which required something else to help them down, the great object being to economize oil as much as possible; and as to the flesh-market, so much as a wish even to taste its wares was visited with censure and reproach. The chief thing that made them so fond of the garden was the fact that its produce needs no fire and ensures economy in fuel, and that it offers resources which are always ready and at hand. These articles of food, which from their peculiar nature we call “vinegar-diets,”940 were found to be easy of digestion, by no means apt to blunt and overload the senses, and to create but little craving for bread as an accompaniment. A portion of them which is still used by us for seasonings, attests that our forefathers used154 only to look at home for their resources, and that no Indian peppers were in request with them, or any of those other condiments which we are in the habit of seeking beyond the seas. In former times the lower classes of Rome, with their mimic gardens in their windows, day after day presented the reflex of the country to the eye, when as yet the multitudes of atrocious burglaries, almost innumerable, had not compelled us to shut out all such sights with bars to the passers by.

Let the garden, then, have its due meed of honour, and let not things, because they are common, enjoy for that the less share of our consideration—and the more so, as we find that from it men of the very highest rank have been content to borrow their surnames even; thus in the Valerian family, for instance, the Lactucini have not thought themselves disgraced by taking their name from the lettuce. Perhaps, too, our labours and research may contribute some slight recommendation to this our subject; although, with Virgil,941 we are ready to admit how difficult it is, by language however elevated, to ennoble a subject that is so humble in itself.

There is no doubt that the proper plan is, to have the gardens adjoining the country-house; and they should be watered, more particularly, by a river running in front of it, if possible; or else with water drawn from a well by the aid of a wheel or of pumps, or by swipes.942 The ground should be opened just as the west winds are beginning to prevail; fourteen days after which it should be got ready for autumn, and then before the winter solstice it should have another turning up. It will require eight men to dig a jugerum, manure being mixed with the earth to a depth of three feet: the ground, too, should be divided into plots or beds with raised and rounded edges, each of which should have a path dug round it, by means of which access may be afforded to the gardener and a channel formed for the water needed for irrigation.

Among the garden plants there are some that recommend themselves by their bulbs, others by the head, others by the stalk, others by the leaf, others by both: some, again, are valued for their seed, others for the outer coat, others for their membranous tissues, others for their cartilaginous substance, others for the firmness of their flesh, and others for the fleshy tunics in which they are enveloped.

Of some plants the fruits943 are in the earth, of others both in the earth and out of it, and of others, again, out of the earth solely. Some of them increase as they lie upon the ground, gourds and cucumbers, for instance; the same products will grow also in a hanging position, but they are much heavier even then than any of the fruits that grow upon trees. The cucumber, however, is composed of cartilage and a fleshy substance, while the gourd consists of rind and cartilage: this last is the only vegetable production the outer coat of which becomes of a ligneous nature, when ripe. Radishes, turnips, and rape are hidden in the earth, and so, too, are elecampane,944 skirrets,945 and parsnips,946 though in a different manner. There are some plants, again, to which we shall give the name of “ferulaceous,” anise947 and mallows, for instance; indeed, we find it stated by some writers that in Arabia948 the mallow becomes156 arborescent at the sixth month, so much so, in fact, as to admit of its being used for walking-sticks. We have another instance, again, in the mallow-tree of Mauretania, which is found at Lixus, a city built upon an æstuary there; and at which spot, it is said, were formerly the gardens of the Hesperides, at a distance of two hundred paces from the Ocean, near the shrine of Hercules, more ancient, tradition says, than the temple at Gades. This mallow-tree949 is twenty feet in height, and of such a thickness that there is not a person in existence who is able with his arms to span its girth.

In the class of ferulaceous plants we must include hemp950 also. There are some plants, again, to which we must give the appellation of “fleshy;”951 such as those spongy952 productions which are found growing in damp meadows. As to the fungus, with a hard, tough flesh, we have already953 made mention of it when speaking of wood and trees; and of truffles, which form another variety, we have but very recently given a description.954

The cucumber955 belongs to the cartilaginous class of plants, and grows above the ground. It was a wonderful favourite with the Emperor Tiberius, and, indeed, he was never without it; for he had raised beds made in frames upon wheels, by means of which the cucumbers were moved and exposed to the full heat of the sun; while, in winter, they were withdrawn, and placed under the protection of frames glazed with mirror-stone.956 We find it stated, also, by the ancient Greek writers,157 that the cucumber ought to be propagated from seed that has been steeped957 a couple of days in milk and honey, this method having the effect of rendering them all the sweeter to the taste. The cucumber, while growing, may be trained to take any form that may be wished: in Italy the cucumbers are green958 and very small, while those grown in some of the provinces are remarkably large, and of a wax colour or black.959 Those of Africa, which are also remarkably prolific, are held in high esteem; the same, too, with the cucumbers of Mœsia, which are by far the largest of all. When the cucumber acquires a very considerable volume, it is known to us as the “pepo.”960 Cucumbers when eaten remain on the stomach till the following day, and are very difficult961 of digestion; still, for all that, in general they are not considered very unwholesome. By nature they have a wonderful hatred to oil, and no less affection for water, and this after they have been cut from the stem even.962 If water is within a moderate distance of them, they will creep towards it, while from oil, on the other hand, they will shrink away; if any obstacle, too, should happen to arrest their progress, or if they are left to hang, they will grow curved and crooked. Of these facts we may be satisfactorily convinced in a single night even, for if a vessel filled with water is placed at four fingers’ distance from a cucumber, it will be found to have descended to it by the following morning; but if the same is done with oil, it will have assumed the curved form of a hook by the next day. If hung in a tube while in blossom, the cucumber will grow to a most surprising158 length.963 It is only of late, too, that a cucumber of entirely new shape has been produced in Campania, it having just the form of a quince.964 It was quite by accident, I am told, that the first one acquired this shape in growing, and it was from the seed of this that all the others have been reproduced. The name given to this variety is “melopepo.” These last do not grow hanging, but assume their round shape as they lie on the ground. A thing that is very remarkable in them, in addition to their shape, colour, and smell, is the fact that, when ripe, although they do not hang from the stem, they separate from it at the stalk.

Columella965 has given us a plan of his, by which we may have cucumbers the whole year round: the largest bramble-bush that can be procured is transplanted to a warm, sunny spot, and then cut down, about the time of the vernal equinox, to within a couple of fingers of the ground; a cucumber-seed is then inserted in the pith of the bramble, and the roots are well moulded up with fine earth and manure, to withstand the cold. According to the Greeks, there are three kinds of cucumbers, the Laconian, the Scytalic, and the Bœotian,966 the Laconian being the only one among them that is fond967 of the water.

There are some persons who recommend steeping the seed of the cucumber in the juice of the herb known as the “culix;”968 the produce, they say, will be sure to grow without seeds.

Gourds resemble the cucumber in nature, at least in their manner of growing; they manifest an equal aversion to the winter, too, while they require constant watering and manure.159 Both cucumbers and gourds are sown in holes a foot and a half969 deep, between the vernal equinox and the summer solstice, at the time of the Parilia970 more particularly. Some persons, however, think it better to sow gourds after the calends of March,971 and cucumbers after the nones,972 and at the time of the Quinquatria.973 The cucumber and the gourd climb upwards in a precisely similar manner, their shoots creeping along the rough surface of the walls, even to the very roof, so great is their fondness for elevated spots. They have not sufficient strength, however, to support themselves without the aid of stays. Shooting upwards with the greatest rapidity, they soon cover with their light shade the arched roofs of the houses and the trellises on which they are trained. From this circumstance it is that we find the gourd classified into two primary kinds, the roof-gourd,974 and the common gourd, which creeps upon the ground. In the first kind, from a stalk of remarkable thinness is suspended a fruit of considerable weight and volume, and quite immoveable by the action of the wind. The gourd, too, as well as the cucumber, admits of being lengthened to any extent, by the aid of osier tubes more particularly. Just after the blossom has fallen off, the plant is introduced into these tubes, and as it grows it can be made to assume any form that may be wished, that of a serpent coiled up being the one that is mostly preferred; if left at liberty to grow as it hangs, it has been known before now to attain to no less than975 nine feet in length.

The cucumber flowers gradually, blossom succeeding blossom; and it adapts itself perfectly well to a dry soil. It is160 covered with a white down, which increases in quantity as the plant gains in size.

The gourd admits of being applied to more numerous uses than the cucumber even: the stem is used as an article of food976 when young, but at a later period it changes its nature, and its qualities become totally different: of late, gourds have come to be used in baths for jugs and pitchers, but for this long time past they have been employed as casks977 for keeping wine. The rind is tender while the fruit is green, but still it is always scraped off when the gourd is used for food. It admits of being eaten several ways, and forms a light and wholesome aliment, and this although it is one of those fruits that are difficult of digestion by the human stomach, and are apt to swell out those who eat of them. The seeds which lie nearest to the neck of the gourd produce fruit of remarkable978 length, and so do those which lie at the lower extremities, though not at all comparable with the others. Those, on the other hand, which lie in the middle, produce gourds of a round shape, and those on the sides fruit that are thick and short. The seeds are dried by being placed in the shade, and when wanted for sowing, are steeped in water first. The longer and thinner the gourd is, the more agreeable it is to the palate, and hence it is that those which have been left to grow hanging are reckoned the most wholesome: these, too, have fewer seeds than the others, the hardness of which is apt to render the fruit less agreeable for eating.

Those which are intended for keeping seed, are usually not cut before the winter sets in; they are then dried in the smoke, and are extensively employed for preserving979 garden seeds, and for making other articles for domestic use. There has been a method discovered, also, of preserving the gourd for table, and the cucumber as well, till nearly the time when the next year’s crop is ripe; this is done by putting them in brine. We are assured, too, that if put in a hole dug in a place well shaded161 from the sun, with a layer of sand beneath, and dry hay and earth on the top of them, they may be kept green for a very long time. We also find wild980 cucumbers and gourds; and, indeed, the same is the case with pretty nearly all the garden plants. These wild varieties, however, are only possessed of certain medicinal properties, and for this reason we shall defer any further mention of them till we come to the Books appropriated to that subject.

The other plants that are of a cartilaginous nature are concealed, all of them, in the earth. In the number of these is the rape, a subject upon which it would almost appear that we have treated981 at sufficient length already, were it not that we think it as well to observe, that medical men call those which are round “male,”982 while those which are larger and more elongated, are known to them as “female” rape: these last are superior in sweetness, and better for keeping, but by successive sowings they are changed into male rape.983

The same authors, too, have distinguished five different varieties of the turnip:984 the Corinthian, the Cleonæan, the Liothasian, the Bœotian, and the one which they have characterized as peculiarly the “green,” turnip. The Corinthian turnip985 grows to a very large size, and the root is all but out of the ground; indeed, this is the only kind that, in growing, shoots upwards, and not as the others do, downwards into the ground. The Liothasian is known by some persons as the Thracian turnip;986 it is the one that stands extreme cold the best of all. Next to it, the Bœotian kind is the sweetest; it is remarkable, also, for the roundness of its shape and its shortness;162 while the Cleonæan turnip,987 on the other hand, is of an elongated form. Those, in general, which have a thin, smooth leaf, are the sweetest; while those, again, the leaf of which is rough, angular, and prickly, have a pungent taste. There is a kind of wild turnip,988 also, the leaves of which resemble those of rocket.989 At Rome, the highest rank is given to the turnips of Amiternum,990 and those of Nursia; after them, those grown in the neighbourhood of the City991 are held in the next degree of esteem. The other particulars connected with the sowing of the turnip have been already mentioned992 by us when speaking of the rape.

Radishes are composed of an outer coat and a cartilaginous substance, and in many instances the rind is found to be thicker than the bark of some trees. This plant is remarkable for its pungency, which increases in proportion to the thickness of the rind: in some cases, too, the surface of it assumes a ligneous nature. Radishes are flatulent993 to a remarkable degree, and are productive of eructations; hence it is that they are looked upon as an aliment only fit for low-bred people,994 and this more particularly if coleworts are eaten directly after them. If, on the other hand, they are eaten with green olives, the eructations produced are not so frequent, and less offensive. In Egypt the radish is held in very high esteem, on account of the abundance of oil995 that is extracted from the seed. Indeed,163 the people of that country sow this plant in preference to any other, whenever they can get the opportunity, the profits derived from it being larger than those obtained from the cultivation of corn, and the imposts levied upon it considerably less: there is no grain known that yields a larger quantity of oil.

The Greeks have distinguished the radish996 into three different kinds, according to the characteristic features of the leaves, there being the crisped leaf, the smooth leaf, and the wild radish, the leaf of which is smooth, but shorter than that of the others; it is round also, grows in great abundance, and spreads like a shrub. The taste of this last variety is acrid, and it acts medicinally as a strong purgative. In the first kind, again, there are certain differences, determined by the seed, for in some varieties the seed is of an inferior quality, and in others remarkably small: these defects, however, are only found to exist in the kind that has the crisped leaf.

Our own people, again, have found other varieties of the radish: there is the Algidan997 radish, long and transparent, so called from the place of its growth: another, similar to the rape in form, is known as the Syrian radish; it is pretty nearly the mildest and the most tender of them all, and is well able to bear the winter. The very best of all, however, is the one that has been brought from Syria, very recently it would seem, as we do not find it mentioned by any of our writers: it lasts the whole of the winter through. In addition to these kinds, there is another, a wild variety, known by the Greeks as “agrion,”998 and to the people of Pontus as “armon,” while others, again, call it “leuce,”999 and our people “armoracia;”1000 it has more leaves, however, than root.

In testing the quality of the radish, it is the stem more particularly,164 that is looked at; in those which are acrid to the taste, for instance, it is rounder and thicker than in the others, and grooved with long channels, while the leaves are more unsightly to the eye, being angular and covered with prickles.

The radish requires to be sown in a loose, humid soil, has a great aversion to manure, and is content with a dressing solely of chaff: so fond is it of the cold, that in Germany it is known to grow as large as an infant in size.1001 For the spring crop, it is sown immediately after the ides of February;1002 and then again about the time of the Vulcanalia,1003 this last crop being looked upon as the best: many persons, however, sow radishes in March, April, and September. When the plant begins to grow to any size, it is considered a good plan to cover up the leaves successively, and to earth up the root as well; for the part of it which appears above ground is apt to become hard and pithy. Aristomachus recommends the leaves to be taken off in winter, and the roots to be well moulded up, to prevent the water from accumulating about them; and he says, that by using these precautions, they will be all the finer in summer. Some authors have mentioned a plan of making a hole with a dibble, and covering it at the bottom with a layer of chaff, six fingers in depth; upon this layer the seed is put, and then covered over with manure and earth; the result of which is, according to their statement, that radishes are obtained full as large as the hole so made. It is salt, however, that conduces more particularly to their nutriment, and hence it is that they are often watered with brine; in Egypt, too, the growers sprinkle nitre1004 over them, the roots being remarkable for their mildness. The salt, too, has the similar effect of removing all their pungency, and when thus treated, they become very similar in their qualities to radishes that have been boiled: for when boiled they become sweet and mild, and eat, in fact, just like turnips.

165

Medical men recommend raw radishes to be eaten fasting, with salt, for the purpose1005 of collecting the crude humours of the viscera; and in this way they prepare them for the action of emetics. It is said, too, that the juices of this plant are absolutely necessary for the cure of certain diseases of the diaphragm; for it has been found by experiment, in Egypt, that the phthiriasis1006 which attaches itself to the internal parts of the heart, cannot possibly be eradicated by any other remedy, the kings of that country having ordered the bodies of the dead to be opened and examined, for the purpose of enquiring into certain diseases.

Such, too, is the frivolity of the Greeks, that, in the temple of Apollo at Delphi, it is said, the radish is so greatly preferred to all other articles of diet, as to be represented there in gold, the beet in silver, and the rape in lead.—You might be very sure that Manius Curius was not a native of that country, the general whom, as we find stated in our Annals, the ambassadors of the Samnites found busy roasting rape at the fire, when they came to offer him the gold which he so indignantly refused. Moschion, too, a Greek author, has written a volume on the subject of the radish. These vegetables are considered a very useful article of food during the winter, but they are at all times very injurious to the teeth, as they are apt to wear them away; at all events, they give a polish to ivory. There is a great antipathy between the radish1007 and the vine; which last will shrink from the radish, if sown in its vicinity.

The other kinds which have been classified by us among the cartilaginous plants, are of a more ligneous nature; and it is a singular thing, that they have, all of them, a strong flavour. Among these, there is one kind of wild parsnip which grows166 spontaneously; by the Greeks it is known as “staphylinos.”1008 Another kind1009 of parsnip is grown either from the root transplanted, or else from seed, at the beginning of spring or in the autumn; Hyginus says that this may be done in February, August, September, and October, the ground being dug to a very considerable depth for the purpose. The parsnip begins to be fit for eating at the end of a year, but it is still better at the end of two: it is reckoned more agreeable eating in autumn, and more particularly if cooked in the saucepan; even then, however, it preserves its strong pungent flavour, which it is found quite impossible to get rid of.

The hibiscum1010 differs from the parsnip in being more slender: it is rejected as a food, but is found useful for its medicinal properties. There is a fourth kind,1011 also, which bears a similar degree of resemblance to the parsnip; by our people it is called the “gallica,” while the Greeks, who have distinguished four varieties of it, give it the name of “daucus.” We shall have further occasion1012 to mention it among the medicinal plants.

The skirret,1013 too, has had its reputation established by the Emperor Tiberius, who demanded a supply of it every year from Germany. It is at Gelduba,1014 a fortress situate on the banks of the Rhenus, that the finest are grown; from which it would appear that they thrive best in a cold climate. There is a string running through the whole length of the skirret, and which is drawn out after it is boiled; but still, for all this, a considerable proportion of its natural pungency167 is retained; indeed, when modified by the addition of honied wine, this is even thought to impart to dishes an additional relish. The larger parsnip has also a similar sting inside, but only when it is a year old. The proper time for sowing the skirret is in the months of February, March, April, August, September, and October.

Elecampane1015 is not so elongated as the preceding roots, but more substantial and more pungent; eaten by itself it is very injurious to the stomach, but when mixed with other condiments of a sweet nature, it is extremely wholesome. There are several methods employed for modifying1016 its natural acridity and rendering it agreeable to the palate: thus, for instance, when dried it is reduced to a fine flour, and then mixed with some sweet liquid or other, or else it is boiled in vinegar and water, or kept in soak in it; it is also steeped in various other ways, and then mixed with boiled1017 grape-juice, or else incorporated with honey or raisins, or dates with plenty of meat on them. Other persons, again, have a method of preparing it with quinces, or else sorbs or plums, while sometimes the flavour is varied by the addition of pepper or thyme.

This plant is particularly good for weakness of the stomach, and it has acquired a high reputation from the circumstance that Julia1018 Augusta used to eat it daily. The seed of it is quite useless, as the plant is reproduced, like the reed, from eyes extracted from the root. This vegetable, as well as the skirret and the parsnip, is sown both in spring and autumn, a considerable distance being left between the plants; indeed, for elecampane, a space of no less than three feet is required, as168 it throws out its shoots to a very considerable distance.1019 Skirrets, however, are best transplanted.

Next in affinity to these plants are the bulbs,1020 which Cato, speaking in high terms of those of Megara,1021 recommends most particularly for cultivation. Among these bulbs, the squill,1022 we find, occupies the very highest rank, although by nature it is medicinal, and is employed for imparting an additional sharpness to vinegar:1023 indeed, there is no bulb known that grows to a larger size than this, or is possessed of a greater degree of pungency. There are two varieties of it employed in medicine, the male squill, which has white leaves, and the female squill, with black1024 ones. There is a third kind also, which is good to eat, and is known as the Epimenidian1025 squill; the leaf is narrower than in the other kinds, and not so rough. All the squills have numerous seeds, but they come up much more quickly if propagated from the offsets that grow on the sides. To make them attain a still greater size, the large leaves that grow around them are turned down and covered over with earth; by which method all the juices are carried to the heads. Squills grow spontaneously and in vast numbers in the Baleares and the island of Ebusus, and in the Spanish provinces.1026 The philosopher Pythagoras has written a whole volume on the merits of this plant, setting forth its various medicinal169 properties; of which we shall have occasion to speak more at length in the succeeding Book.1027

The other species of bulbs are distinguished by their colour, size, and sweetness; indeed, there are some that are eaten raw even—those found in the Tauric Chersonesus, for instance. Next to these, the bulbs of Africa are held in the highest esteem, and after them those of Apulia. The Greeks have distinguished the following varieties: the bulbine,1028 the setanion,1029 the opition,1030 the cyix,1031 the leucoion,1032 the ægilips,1033 and the sisyrinchion1034—in the last there is this remarkable feature, that the extremities of the roots increase in winter, but during the spring, when the violet appears, they diminish in size and gradually contract, and then it is that the bulb begins to increase in magnitude.

Among the varieties of the bulb, too, there is the plant known in Egypt by the name of “aron.”1035 In size it is very nearly as large as the squill, with a leaf like that of lapathum, and a straight stalk a couple of cubits in length, and the thickness of a walking-stick: the root of it is of a milder nature, so much so, indeed, as to admit of being eaten raw.

Bulbs are taken up before the spring, for if not, they are apt to spoil very quickly. It is a sign that they are ripe when the leaves become dry at the lower extremities. When too old they are held in disesteem; the same, too, with the long and the smaller ones; those, on the other hand, which are red and round are greatly preferred, as also those of the largest size. In most of them there is a certain degree of pungency in the upper part, but the middle is sweet. The ancients have170 stated that bulbs are reproduced from seed only, but in the champaign country of Præneste they grow spontaneously, and they grow to an unlimited extent in the territory of the Remi.1036

Nearly all1037 the garden plants have a single1038 root only, radishes, beet, parsley, and mallows, for example; it is lapathum, however, that has the longest root of them all, it attaining the length of three cubits even. The root of the wild kind is smaller and of a humid nature, and when up it will keep alive for a considerable period. In some of these plants, however, the roots are fibrous, as we find the case in parsley and mallows, for instance; in others, again, they are of a ligneous nature, as in ocimum, for example; and in others they are fleshy, as in beet, and in saffron even more so. In some, again, the root is composed of rind and flesh, as in the radish and the rape; while in others it is jointed, as in hay grass.1039 Those plants which have not a straight root throw out immediately a great number of hairy fibres, orage1040 and blite,1041 for instance: squills again, bulbs, onions, and garlic never have any but a vertical root. Among the plants that grow spontaneously, there are some which have more numerous roots than leaves, spalax,1042 for example, pellitory,1043 and saffron.1044

Wild thyme, southernwood, turnips, radishes, mint, and rue blossom all1045 at once; while others, again, shed their blossom directly they have begun to flower. Ocimum1046 blossoms gradually,171 beginning at the lower parts, and hence it is that it is so very long in blossom: the same is the case, too, with the plant known as heliotropium.1047 In some plants the flower is white, in others yellow, and in others purple. The leaves fall first1048 from the upper part in wild-marjoram and elecampane, and in rue1049 sometimes, when it has been injured accidentally. In some plants the leaves are hollow, the onion and the scallion,1050 more particularly.

Garlic and onions1051 are invoked by the Egyptians,1052 when taking an oath, in the number of their deities. The Greeks have many varieties1053 of the onion, the Sardian onion, the Samothracian, the Alsidenian, the setanian, the schistan, and the Ascalonian,1054 so called from Ascalon,1055 a city of Judæa. They have, all of them, a pungent smell, which1056 draws tears from the eyes, those of Cyprus more particularly, and those of Cnidos the least of all. In all of them the body is composed of a cartilage of an unctuous1057 nature. The variety known as the setanian is the smallest of them all, with the exception of the Tusculan1058 onion, but it is sweet to the taste. The schistan1059 and the Ascalonian kinds are used for storing. The schistan onion is left during the winter with the leaves on; in the spring it is stripped of them, upon which offsets make172 their appearance at the same divisions as the leaves; it is to this circumstance that this variety owes its name. Taking the hint from this fact, it is recommended to strip the other kinds of their leaves, to make them bulb all the better, instead of running to seed.

The Ascalonian onion is of a peculiar nature, being barren in some measure in the root; hence it is that the Greeks have recommended it to be reproduced from seed, and not from roots: the transplanting, too, they say, should be done later in the spring, at the time the plant germinates, the result being that it bulbs with all the greater rapidity, and hastens, as it were, to make up for lost time; great dispatch, however, is requisite in taking it up, for when ripe it rots with the greatest rapidity. If propagated from roots, it throws out a long stalk, runs rapidly to seed, and dies.

There are considerable differences, too, in the colour of the onion; the whitest of all are those grown at Issus and Sardes. The onions, too, of Crete are held in high esteem, but there is some doubt whether they are not the same as the Ascalonian variety; for when grown from seed they produce a fine bulb, but when planted they throw out a long stalk and run to seed; in fact, they differ from the Ascalonian kind only in the sweetness of their flavour.

Among us there are two principal varieties known of the onion; the scallion, employed for seasonings, is one, known to the Greeks by the name of “gethyon,” and by us as the “pallacana;” it is sown in March, April, and May. The other kind is the bulbed or headed1060 onion; it is sown just after the autumnal equinox, or else after the west winds have begun to prevail. The varieties of this last kind, ranged according to their relative degrees of pungency, are the African onion, the Gallic, the Tusculan, the Ascalonian, and the Amiternian: the roundest in shape are the best. The red onion, too, is more pungent than the white, the stored than the fresh, the raw than the cooked, and the dried than the preserved. The onion of Amiternum is cultivated in cold, humid localities, and is the only one that is reproduced from heads,1061 like garlic, the other kinds being grown from seed. This last kind yields no173 seed in the ensuing summer, but a bulb only, which dries and keeps; but in the summer after, the contrary is the case, for seed is produced, while the bulb very quickly spoils. Hence it is that every year there are two separate sowings, one of seed for the reproduction of bulbs, and one of bulbs for the growth of seed; these onions keep best in chaff. The scallion has hardly any bulb at all, but a long neck only—hence it is nothing but leaf, and is often cut down, like the leek; for this reason, too, like the leek, it is grown from seed, and not from plants.

In addition to these particulars, it is recommended that the ground intended for sowing onions should be turned up three times, care being taken to remove all roots and weeds; ten pounds of seed is the proper proportion for a jugerum. Savory too, they say, should be mixed with them, the onions being all the finer for it; the ground, too, should be stubbed and hoed four times at least, if not oftener. In Italy, the Ascalonian onion is sown in the month of February. The seed of the onion is gathered when it begins to turn black, and before it becomes dry and shrivelled.

While upon this subject, it will be as well, too, to speak of the leek,1062 on account of the affinity which it bears to the plants just mentioned, and more particularly because cut-leek has recently acquired considerable celebrity from the use made of it by the Emperor Nero. That prince, to improve his voice,1063 used to eat leeks and oil every month, upon stated days, abstaining from every other kind of food, and not touching so much as a morsel of bread even. Leeks are reproduced from seed, sown just after the autumnal equinox; if they are intended for cutting,1064 the seed is sown thicker than otherwise. The leeks in the same bed are cut repeatedly, till it is quite exhausted, and they are always kept well manured. If they are174 wanted to bulb before being cut, when they have grown to some size they are transplanted to another bed, the extremities of the leaves being snipped off without touching the white part, and the heads stripped of the outer coats. The ancients were in the habit of placing a stone or potsherd upon the leek, to make the head grow all the larger, and the same with the bulbs as well; but at the present day it is the usual practice to move the fibrous roots gently with the weeding-hook, so that by being bent they may nourish the plant, and not withdraw the juices from it.

It is a remarkable fact, that, though the leek stands in need of manure and a rich soil, it has a particular aversion to water; and yet its nature depends very much upon the natural properties of the soil. The most esteemed leeks are those grown in Egypt, and next to them those of Ostia and Aricia.1065 Of the leek for cutting, there are two varieties: that with grass-green1066 leaves and incisions distinctly traced on them, and the leek with paler and rounder leaves, the incisions being more lightly marked. There is a story told, that Mela,1067 a member of the Equestrian order, being accused of mal-administration by order of the Emperor Tiberius, swallowed in his despair leek-juice to the amount of three denarii in weight of silver, and expired upon the spot without the slightest symptom of pain. It is said, however, that a larger dose than this is productive of no injurious effects whatever.1068

Garlic1069 is generally supposed, in the country more particularly, to be a good specific1070 for numerous maladies. The external175 coat consists of membranes of remarkable fineness, which are universally discarded when the vegetable is used; the inner part being formed by the union of several cloves, each of which has also a separate coat of its own. The flavour of it is pungent, and the more numerous the cloves the more pungent it is. Like the onion, it imparts an offensive smell to the breath; but this is not the case when it is cooked. The various species of garlic are distinguished by the periods at which they ripen: the early kind becomes fit for use in sixty days. Another distinction, too, is formed by the relative size of the heads. Ulpicum,1071 also, generally known to the Greeks as “Cyprian garlic,” belongs to this class; by some persons it is called “antiscorodon,” and in Africa more particularly it holds a high rank among the dishes of the rural population; it is of a larger size than ordinary garlic. When beaten up with oil and vinegar, it is quite surprising what a quantity of creaming foam is produced.

There are some persons who recommend that neither ulpicum nor garlic should be sown on level ground, but say that they should be planted in little mounds trenched up, at a distance of three feet apart. Between each clove, they say, there should be a distance of four fingers left, and as soon as ever three leaves are visible, the heads should be hoed; the oftener they are hoed, the larger the size they will attain. When they begin to ripen, the stalks are bent downwards, and covered over with earth, a precaution which effectually prevents them from running to leaf. In cold soils, it is considered better to plant them in spring than in autumn.

For the purpose of depriving all these plants of their strong smell, it is recommended to set them when the moon is below the horizon, and to take them up when she is in conjunction. Independently of these precautions, we find Menander, one of the Greek writers, recommending those who have been eating garlic to eat immediately afterwards a root of beet176 roasted on hot coals; if this is done, he says, the strong smell of the garlic will be effectually neutralized. Some persons are of opinion, that the proper period for planting garlic and ulpicum is between the festival of the Compitalia1072 and that of the Saturnalia.1073 Garlic, too, can be grown from seed, but it is very slow, in such case, in coming to maturity; for in the first year, the head attains the size only of that of a leek, in the second, it separates into cloves, and only in the third it arrives at maturity; there are some, however, who think that garlic grown this way is the best. Garlic should never be allowed to run to seed, but the stalk should be twisted, to promote its growth, and to make the head attain a larger size.

If garlic or onions are wanted to keep some time, the heads should be dipped in salt water, made luke-warm; by doing this, they will be all the better for keeping, though quite worthless for reproduction. Some persons content themselves with hanging them over burning coals, and are of opinion that this is quite sufficient to prevent them from sprouting: for it is a well-known fact, that both garlic and onions sprout when out of the ground, and that after throwing out their thin shoots they shrivel away to nothing. Some persons are of opinion, too, that the best way of keeping garlic is by storing it in chaff. There is a kind1074 of garlic that grows spontaneously in the fields, and is known by the name of “alum.” To preserve the seeds that are sown there from the remorseless ravages of the birds, this plant is scattered over the ground, being first boiled, to prevent it from shooting. As soon as ever they have eaten of it, the birds become so stupefied as to be taken with the hand even,1075 and if they remain but a few moments only on the spot, they fall fast asleep. There is a wild garlic, too, generally known as “bear’s” garlic;1076 it has exactly the smell of millet, with a very small head and large leaves.

Among the garden1077 plants which make their appearance most speedily above ground, are ocimum, blite, the turnip, and rocket; for they appear above the surface the third day after they are sown. Anise, again, comes up on the fourth day, the lettuce on the fifth, the radish on the sixth, the cucumber and the gourd on the seventh—the cucumber rather the first of the two—cresses and mustard on the fifth, beet on the sixth day in summer and the tenth in winter, orage on the eighth, onions on the nineteenth or twentieth, and scallions on the tenth or twelfth. Coriander, again, is more stubborn in its growth, cunila and wild marjoram do not appear till after the thirtieth day, and parsley comes up with the greatest difficulty of all, for at the very earliest it is forty days before it shows itself, and in most instances as much as fifty.

The age,1078 too, of the seed is of some importance in this respect; for fresh seed comes up more rapidly in the case of the leek, the scallion, the cucumber, and the gourd, while in that of parsley, beet, cardamum, cunila, wild marjoram, and coriander, seed that has been kept for some time is the best.

There is one remarkable circumstance1079 in connection with the seed of beet; it does not all germinate in the first year, but some of it in the second, and some in the third even; hence it is that a considerable quantity of seed produces only a very moderate crop. Some plants produce only in the year in which they are set, and some, again, for successive years, parsley, leeks, and scallions1080 for instance; indeed, these plants, when once sown, retain their fertility, and produce for many years.

In most plants the seed is round, in some oblong; it is broad and foliaceous in some, orage for instance, while in others it is narrow and grooved, as in cummin. There are differences, also, in the colour of seeds, which is either black or white; while some seeds are woody and hard, in radishes, mustard, and rape, the seeds are enclosed in pods. In parsley, coriander, anise, fennel, and cummin, the seed has no covering at all, while in blite, beet, orage, and ocimum, it has an outer coat, and in the lettuce it is covered with a fine down. There is no seed more prolific than that of ocimum;1081 it is generally recommended1082 to sow it with the utterance of curses and imprecations, the result being that it grows all the better for it; the earth, too, is rammed down when it is sown, and prayers offered that the seed may never come up. The seeds which are enveloped in an outer coat, are dried with considerable difficulty, that of ocimum more particularly; hence it is that all these seeds are dried artificially, their fruitfulness being greatly promoted thereby.

Plants in general come up better when the seed is sown in heaps than when it is scattered broad-cast: leeks, in fact, and parsley are generally grown by sowing the seed in little bags;1083 in the case of parsley, too, a hole is made with the dibble, and a layer of manure inserted.

All garden plants grow either from seed or from slips, and some from both seed and suckers, such as rue, wild marjoram, and ocimum,1084 for example—this last being usually cut when it is a palm in height. Some kinds, again, are reproduced from both seed and root, as in the case of onions, garlic, and bulbs, and those other plants of which, though annuals themselves, the roots retain their vitality. In those plants which grow from the root, it lives for a considerable time, and throws out offsets, as in bulbs, scallions, and squills for example.—Others,179 again, throw out offsets, though not from a bulbous root, such as parsley and beet, for instance. When the stalk is cut, with the exception1085 of those which have not a rough stem, nearly all these plants put forth fresh shoots, a thing that may be seen in ocimum,1086 the radish,1087 and the lettuce,1088 which are in daily use among us; indeed, it is generally thought that the lettuce which is grown from a fresh sprouting, is the sweetest. The radish, too, is more pleasant eating when the leaves have been removed before it has begun to run to stalk. The same is the case, too, with rape; for when the leaves are taken off, and the roots well covered up with earth, it grows all the larger for it, and keeps in good preservation till the ensuing summer.

Of ocimum, lapathum, blite, cresses, rocket, orage, coriander, and anise respectively, there is but a single kind, these plants being the same everywhere, and no better in one place than in another. It is the general belief that stolen1089 rue grows the best, while, on the other hand, bees1090 that have been stolen will never thrive. Wild mint, cat-mint, endive, and pennyroyal, will grow even without any cultivation. With reference to the plants of which we have already spoken, or shall have occasion to speak, there are numerous varieties of many of them, parsley more particularly.

(8.) As to the kind of parsley1091 which grows spontaneously in moist localities, it is known by the name of “helioselinum;”1092 it has a single leaf1093 only, and is not rough at the edges. In180 dry places, we find growing the kind known as “hipposelinum,”1094 consisting of numerous leaves, similar to helioselinum. A third variety is the oreoselinum,1095 with leaves like those of hemlock, and a thin, fine, root, the seed being similar to that of anise, only somewhat smaller.

The differences, again, that are found to exist in cultivated parsley,1096 consist in the comparative density of the leaves, the crispness or smoothness of their edges, and the thinness or thickness of the stem, as the case may be: in some kinds, again, the stem is white, in others purple, and in others mottled.

The Greeks have distinguished three varieties of the lettuce;1097 the first with a stalk so large, that small garden gates,1098 it is said, have been made of it: the leaf of this lettuce is somewhat larger than that of the herbaceous, or green lettuce, but extremely narrow, the nutriment seeming to be expended on the other parts of the plant. The second kind is that with a rounded1099 stalk; and the third is the low, squat lettuce,1100 generally known as the Laconian lettuce.

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Some persons1101 have made distinctions in reference to their respective colours, and the times for sowing them: the black lettuce is sown in the month of January, the white in March, and the red in April; and they are fit for transplanting, all of them, at the end of a couple of months. Those, again, who have pursued these enquiries even further than this, have distinguished a still greater number of varieties of them—the purple, the crisped, the Cappadocian,1102 and the Greek lettuce, this last having a longer leaf than the rest, and a broad stalk: in addition to which, there is one with a long, narrow leaf, very similar to endive in appearance. The most inferior kind, however, of all, is the one to which the Greeks, censuring it for its bitterness, have given the name of “picris.”1103 There is still another variety, a kind of white lettuce, called “meconis,”1104 a name which it derives from the abundance of milk, of a narcotic quality, which it produces; though, in fact, it is generally thought that they are all of them of a soporific tendency. In former times, this last was the only kind of lettuce that was held in any esteem1105 in Italy, the name “lactuca” having been given it on account of the milk1106 which it contains.

The purple kind, with a very large root, is generally known as the Cæcilian1107 lettuce; while the round one, with an extremely diminutive root and broad leaves, is known to some persons as the “astytis,”1108 and to others as the “eunychion,” it having the effect, in a remarkable degree, of quenching the amorous propensities. Indeed, they are, all of them, possessed of cooling and refreshing properties, for which reason it is, that they are so highly esteemed in summer; they have the effect, also, of removing from the stomach distaste for food, and of promoting the appetite. At all events, we find it stated, that the late Emperor Augustus, when ill, was saved182 on one occasion,1109 thanks to the skill of his physician, Musa,1110 by eating lettuces, a food which the excessive scruples of his former physician, C. Æmilius, had forbidden him. At the present day, however, lettuces have risen into such high estimation, that a method has been discovered even of preserving them during the months in which they are out of season, by keeping them in oxymel.1111 It is generally supposed, also, that lettuces have the effect of making blood.

In addition to the above varieties, there is another kind of lettuce known as the “goats’ lettuce,”1112 of which we shall have occasion to make further mention when we come to the medicinal plants: at the moment, too, that I am writing this, a new species of cultivated lettuce has been introduced, known as the Cilician lettuce, and held in very considerable esteem; the leaf of it is similar to that of the Cappadocian lettuce, except that it is crisped, and somewhat larger.

Endive, though it cannot exactly be said to be of the same genus as the lettuce, still cannot be pronounced to belong to any other.1113 It is a plant better able to endure the rigours of the winter than the lettuce,1114 and possessed of a more acrid taste, though the flavour of the stalk1115 is equally agreeable. Endive is sown at the beginning of spring, and transplanted at the end of that season. There is also a kind of spreading1116 endive, known in Egypt as “cichorium,”1117 of which we shall have occasion1118 to speak elsewhere more at length.

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A method has been discovered of preserving all the thyrsi or leaves of the lettuce in pots, the object being to have them fresh when wanted for boiling. Lettuces may be sown all the year1119 through in a good soil, well-watered and carefully manured;1120 two months being allowed to intervene between sowing and transplanting, and two more between transplanting and gathering them when ripe. The rule is, however, to sow them just after the winter solstice, and to transplant when the west winds begin to prevail, or else to sow at this latter period, and to plant out at the vernal equinox. The white lettuce is the best adapted for standing the rigours of the winter.

All the garden plants are fond of moisture; lettuces thrive, more particularly, when well manured, and endive even more so. Indeed, it is found an excellent plan to plant them out with the roots covered up in manure, and to keep up the supply, the earth being cleared away for that purpose. Some, again, have another method of increasing their size; they cut them1121 down when they have reached half a foot in height, and cover them with fresh swine’s dung. It is the general opinion that those lettuces only will admit of being blanched which are produced from white seed; and even then, as soon as they begin to grow, sand from the sea-shore should be spread over them, care being taken to tie the leaves as soon as ever they begin to come to any size.

Beet1122 is the smoothest of all the garden plants. The Greeks distinguish two kinds of beet, according to the colour, the black and the white. The last, which is the kind generally preferred, has but very little seed, and is generally known as the Sicilian1123 beet; just as it is the white lettuce that is held in the highest degree of esteem. Our people, also, distinguish two varieties of beet, the spring and the autumn kinds, so184 called from the periods of sowing; although sometimes we find beet sown in June even. This is a plant, too, that is sometimes transplanted; and it thrives all the better, like the lettuce, if the roots are well covered with manure, in a moist soil. Beet is mostly eaten1124 with lentils and beans; it is prepared also in the same way as cabbage, with mustard more particularly, the pungency of which relieves its insipidity. Medical men are of opinion that beet is a more unwholesome1125 vegetable than cabbage; hence it is that I never remember seeing it served at table. Indeed, there are some persons who scruple to taste it even, from a conviction that it is a food suitable only for persons of a robust constitution.

Beet is a vegetable with twofold characteristics, partaking of the nature of the cabbage in its leaves and resembling a bulb in the root; that which grows to the greatest breadth being the most highly esteemed. This plant, like the lettuce, is made to grow to head by putting a light weight upon it the moment it begins to assume its proper colour. Indeed, there is no garden plant that grows to a larger head than this, as it sometimes spreads to a couple of feet in breadth, the nature of the soil contributing in a very considerable degree to its size: those found in the territory of Circeii attain the largest size. Some persons1126 think that the best time for sowing beet is when the pomegranate is in flower, and are of opinion that it ought to be transplanted as soon as it has thrown out five leaves. There is a singular difference—if indeed it really exists—between the two varieties of beet, the white kind being remarkable for its purgative qualities, and the black being equally astringent. When wine in the vat has been deteriorated by assuming a flavour like1127 that of cabbage, its original flavour is restored, it is said, by plunging beet leaves into it.

Cabbage and coleworts, which at the present day are the most highly esteemed of all the garden vegetables, were held in little repute, I find, among the Greeks; but Cato,1128 on the other hand, sings the wondrous praises of the cabbage, the medicinal properties of which we shall duly enlarge1129 upon when we come to treat of that subject. Cato distinguishes three varieties of the cabbage; the first, a plant with leaves wide open, and a large stalk; a second, with crisped leaves, to which he gives the name of “apiaca;”1130 and a third, with a thin stalk, and a smooth, tender leaf, which with him ranks the lowest of all. Cabbages may be sown the whole year through, as we find that they are cut at all periods of the year; the best time, however, for sowing them is at the autumnal equinox, and they are usually transplanted as soon as five leaves are visible. In the ensuing spring after the first cutting, the plant yields sprouts, known to us as “cymæ.”1131 These sprouts, in fact, are small shoots thrown out from the main stem, of a more delicate and tender quality than the cabbage itself. The exquisite palate, however, of Apicius1132 rejected these sprouts for the table, and his example was followed by the fastidious Drusus Cæsar; who did not escape, however, the censures of his father, Tiberius, for being so over-nice. After the cymæ have made their appearance the cabbage throws out its summer and autumn shoots, and then its winter ones; after which, a new crop of cymæ is produced, there being no plant so productive as this, until, at last, it is quite exhausted by its extreme fertility. A second time for sowing cabbages is immediately after the vernal equinox, the plants of this growth being transplanted at the end of spring, that they may not run up into sprouts before coming to a top: and a third sowing takes place about the summer solstice, the transplanting being done in summer if the soil is moist, but, if too dry, in autumn. When moisture and manure are supplied in small quantities, the flavour of the cabbage is all the186 more agreeable, but when they are supplied in greater abundance, the plants attain a larger size. Asses’ dung is the best adapted for its growth.

The cabbage, too, is one of those articles so highly esteemed by epicures; for which reason it will not be amiss if we speak of it at somewhat greater length. To obtain plants equally remarkable for their size and flavour, care must be taken first of all to sow the seed in ground that has had a couple of turnings up, and then to follow up the shoots as they appear above ground by moulding them up, care being taken to throw up the earth over them as they increase in luxuriance, and to let nothing but the summit appear above the surface. This kind is known as the Tritian1133 cabbage: in money and labour it costs twice as much as any of the others.

The other varieties of the cabbage1134 are numerous—there is the Cumanian cabbage, with leaves that lie close to the ground, and a wide, open head; the Aricinian1135 cabbage, too, of no greater height, but with more numerous leaves and thinner—this last is looked upon as the most useful of them all, for beneath nearly all of the leaves there are small shoots thrown out, peculiar to this variety. The cabbage, again, of Pompeii1136 is considerably taller, the stalk, which is thin at the root, increasing in thickness as it rises among the leaves, which are fewer in number and narrower; the great merit of this cabbage is its remarkable tenderness, although it is not able to stand the cold. The cabbage of Bruttium,1137 on the other hand, thrives all the better for cold; the leaves of it are remarkably large, the stalk thin, and the flavour pungent. The leaves, again, of the Sabine1138 cabbage are crisped to such a degree as to excite our surprise, and their thickness is such as to quite exhaust the stem; in sweetness, however, it is said to surpass all the others.

There have lately come into fashion the cabbages known as the “Lacuturres;”1139 they are grown in the valley of Aricia,187 where there was formerly a lake, now no longer in existence, and a tower which is still standing. The head of this cabbage is very large, and the leaves are almost without number, some of them being round and smooth, and others long and sinewy; indeed, there is no cabbage that runs to a larger head than this, with the sole exception of the Tritian variety, which has a head sometimes as much as a foot in thickness, and throws out its cymæ the latest of all.

In all kinds of cabbages, hoar-frost contributes very materially to their sweetness; but it is apt to be productive of considerable injury, if care is not taken to protect the pith by cutting them aslant. Those plants which are intended for seed are never cut.

There is another kind, again, that is held in peculiar esteem, and which never exceeds the height of an herbaceous plant; it is known by the name of “halmyridia,”1140 from the circumstance of its growing on the sea-shore1141 only. It will keep green and fresh during a long voyage even, if care is taken not to let it touch the ground from the moment that it is cut, but to put it into oil-vessels lately dried, and then to bung them so as to effectually exclude all air. There are some1142 who are of opinion, that the plant will come to maturity all the sooner if some sea-weed is laid at the root when it is transplanted, or else as much pounded nitre as can be taken up with three fingers; and others, again, sprinkle the leaves with trefoil seed and nitre pounded together.1143 Nitre, too, preserves the greenness of cabbage when cooked, a result which is equally ensured by the Apician mode of boiling, or in other words, by steeping the plants in oil and salt before they are cooked.

There is a method of grafting vegetables by cutting the shoots and the stalk, and then inserting in the pith the seed188 of another plant; a plan which has been adopted with the wild cucumber even. There is another kind of wild cabbage, also, the lapsana,1144 which has become famous since the triumphs of the late Emperor Julius, in consequence of the songs and jokes of his soldiers more particularly; for in the alternate lines sung by them, they used to reproach him for having made them live on lapsana at the siege of Dyrrhachium, and to rally him upon the parsimonious scale on which he was in the habit of recompensing their services. The lapsana is nothing more than a wild cyma.1145

Of all the garden plants, asparagus is the one that requires the most delicate attention in its cultivation. We have already1146 spoken at considerable length of its origin, when treating of the wild plants, and have mentioned that Cato1147 recommends it to be grown in reed-beds. There is another kind, again, of a more uncultivated nature than the garden asparagus, but less pungent than corruda;1148 it grows upon the mountains in different countries, and the plains of Upper Germany are quite full of it, so much so, indeed, that it was a not unhappy remark of Tiberius Cæsar, that a weed grows there which bears a remarkably strong resemblance to asparagus. That which grows spontaneously upon the island of Nesis, off the coast of Campania, is looked upon as being by far the best of all.

Garden asparagus is reproduced from roots,1149 the fibres of which are exceedingly numerous, and penetrate to a considerable depth. When it first puts forth its shoots, it is green; these in time lengthen out into stalks, which afterwards throw189 out streaked branches from the head: asparagus admits, also, of being grown from seed.

Cato1150 has treated of no subject with greater care than this, the last Chapter of his work being devoted to it, from which we may conclude that it was quite new to him, and a subject which had only very recently occupied his attention. He recommends that the ground prepared for it should be a moist or dense soil, the seed being set at intervals of half a foot every way, to avoid treading upon the heads; the seed, he says, should be put two or three into each hole, these being made with the dibble as the line runs—for in his day, it should be remembered, asparagus was only grown from seed—this being done about the vernal equinox. It requires, he adds, to be abundantly manured, and to be kept well hoed, due care being taken not to pull up the young plants along with the weeds. The first year, he says, the plants must be protected from the severity of the winter with a covering of straw, care being taken to uncover them in the spring, and to hoe and stub up the ground about them. In the spring of the third year, the plants must be set fire to, and the earlier the period at which the fire is applied, the better they will thrive. Hence it is, that as reed-beds1151 grow all the more rapidly after being fired, asparagus is found to be a crop remarkably well suited for growing with them. The same author recommends, however, that asparagus should not be hoed before the plants have made their appearance above-ground, for fear of disturbing the roots; and he says that in gathering the heads, they should be cut close to the root, and not broken off at the surface, a method which is sure to make them run to stalk and die. They should be cut, he says, until they are left to run to seed, and after the seed is ripe, in spring they must be fired, care being taken, as soon as they appear again, to hoe and manure them as before. After eight or nine years, he says, when the plants have become old, they must be renewed, after digging and manuring the ground, by replanting the roots at intervals of a foot, care being taken to employ sheep’s dung more particularly for the purpose, other kinds of manure being apt to produce weeds.

No method of cultivating this plant that has since been tried has been found more eligible than this, with the sole exception that the seed is now sown about the ides of February, by laying190 it in heaps in small trenches, after steeping it a considerable time in manure; the result of which is that the roots become matted, and form into spongy tufts, which are planted out at intervals of a foot after the autumnal equinox, the plants continuing to be productive so long as ten years even. There is no soil more favourable to the growth of asparagus, than that of the gardens of Ravenna.1152

We have already1153 spoken of the corruda, by which term I mean the wild asparagus, by the Greeks called “orminos,” or “myacanthos,” as well as by other names. I find it stated, that if rams’ horns are pounded, and then buried in the ground, asparagus will come up.1154

It really might have been thought that I had now given an account of all the vegetable productions that are held in any degree of esteem, did there not still remain one plant, the cultivation of which is extremely profitable, and of which I am unable to speak without a certain degree of shame. For it is a well-known fact, that some small plots of land, planted with thistles,1155 in the vicinity of Great Carthage and of Corduba more particularly, produce a yearly income of six thousand sesterces;1156 this being the way in which we make the monstrous productions even of the earth subservient to our gluttonous appetites, and that, too, when the very four-footed brutes1157 instinctively refuse to touch them.

Thistles are grown two different ways, from plants set in autumn, and from seed sown before the nones of March;1158 in which latter case they are transplanted before the ides of November,1159 or, where the site is a cold one, about the time that the west winds prevail. They are sometimes manured even,191 and if1160 such is the will of heaven, grow all the better for it. They are preserved, too, in a mixture of honey and vinegar,1161 with the addition of root of laser and cummin—so that a day may not pass without our having thistles at table.1162

For the remaining plants a brief description will suffice. The best time for sowing ocimum,1163 it is said, is at the festival of the Parilia;1164 though some say that it may be done in autumn as well, and recommend, when it is sown in winter, to drench the seed thoroughly with vinegar. Rocket,1165 too, and nasturtium1166 may be grown with the greatest facility either in summer or winter. Rocket, more particularly, is able to stand the cold, and its properties are quite different from those of the lettuce, as it is a great provocative of lust. Hence it is that we are in the habit of mixing these two plants in our dishes, the excess of cold in the one being compensated by the equal degree of heat in the other. Nasturtium has received that name from1167 the smarting sensation which its pungency causes to the nostrils, and hence it is that a certain notion of smartness has attached itself to the word, it having become quite a proverbial saying, that a sluggish man should eat nasturtium, to arouse him from his torpidity. In Arabia, it is said, this plant attains a size that is quite marvellous.

Rue,1168 too, is generally sown while the west winds prevail, as well as just after the autumnal equinox. This plant has an extreme aversion to cold, moisture, and dung; it loves dry, sunny localities, and a soil more particularly that is rich in brick clay; it requires to be nourished, too, with ashes, which192 should be mixed with the seed as well, as a preservative against the attacks of caterpillars. The ancients held rue in peculiar esteem; for I find that honied wine flavoured with rue was distributed to the people, in his consulship,1169 by Cornelius Cethegus, the colleague of Quintus Flamininus, after the closing of the Comitia. This plant has a great liking1170 for the fig-tree, and for that tree only; indeed, it never thrives better than when grown beneath that tree. It is generally grown from slips, the lower end of which is inserted in a perforated1171 bean, which holds it fast, and so nurtures the young plant with its juices. It also reproduces itself;1172 for the ends of the branches bending downwards, the moment they reach the ground, they take root again. Ocimum1173 is of a very similar nature to rue, except that it dries with greater difficulty. When rue has once gained strength, there is considerable difficulty in stubbing it, as it causes itching ulcerations on the hands, if they are not covered or previously protected by being rubbed with oil. Its leaves, too, are preserved, being packed in bundles for keeping.

Parsley is sown immediately after the vernal equinox, the seed being lightly beaten1174 first in a mortar. It is thought that, by doing this, the parsley will be all the more crisped, or else by taking care to beat it down when sown with a roller or the feet. It is a peculiarity of this plant, that it changes colour: it has the honour, in Achaia, of forming the wreath of the victors in the sacred contests of the Nemean Games.

It is at the same season, too, that mint1175 is transplanted; or,193 if it has not yet germinated, the matted tufts of the old roots are used for the purpose. This plant, too, is no less fond of a humid soil than parsley; it is green in summer and turns yellow in winter. There is a wild kind of mint, known to us as “mentastrum:”1176 it is reproduced by layers, like the vine, or else by planting the branches upside down. It was the sweetness of its smell that caused this plant to change its name among the Greeks, its former name with them being “mintha,” from which the ancient Romans derived their name1177 for it; whereas now, of late, it has been called by them ἡδύοσμον.1178 The mint that is used in the dishes at rustic entertainments pervades the tables far and wide with its agreeable odour. When once planted, it lasts a considerable length of time; it bears, too, a strong resemblance to pennyroyal, a property of which is, as mentioned by us more than once,1179 to flower when kept in our larders.

These other herbs, mint, I mean, and catmint, as well as pennyroyal, are all kept for use in a similar manner; but it is cummin1180 that is the best suited of all the seasoning herbs to squeamish and delicate stomachs. This plant grows on the surface of the soil, seeming hardly to adhere to it, and raising itself aloft from the ground: it ought to be sown in the middle of the summer, in a crumbly, warm soil, more particularly. There is another wild kind1181 of cummin, known by some persons as “rustic,” by others as “Thebaic” cummin: bruised and drunk in water, it is good for pains in the stomach. The cummin most esteemed in our part of the world is that of Carpetania,1182 though elsewhere that of Africa and Æthiopia is more highly esteemed; with some, indeed, this last is preferred to that of Egypt.

But it is olusatrum,1183 more particularly, that is of so singular194 a nature, a plant which by the Greeks is called “hipposelinum,”1184 and by others “smyrnium.” This plant is reproduced from a tear-like gum1185 which exudes from the stem; it is also grown from the roots as well. Those whose business it is to collect the juice of it, say that it has just the flavour of myrrh; and, according to Theophrastus,1186 it is obtained by planting myrrh. The ancients recommended that hipposelinum should be grown in uncultivated spots covered with stones, and in the vicinity of garden walls; but at the present day it is sown in ground that has been twice turned up, between the prevalence of the west winds and the autumnal equinox.

The caper,1187 too, should be sown in dry localities more particularly, the plot being hollowed out and surrounded with an embankment of stones erected around it: if this precaution is not taken, it will spread all over the adjoining land, and entail sterility upon the soil. The caper blossoms in summer, and retains its verdure till the setting of the Vergiliæ; it thrives the best of all in a sandy soil. As to the bad qualities of the caper which grows in the parts beyond the sea, we have already1188 enlarged upon them when speaking of the exotic shrubs.

The caraway1189 is an exotic plant also, which derives its name, “careum,” from the country1190 in which it was first grown; it is principally employed for culinary purposes. This plant will grow in any kind of soil, and requires to be cultivated just the same way as olusatrum; the most esteemed, however, is that which comes from Caria, and the next best is that of Phrygia.

Lovage1191 grows wild in the mountains of Liguria, its native195 country, but at the present day it is grown everywhere. The cultivated kind is the sweetest of the two, but is far from powerful; by some persons it is known as “panax.” Crateuas, a Greek writer, gives this name, however, to the plant known to us as “cunila bubula;”1192 and others, again, call the conyza1193 or cunilago, cunila, while they call cunila,1194 properly so called, by the name of “thymbra.” With us cunila has another appellation, being generally known as “satureia,” and reckoned among the seasoning plants. It is usually sown in the month of February, and for utility rivals wild marjoram. These two plants are never used together, their properties being so extremely similar; but it is only the wild marjoram of Egypt that is considered superior to cunila.

Dittander,1195 too, was originally an exotic plant: it is usually sown after the west winds have begun to prevail. As soon as it begins to shoot, it is cut down close to the ground, after which it is hoed and manured, a process which is repeated the succeeding year. After this, the shoots are fit for use, if the rigour of the winter has not injured them; for it is a plant quite unable to withstand any inclemency1196 of the weather. It grows to the height of a cubit, and has a leaf like that of the laurel,1197 but softer; it is never used except in combination with milk.

Gith1198 is employed by bakers, dill and anise by cooks and medical men. Sacopenium,1199 so extensively used for adulterating196 laser, is also a garden plant, but is only employed for medicinal purposes.

There are certain plants which are grown in company1200 with others, the poppy, for instance, sown with cabbages and purslain, and rocket with lettuce. Of the cultivated poppy1201 there are three kinds, the first being the white1202 poppy, the seed of which, parched, and mixed with honey, used to be served up in the second course at the tables of the ancients; at the present day, too, the country people sprinkle it on the upper crust of their bread, making it adhere by means of the yolk of eggs, the under crust being seasoned with parsley and gith to heighten the flavour of the flour. The second kind is the black1203 poppy, from which, upon an incision being made in the stalk, a milky juice distils; and the third is that known to the Greeks by the name of “rhœas;”1204 and by us as the wild poppy. This last grows spontaneously, but in fields, more particularly, which have been sown with barley: it bears a strong resemblance to rocket, grows to the height of a cubit, and bears a red flower, which quickly fades; it is to this flower that it is indebted for its Greek name.1205

As to the other kinds of poppies which spring up spontaneously, we shall have occasion to speak of them when treating of the medicinal plants.1206 That the poppy has always been held in esteem among the Romans, we have a proof in the story related of Tarquinius1207 Superbus, who, by striking down the tallest poppies in his garden, surreptitiously conveyed,197 unknown to them, his sanguinary message through the envoys who had been sent by his son.

There are some other plants, again, which require to be sown together at the time of the autumnal equinox; coriander, for instance, anise, orage, mallows, lapathum, chervil, known to the Greeks as “pæderos,”1208 and mustard,1209 which has so pungent a flavour, that it burns like fire, though at the same time it is remarkably wholesome for the body. This last, though it will grow without cultivation, is considerably improved by being transplanted; though, on the other hand, it is extremely difficult to rid the soil of it when once sown there, the seed when it falls germinating immediately. This seed, when cooked in the saucepan,1210 is employed even for making ragouts, its pungency being rendered imperceptible by boiling; the leaves, too, are boiled just the same way as those of other vegetables.

There are three different kinds of mustard,1211 the first of a thin, slender form, the second, with a leaf like that of the rape, and the third, with that of rocket: the best seed comes from Egypt. The Athenians have given mustard the name of “napy,”1212 others, “thapsi,”1213 and others, again, “saurion.”1214

Most mountains abound with wild thyme and sisymbrium, those of Thrace, for example, where1215 branches of these wild plants are torn up and brought away for planting. So, too, the people of Sicyon seek for wild thyme on their mountains,198 and the Athenians on the slopes of Hymettus. Sisymbrium, too, is planted in a similar manner; it grows to the greatest perfection upon the walls of wells, and around fish preserves and ponds.1216

The other garden plants are of the ferulaceous kind, such as fennel, for instance, very grateful to serpents, as already stated,1217 and used for numerous seasonings when dried; thapsia, too, which bears a close resemblance to fennel, and already mentioned by us when speaking1218 of the exotic shrubs. Then, too, there is hemp,1219 a plant remarkably useful for making ropes, and usually sown after the west winds have begun to prevail: the more thickly it is sown, the thinner are the stalks. The seed is gathered when ripe, just after the autumnal equinox, and is dried by the agency of the sun, the wind, or smoke.1220 The hemp itself is plucked just after vintage-time, and is peeled and cleaned by the labourers at night.

The best hemp is that of Alabanda,1221 which is used more particularly for making hunting-nets, and of which there are three varieties. The hemp which lies nearest the bark or the pith is the least valuable, while that which lies in the middle, and hence has the name of “mesa,” is the most esteemed. The hemp of Mylasa1222 occupies the second rank. With reference to the size to which it grows, that of Rosea,1223 in the Sabine territory, equals the trees in height.1224

We have already mentioned two kinds of fennel-giant when speaking1225 of the exotic shrubs: the seed of it is used in Italy for food; the plant, too, admits of being preserved, and, if stored in earthen pots, will keep for a whole year. There are199 two parts of it that are used for this purpose, the upper stalks and the umbels of the plant. This kind of fennel is sometimes known by the name of “corymbia,” and the parts preserved are called “corymbi.”

The garden plants, too, like the rest of the vegetable productions, are subject to certain maladies. Thus, for1226 instance, ocimum, when old, degenerates into wild thyme, and sisymbrium1227 into mint, while the seed of an old cabbage produces rape, and vice versâ. Cummin, too, if not kept well hoed, is killed by hæmodorum,1228, a plant with a single stalk, a root similar to a bulb in appearance, and never found except in a thin, meagre soil. Besides this, cummin is liable to a peculiar disease of its own, the scab:1229 ocimum, too, turns pale at the rising of the Dog-star. All plants, indeed, will turn of a yellow complexion on the approach of a woman who has the menstrual discharge1230 upon her.

There are various kinds of insects,1231 too, that breed upon the garden plants—fleas, for instance, upon turnips, and caterpillars and maggots upon radishes, as well as lettuces and cabbages; besides which, the last two are exposed to the attacks of slugs and snails. The leek, too, is infested with peculiar insects of its own; which may very easily be taken, however, by laying dung upon the plants, the insects being in the habit of burrowing in it. Sabinus Tiro says, in his book entitled “Cepurica,”1232 which he dedicated to Mæcenas, that it is not advisable to touch rue, cunila, mint, or ocimum with any implement of iron.

The same author recommends as a remedy against ants, which are by no means the slightest plague in a garden that is not kept well watered, to stop up the mouths of their holes with sea-slime or ashes. But the most efficient way of destroying them is with the aid of the plant heliotropium;1233 some persons, too, are of opinion that water in which an unburnt brick has been soaked is injurious to them. The best protection for turnips is to sow a few fitches with them, and for cabbages chickpeas, these having the effect of keeping away caterpillars. If, however, this precaution should have been omitted, and the caterpillars have already made their appearance, the best remedy is to throw upon the vegetables a decoction of wormwood,1234 or else of house-leek,1235 known to some as “aïzoüm,” a kind of herb already mentioned by us. If cabbage-seed, before it is sown, is steeped in the juice of house-leek, the cabbages, it is said, are sure not be attacked by any insect.

It is said, too, that all caterpillars may be effectually exterminated, if the skull1236 of a beast of burden is set up upon a stake in the garden, care being taken to employ that of a female only. There is a story related, too, that a river crab, hung up in the middle of the garden, is a preservative against the attacks of caterpillars. Again, there are some persons who are in the habit of touching with slips of blood-red cornel1237 such plants as they wish to preserve from caterpillars. Flies,1238 too, infest well-watered gardens, and more particularly so, if there happen to he any shrubs there; they may be got rid of, however, by burning galbanum.1239

(11.) With reference to the deterioration to which seed is subject,1240 there are some seeds which keep better than others,201 such, for instance, as that of coriander, beet, leeks, cresses, mustard, rocket, cunila, nearly all the pungent plants in fact. The seed, on the other hand, of orage, ocimum, gourds, and cucumbers, is not so good for keeping. All the summer seeds, too, last longer than the winter ones; but scallion seed is the very worst for keeping of them all. But of those, even, which keep the very longest, there is none that will keep beyond four years—for sowing1241 purposes, at least; for culinary purposes, they are fit for use beyond that period.

A peculiar remedy for the maladies to which radishes, beet, rue, and cunila are subject, is salt water, which has also the additional merit of conducing very materially to their sweetness and fertility. Other plants, again, are equally benefitted by being watered with fresh water, the most desirable for the purpose being that which is the coldest and the sweetest to drink: pond and drain-water, on the other hand, are not so good, as they are apt to carry the seeds of weeds along with them. It is rain,1242 however, that forms the principal aliment of plants; in addition to which, it kills the insects as they develope themselves upon them.

The proper times1243 for watering are the morning and the evening, to prevent the water from being heated1244 by the sun; with the sole exception, however, of ocimum, which requires to be watered at midday; indeed, this plant, it is generally thought, will grow with additional rapidity, if it is watered with boiling water when sown. All plants, when transplanted,202 grow all the better and larger for it, leeks and turnips more particularly. Transplanting, too, is attended with certain remedial effects, and acts as a preservative to certain plants, such as scallions, for instance, leeks, radishes, parsley, lettuces, rape, and cucumbers. All the wild plants1245 are generally smaller in the leaf and stalk than the cultivated ones, and have more acrid juices, cunila, wild marjoram, and rue, for example. Indeed, it is only the lapathum1246 that is better in a wild state than cultivated: in its cultivated state it is the same plant that is known to us as the “rumix,” being the most vigorous1247 by far of all the plants that are grown; so much so, indeed, that it is said that when it has once taken root, it will last for ever, and can never be extirpated from the soil, more particularly if water happens to be near at hand. Its juices, which are employed only in ptisans,1248 as an article of food, have the effect of imparting to them a softer and more exquisite flavour. The wild variety1249 is employed for many medicinal purposes.

So true it is, that the careful research of man has omitted nothing, that I have even met with a poem,1250 in which I find it stated, that if pellets of goats’ dung, the size of a bean, are hollowed out, and the seed of leeks, rocket, lettuces, parsley, endive, and cresses is inserted in them, and then sown, the plants will thrive in a marvellous degree. Plants1251 in a wild state, it is generally thought, are more dry and acrid than when cultivated.

This, too, reminds me that I ought to make some mention of the difference between the juices and flavours of the garden herbs, a difference which is more perceptible here than in the fruits even.1252 In cunila, for instance, wild marjoram, cresses, and mustard, the flavour is acrid; in wormwood1253 and centaury,1254203 bitter; in cucumbers, gourds, and lettuces, watery; and in parsley, anise, and fennel, pungent and odoriferous. The salt flavour is the only one that is not to be found1255 in plants, with the sole exception, indeed, of the chicheling1256 vetch, though even then it is to be found on the exterior surface only of the plant, in the form of a kind of dust which settles there.

To come to a full understanding, too, both here as elsewhere, how unfounded are the notions which are generally entertained, I shall take this opportunity of remarking that panax1257 has the flavour of pepper, and siliquastrum even more so, a circumstance to which it owes its name of piperitis:1258 libanotis,1259 again, has just the odour of frankincense, and smyrnium1260 of myrrh. As to panax, we have spoken of it at sufficient length already.1261 Libanotis grows in a thin, crumbly soil, and is generally sown in spots exposed to the falling dews; the root, which is just like that of olusatrum,1262 has a smell in no way differing from that of frankincense; when a year old, it is extremely wholesome for the stomach; some persons give it the name of rosmarinum.1263 Smyrnium is a garden herb that grows in similar soils, and has a root which smells like myrrh: siliquastrum too, is grown in a similar manner.

Other plants, again, differ from the preceding ones, both in smell and taste, anise1264 for example; indeed, so great is the difference in this respect, and in their relative virtues, that not only are the properties of each modified by the other, but quite neutralized even. It is in this way that our cooks correct the flavour of vinegar in their dishes with parsley, and our butlers employ the same plant, enclosed in sachets, for removing a bad odour in wine.

204

1265Thus far, then, we have treated of the garden plants, viewed as articles of food only; it remains for us now (for up to the present we have only spoken of their various methods of cultivation, with some succinct details relative thereto), to enlarge upon the more elaborate operations of Nature in this respect; it being quite impossible to come to a full understanding as to the true characteristics of each individual plant, without a knowledge of its medicinal effects, a sublime and truly mysterious manifestation of the wisdom of the Deity, than which nothing can possibly be found of a nature more elevated. It is upon principle that we have thought proper not to enlarge upon the medicinal properties of each plant when treating of it; for it is a quite different class of persons that is interested in knowing their curative properties, and there is no doubt that both classes of readers would have been inconvenienced in a very material degree, if these two points of view had engaged our attention at the same moment. As it is, each class will have its own portion to refer to, while those who desire to do so, will experience no difficulty in uniting them, with reference to any subject of which we may happen to treat.

Summary.—Remarkable facts, narratives, and observations, one thousand one hundred and forty-four.

Roman authors quoted.—Maccius Plautus,1266 M. Varro,1267 D. Silanus,1268 Cato the Censor,1269 Hyginus,1270 Virgil,1271 Mucianus,1272 Celsus,1273 Columella,1274 Calpurnius Bassus,1275 Mamilius Sura,1276 Sabinus Tiro,1277 Licinius Macer,1278 Quintus Hirtius,1279 Vibius205 Rufus,1280 Cæsennius1281 who wrote the Cepurica, Castritius1282 who wrote on the same subject, Firmus1283 who wrote on the same subject, Petrichus1284 who wrote on the same subject.

Foreign authors quoted.—Herodotus,1285 Theophrastus,1286 Democritus,1287 Aristomachus,1288 Menander1289 who wrote the Biochresta, Anaxiläus.1290

CHAP. 1.—INTRODUCTION.

We are now about to enter upon an examination of the greatest of all the operations of Nature—we are about to discourse to man upon his aliments,1291 and to compel him to admit that he is ignorant by what means he exists. And let no one, misled by the apparent triviality of the names which we shall have to employ, regard this subject as one that is frivolous or contemptible: for we shall here have to set forth the state of peace or of war which exists between the various departments of Nature, the hatreds or friendships which are maintained by objects dumb and destitute of sense, and all, too, created—a wonderful subject for our contemplation!—for the sake of man alone. To these states, known to the Greeks by the respective appellations “sympathia” and “antipathia,” we are indebted for the first principles1292 of all things; for hence it is that water has the property of extinguishing fire, that the sun absorbs water, that the moon produces it, and that each of those heavenly bodies is from time to time eclipsed by the other.

Hence it is, too, descending from the contemplation of a loftier sphere, that the loadstone1293 possesses the property of attracting207 iron, and another stone,1294 again, that of repelling it; and that the diamond, that pride of luxury and opulence, though infrangible by every other object, and presenting a resistance that cannot be overcome, is broken asunder by a he-goat’s blood1295—in addition to numerous other marvels of which we shall have to speak on more appropriate occasions, equal to this or still more wonderful even. My only request is that pardon may be accorded me for beginning with objects of a more humble nature, though still so greatly conducive to our health—I mean the garden plants, of which I shall now proceed to speak.

We have already stated1296 that there is a wild cucumber, considerably smaller than the cultivated one. From this cucumber the medicament known as “elaterium” is prepared, being the juice extracted from the seed.1297 To obtain this juice the fruit is cut before it is ripe—indeed, if this precaution is not taken at an early period, the seed is apt to spirt1298 out and be productive of danger to the eyes. After it is gathered, the fruit is kept whole for a night, and on the following day an incision is made in it with a reed. The seed, too, is generally sprinkled with ashes, with the view of retaining in it as large a quantity of the juice as possible. When the juice is extracted, it is received in rain water, where it falls to the bottom; after which it is thickened in the sun, and then divided into lozenges,208 which are of singular utility to mankind for healing dimness1299 of sight, diseases of the eyes, and ulcerations of the eyelids. It is said that if the roots of a vine are touched with this juice, the grapes of it will be sure never to be attacked by birds.

The root,1300 too, of the wild cucumber, boiled in vinegar, is employed in fomentations for the gout, and the juice of it is used as a remedy for tooth-ache. Dried and mixed with resin, the root is a cure for impetigo1301 and the skin diseases known as “psora”1302 and “lichen:”1303 it is good, too, for imposthumes of the parotid glands and inflammatory tumours,1304 and restores the natural colour to the skin when a cicatrix has formed.—The juice of the leaves, mixed with vinegar, is used as an injection for the ears, in cases of deafness.

The proper season for making elaterium is the autumn; and there is no medicament known that will keep longer than this.1305 It begins to be fit for use when three years old; but if it is found desirable to make use of it at an earlier period than this, the acridity of the lozenges may be modified by putting them with vinegar upon a slow fire, in a new earthen pot. The older it is the better, and before now, as we learn from Theophrastus, it has been known to keep1305 so long as two hundred years. Even after it has been kept so long as fifty1306 years, it retains its property of extinguishing a light; indeed,209 it is the proper way of testing the genuineness of the drug to hold it to the flame and make it scintillate above and below, before finally extinguishing it. The elaterium which is pale, smooth, and slightly bitter, is superior1307 to that which has a grass-green appearance and is rough to the touch.

It is generally thought that the seed of this plant will facilitate conception if a woman carries it attached to her person, before it has touched the ground; and that it has the effect of aiding parturition, if it is first wrapped in ram’s wool, and then tied round the woman’s loins, without her knowing it, care being taken to carry it out of the house the instant she is delivered.

Those persons who magnify the praises of the wild cucumber say that the very best is that of Arabia, the next being that of Arcadia, and then that of Cyrenæ: it bears a resemblance to the heliotropium,1308 they say, and the fruit, about the size of a walnut, grows between the leaves and branches. The seed, it is said, is very similar in appearance to the tail of a scorpion thrown back, but is of a whitish hue. Indeed, there are some persons who give to this cucumber the name of “scorpionium,” and say that its seed, as well as the elaterium, is remarkably efficacious as a cure for the sting of the scorpion. As a purgative, the proper dose of either is from half an obolus to an obolus, according to the strength of the patient, a larger dose than this being fatal.1309 It is in the same proportions, too, that it is taken in drink for phthiriasis1310 and dropsy; applied externally with honey or old olive oil, it is used for the cure of quinsy and affections of the trachea.

Many authors are of opinion that the wild cucumber is identical with the plant known among us as the “anguine,” and by some persons as the “erratic”1311 cucumber. Objects210 sprinkled with a decoction of this plant will never be touched by mice. The same authors1312 say, too, that a decoction of it in vinegar, externally applied, gives instantaneous relief in cases of gout and diseases of the joints. As a remedy, too, for lumbago, the seed of it is dried in the sun and pounded, being given in doses of twenty denarii to half a sextarius of water. Mixed with woman’s milk and applied as a liniment, it is a cure for tumours which have suddenly formed.

Elaterium promotes the menstrual discharge; but if taken by females when pregnant, it is productive of abortion. It is good, also, for asthma, and, injected into the nostrils, for the jaundice.1313 Rubbed upon the face in the sun, it removes freckles1314 and spots upon the skin.

Many persons attribute all these properties to the cultivated cucumber1315 as well, a plant which even without them would be of very considerable importance, in a medicinal point of view. A pinch of the seed, for instance, in three fingers, beaten up with cummin and taken in wine, is extremely beneficial for a cough: for phrenitis, also, doses of it are administered in woman’s milk, and doses of one acetabulum for dysentery. As a remedy for purulent expectorations, it is taken with an equal quantity of cummin;1316 and it is used with hydromel for diseases of the liver. Taken in sweet wine, it is a diuretic; and, in combination with cummin,1316 it is used as an injection for affections of the kidneys.

The fruit known as pepones1317 are a cool and refreshing diet, and are slightly relaxing to the stomach. Applications are used of the pulpy flesh in defluxions or pains of the eyes. The root, too, of this plant cures the hard ulcers known to us as “ceria,” from their resemblance to a honeycomb, and it acts as an emetic.1318 Dried and reduced to a powder, it is given in doses of four oboli in hydromel, the patient, immediately after taking it, being made to walk half a mile. This powder is employed also in cosmetics1319 for smoothing the skin. The rind, too, has the effect1320 of promoting vomiting, and, when applied to the face, of clearing the skin; a result which is equally produced by an external application of the leaves of all the cultivated cucumbers. These leaves, mixed with honey, are employed for the cure of the pustules known as “epinyctis;”1321 steeped in wine, they are good, too, for the bites of dogs and of multipedes,1322 insects known to the Greeks by the name of “seps,”1323 of an elongated form, with hairy legs, and noxious to cattle more particularly; the sting being followed by swelling, and the wound rapidly putrifying.

The smell of the cucumber itself is a restorative1324 in fainting fits. It is a well-known fact, that if cucumbers are peeled and then boiled in oil, vinegar, and honey, they are all the more pleasant eating1325 for it.

There is found also a wild gourd, called “somphos” by the Greeks, empty within (to which circumstance it owes its name),1326 and long and thick in shape, like the finger: it grows nowhere except upon stony spots. The juice of this gourd, when chewed, is very beneficial to the stomach.1327

There is another variety of the wild gourd, known as the “colocynthis:”1328 this kind is full of seeds, but not so large as the cultivated one. The pale colocynthis is better than those of a grass-green colour. Employed by itself when dried, it acts as a very powerful1329 purgative; used as an injection, it is a remedy for all diseases of the intestines, the kidneys, and the loins, as well as for paralysis. The seed being first removed, it is boiled down in hydromel to one half; after which it is used as an injection, with perfect safety, in doses of four oboli. It is good, too, for the stomach, taken in pills composed of the dried powder and boiled honey. In jaundice seven seeds of it may be taken with beneficial effects, with a draught of hydromel immediately after.

The pulp of this fruit, taken with wormwood and salt, is a remedy for toothache, and the juice of it, warmed with vinegar, has the effect of strengthening loose teeth. Rubbed in with oil, it removes pains of the spine, loins, and hips: in addition to which, really a marvellous thing to speak of! the seeds of it, in even numbers, attached to the body in a linen cloth, will cure, it is said, the fevers to which the Greeks have given the name of “periodic.”1330 The juice, too, of the cultivated213 gourd1331 shred in pieces, applied warm, is good for ear-ache, and the flesh of the inside, used without the seed, for corns on the feet and the suppurations known to the Greeks as “apostemata.”1332 When the pulp and seeds are boiled together, the decoction is good for strengthening loose teeth, and for preventing toothache; wine, too, boiled with this plant, is curative of defluxions of the eyes. The leaves of it, bruised with fresh cypress-leaves, or the leaves alone, boiled in a vessel of potters’ clay and beaten up with goose-grease, and then applied to the part affected, are an excellent cure for wounds. Fresh shavings of the rind are used as a cooling application for gout, and burning pains in the head, in infants more particularly; they are good, too, for erysipelas,1333 whether it is the shavings of the rind or the seeds of the plant that are applied to the part affected. The juice of the scrapings, employed as a liniment with rose-oil and vinegar, moderates the burning heats of fevers; and the ashes of the dried fruit applied to burns are efficacious in a most remarkable degree.

Chrysippus, the physician, condemned the use of the gourd as a food: it is generally agreed, however, that it is extremely good1334 for the stomach, and for ulcerations of the intestines and of the bladder.

Rape, too, has its medicinal properties. Warmed, it is used as an application for the cure of chilblains,1335 in addition to which, it has the effect of protecting the feet from cold. A hot decoction of rape is employed for the cure of cold gout; and raw rape, beaten up with salt, is good for all maladies of the feet. Rape-seed, used as a liniment, and taken in drink, with wine, is said to have a salutary effect1336 against the stings of serpents,214 and various narcotic poisons; and there are many persons who attribute to it the properties of an antidote, when taken with wine and oil.

Democritus has entirely repudiated the use of rape as an article of food, in consequence of the flatulence1337 which it produces; while Diocles, on the other hand, has greatly extolled it, and has even gone so far as to say that it acts as an aphrodisiac.1338 Dionysius, too, says the same of rape, and more particularly if it is seasoned with rocket;1339 he adds, also, that roasted, and then applied with grease, it is excellent for pains in the joints.

Wild rape1340 is mostly found growing in the fields; it has a tufted top, with a white1341 seed, twice as large as that of the poppy. This plant is often employed for smoothing the skin of the face and the body generally, meal of fitches,1342 barley, wheat, and lupines, being mixed with it in equal proportions.

The root of the wild rape is applied to no useful purpose whatever.

The Greeks distinguish two kinds of turnips,1343 also, as employed in medicine. The turnip with angular stalks and a flower like that of anise, and known by them as “bunion,”1344 is215 good for promoting the menstrual discharge in females and for affections1345 of the bladder; it acts, also, as a diuretic. For these purposes, a decoction of it is taken with hydromel, or else one drachma of the juice of the plant.1346 The seed, parched, and then beaten up, and taken in warm water, in doses of four cyathi, is a good remedy for dysentery; it will stop the passage of the urine, however, if linseed is not taken with it.

The other kind of turnip is known by the name of “bunias,”1347 and bears a considerable resemblance to the radish and the rape united, the seed of it enjoying the reputation of being a remedy for poisons; hence it is that we find it employed in antidotes.

We have already said,1348 that there is also a wild radish.1349 The most esteemed is that of Arcadia, though it is also found growing in other countries as well. It is only efficacious as a diuretic, being in other respects of a heating nature. In Italy, it is known also by the name of “armoracia.”

The cultivated radish, too, in addition to what we have already said1350 of it, purges the stomach, attenuates the phlegm, acts as a diuretic, and detaches the bilious secretions. A decoction of the rind of radishes in wine, taken in the morning in doses of three cyathi, has the effect of breaking and expelling calculi of the bladder. A decoction, too, of this rind in vinegar and water, is employed as a liniment for the stings of serpents. Taken fasting in the morning with honey, radishes are good1351 for a cough. Parched radish-seed, as well as216 radishes themselves, chewed, is useful for pains in the sides.1352 A decoction of the leaves, taken in drink, or else the juice of the plant taken in doses of two cyathi, is an excellent remedy for phthiriasis. Pounded radishes, too, are employed as a liniment for inflammations1353 under the skin, and the rind, mixed with honey, for bruises of recent date. Lethargic persons1354 are recommended to eat them as hot as possible, and the seed, parched and then pounded with honey, will give relief to asthmatic patients.

Radishes, too, are useful as a remedy for poisons, and are employed to counteract the effects of the sting of the cerastes1355 and the scorpion: indeed, after having rubbed the hands with radishes or radish-seed, we may handle1356 those reptiles with impunity. If a radish is placed upon a scorpion, it will cause its death. Radishes are useful, too, in cases of poisoning by fungi1357 or henbane; and according to Nicander,1358 they are salutary against the effects of bullock’s blood,1359 when drunk. The two physicians of the name of Apollodorus, prescribe radishes to be given in cases of poisoning by mistletoe; but whereas Apollodorus of Citium recommends radish-seed pounded in water, Apollodorus of Tarentum speaks of the juice. Radishes diminish the volume of the spleen, and are beneficial for maladies of the liver and pains in the loins: taken, too, with vinegar or mustard, they are good for dropsy and lethargy,217 as well as epilepsy1360 and melancholy.1361 Praxagoras recommends that radishes should be given for the iliac passion, and Plistonicus for the cœliac1362 disease.

Radishes are good, too, for curing ulcerations of the intestines and suppurations of the thoracic organs,1363 if eaten with honey. Some persons say, however, that for this purpose they should be boiled in earth and water; a decoction which, according to them, promotes the menstrual discharge. Taken with vinegar or honey, radishes expel worms from the intestines; and a decoction of them boiled down to one-third, taken in wine, is good for intestinal hernia.1364 Employed in this way, too, they have the effect of drawing off the superfluous blood. Medius recommends them to be given boiled to persons troubled with spitting of blood, and to women who are suckling, for the purpose of increasing the milk. Hippocrates1365 recommends females whose hair falls off, to rub the head with radishes, and he says that for pains of the uterus, they should be applied to the navel.

Radishes have the effect, too, of restoring the skin, when scarred, to its proper colour; and the seed, steeped in water, and applied topically, arrests the progress of ulcers known as phagedænic.1366 Democritus regards them, taken with the food, as an aphrodisiac; and it is for this reason, perhaps, that some persons have spoken of them as being injurious to the voice. The leaves, but only those of the long radish, are said to have the effect of improving the eye-sight.

When radishes, employed as a remedy, act too powerfully, it is recommended that hyssop should be given immediately; there being an antipathy1367 between these two plants. For218 dulness of hearing, too, radish-juice is injected into the ear. To promote vomiting, it is extremely beneficial to eat radishes fasting.

The hibiscum, by some persons known as the wild mallow,1368 and by others as the “plistolochia,” bears a strong resemblance to the parsnip;1369 it is good for ulcerations of the cartilages, and is employed for the cure of fractured bones. The leaves of it, taken in water, relax the stomach; they have the effect, also, of keeping away serpents, and, employed as a liniment, are a cure for the stings of bees, wasps, and hornets. The root, pulled up before sunrise, and wrapped in wool of the colour known as “native,”1370 taken from a sheep which has just dropped a ewe lamb, is employed as a bandage for scrofulous swellings, even after they have suppurated. Some persons are of opinion, that for this purpose the root should be dug up with an implement of gold, and that care should be taken not to let it touch the ground.

Celsus,1371 too, recommends this root to be boiled in wine, and applied in cases of gout unattended with swelling.

The staphylinos, or, as some persons call it, “erratic1372 parsnip,” is another kind. The seed1373 of this plant, pounded and taken in wine, reduces swelling of the abdomen, and alleviates hysterical suffocations and pains, to such a degree as to restore the uterus to its natural condition. Used as a liniment, also, with raisin wine, it is good for pains of the bowels in females; for men, too, beaten up with an equal proportion of bread, and taken in wine, it may be found beneficial for similar pains. It219 is a diuretic also, and it will arrest the progress of phagedænic ulcers, if applied fresh with honey, or else dried and sprinkled on them with meal.

Dieuches recommends the root of it to be given, with hydromel, for affections of the liver and spleen, as also the sides, loins, and kidneys; and Cleophantus prescribes it for dysentery of long standing. Philistio says that it should be boiled in milk, and for strangury he prescribes four ounces of the root. Taken in water, he recommends it for dropsy, as well as in cases of opisthotony,1374 pleurisy, and epilepsy. Persons, it is said, who carry this plant about them, will never be stung by serpents, and those who have just eaten of it will receive no hurt from them. Mixed with axle-grease,1375 it is applied to parts of the body stung by reptiles; and the leaves of it are eaten as a remedy for indigestion.

Orpheus has stated that the staphylinos acts as a philtre,1376 most probably because, a very-well-established fact, when employed as a food, it is an aphrodisiac; a circumstance which has led some persons to state that it promotes conception. In other respects the cultivated parsnip has similar properties; though the wild kind is more powerful in its operation, and that which grows in stony soils more particularly. The seed, too, of the cultivated parsnip, taken in wine, or vinegar and water,1377 is salutary for stings inflicted by scorpions. By rubbing the teeth with the root of this plant, tooth-ache is removed.

The Syrians devote themselves particularly to the cultivation of the garden, a circumstance to which we owe the Greek proverb, “There is plenty of vegetables in Syria.”1378

220

Among other vegetables, that country produces one very similar to the staphylinos, and known to some persons as “gingidion,”1379 only that it is smaller than the staphylinos and more bitter, though it has just the same properties. Eaten either raw or boiled, it is very beneficial to the stomach, as it entirely absorbs all humours with which it may happen to be surcharged.

The wild1380 skirret, too, is very similar to the cultivated kind,1381 and is productive of similar effects. It sharpens1382 the stomach, and, taken with vinegar flavoured with silphium, or with pepper and hydromel, or else with garum, it promotes the appetite. According to Opion, it is a diuretic, and acts as an aphrodisiac.1383 Diocles is also of the same opinion; in addition to which, he says that it possesses cordial virtues for convalescents, and is extremely beneficial after frequent vomitings.

Heraclides has prescribed it against the effects of mercury,1384 and for occasional impotence, as also generally for patients when convalescent. Hicesius says that skirrets would appear to be prejudicial1385 to the stomach, because no one is able to eat three of them following; still, however, he looks upon them as beneficial to patients who are just resuming the use of wine. The juice of the cultivated skirret, taken in goats’-milk, arrests looseness of the stomach.

As the similitude which exists between their Greek names1386 has caused most persons to mistake the one for the other, we have thought it as well to give some account here of sile or hartwort,1387 though it is a plant which is very generally known. The best hartwort is that of Massilia,1388 the seed of it being broad and yellow; and the next best is that of Æthiopia, the seed of which is of a darker hue. The Cretan hartwort is the most odoriferous of the several kinds. The root of this plant has a pleasant smell; the seed of it is eaten by vultures, it is said.1389 Hartwort is useful to man for inveterate coughs, ruptures, and convulsions, being usually taken in white wine; it is employed also in cases of opisthotony, and for diseases of the liver, as well as for griping pains in the bowels and for strangury, in doses of two or three spoonfuls at a time.

The leaves of this plant are useful also, and have the effect of aiding parturition—in animals even: indeed, it is generally said that roes,1390 when about to bring forth, are in the habit of eating these leaves in particular. They are topically applied, also, in erysipelas; and either the leaves or the seed, taken fasting in the morning, are very beneficial to the digestion. Hartwort has the effect, too, of arresting looseness in cattle, either bruised and put into their drink, or else eaten by them after it has been chewed with salt. When oxen are in a diseased state, it is beaten up and poured into their food.

Elecampane,1391 too, chewed fasting, has the effect of strengthening the teeth, if, from the moment that it is plucked, it is not allowed to touch the ground: a confection of it is a cure for cough. The juice of the root boiled is an expellent of intestinal tapeworm; and dried in the shade and reduced to powder, the root1392 is curative in cases of cough, convulsions, flatulency, and affections of the trachea. It is useful too, for the bites of venomous animals; and the leaves steeped in wine are applied topically for pains in the loins.

There are no such things in existence as wild onions. The cultivated onion is employed for the cure of dimness1393 of sight, the patient being made to smell at it till tears come into the eyes: it is still better even if the eyes are rubbed with the juice. It is said, too, that onions are soporific,1394 and that they are a cure for ulcerations of the mouth, if chewed with bread. Fresh onions in vinegar, applied topically, or dried onions with wine and honey, are good for the bites of dogs, care being taken not to remove the bandage till the end of a couple of days. Applied, too, in the same way, they are good for healing excoriations. Roasted in hot ashes, many persons have applied them topically, with barley meal, for defluxions of the eyes and ulcerations of the genitals. The juice, too, is employed as an ointment for sores of the eyes, albugo,1395 and argema.1396 Mixed with honey, it is used as a liniment for the stings1397 of serpents and all kinds of ulcerous sores. In combination with woman’s milk, it is employed for affections of the ears; and in cases of singing in the ears and hardness of hearing, it is injected into those organs with goose-grease or honey.223 In cases where persons have been suddenly struck dumb, it has been administered to them to drink, mixed with water. In cases, too, of toothache, it is sometimes introduced into the mouth as a gargle for the teeth; it is an excellent remedy also for all kinds of wounds made by animals, scorpions more particularly.

In cases of alopecy1398 and itch-scab, bruised onions are rubbed on the parts affected: they are also given boiled to persons afflicted with dysentery or lumbago. Onion peelings, burnt to ashes and mixed with vinegar, are employed topically for stings of serpents and multipedes.1399

In other respects, there are remarkable differences of opinion among medical men. The more modern writers have stated that onions are good for the thoracic organs and the digestion, but that they are productive of flatulency and thirst. The school of Asclepiades maintains that, used as an aliment, onions impart a florid1400 colour to the complexion, and that, taken fasting every day, they are promoters of robustness and health; that as a diet, too, they are good for the stomach by acting upon the spirits, and have the effect of relaxing the bowels. He says, too, that, employed as a suppository, onions disperse piles, and that the juice of them, taken in combination with juice of fennel, is wonderfully beneficial in cases of incipient dropsy. It is said, too, that the juice, taken with rue and honey, is good for quinsy, and has the effect of dispelling lethargy.1401 Varro assures us that onions, pounded with salt and vinegar and then dried, will never be attacked by worms.1402

Cutleek1403 has the effect of stanching bleeding at the nose,224 the nostrils being plugged with the plant, pounded, or else mixed with nut-galls or mint. The juice of it, taken with woman’s milk, arrests floodings after a miscarriage; and it is remedial in cases even of inveterate cough, and of affections of the chest1404 and lungs. The leaves, applied topically, are employed for the cure of pimples, burns, and epinyctis1405—this last being the name given to an ulcer, known also as “syce,”1406 situate in the corner of the eye, from which there is a continual running: some persons, however, give this name to livid pustules, which cause great restlessness in the night. Other kinds of ulcers, too, are treated with leeks beaten up with honey: used with vinegar, they are extensively employed also for the bites of wild beasts, as well as of serpents and other venomous creatures. Mixed with goats’ gall, or else honied wine in equal proportions, they are used for affections of the ears, and, combined with woman’s milk, for singing in the ears. In cases of head-ache, the juice is injected into the nostrils, or else into the ear at bed-time, two spoonfuls of juice to one of honey.

This juice is taken too with pure wine,1407 for the stings of serpents and scorpions, and, mixed with a semi-sextarius of wine, for lumbago. The juice, or the leek itself, eaten as a food, is very beneficial to persons troubled with spitting of blood, phthisis, or inveterate catarrhs; in cases also of jaundice or dropsy, and for nephretic pains, it is taken in barley-water, in doses of one acetabulum of juice. The same dose, too, mixed with honey, effectually purges the uterus. Leeks are eaten, too, in cases of poisoning by fungi,1408 and are applied topically to wounds: they act also as an aphrodisiac,1409 allay thirst, and dispel the effects of drunkenness; but they have the effect of weakening the sight and causing flatulency, it is said, though, at the same time, they are not injurious to225 the stomach, and act as an aperient. Leeks impart a remarkable clearness to the voice.1410

Bulbed leek1411 produces the same effects as cut-leek,1412 but in a more powerful degree. To persons troubled with spitting of blood, the juice of it is given, with powdered nut-galls1413 or frankincense, or else gum acacia.1414 Hippocrates,1415 however, prescribes it without being mixed with anything else, and expressed himself of opinion that it has the property of opening the uterus when contracted, and that taken as an aliment by females, it is a great promoter of fecundity. Beaten up and mixed with honey, it cleanses ulcerous sores. It is good for the cure of coughs, catarrhs, and all affections of the lungs and of the trachea, whether given in the form of a ptisan, or eaten raw, the head excepted: it must be taken, however, without bread, and upon alternate days, and this even if there should be purulent expectorations.

Taken in this form, it greatly improves the voice, and acts as an aphrodisiac, and as a promoter of sleep. The heads, boiled in a couple of waters, arrest looseness of the bowels, and fluxes of long standing; and a decoction of the outer coat acts as a dye upon grey hair.1416

Garlic1417 has very powerful1418 properties, and is of great utility to persons on changes of water or locality. The very smell of it drives away serpents and scorpions, and, according to what some persons say, it is a cure for wounds made by226 every kind of wild beast, whether taken with the drink or food, or applied topically. Taken in wine, it is a remedy for the sting of the hæmorrhoïs1419 more particularly, acting as an emetic. We shall not be surprised too, that it acts as a powerful remedy for the bite of the shrew-mouse, when we find that it has the property of neutralizing aconite, otherwise known as “pardalianches.”1420 It neutralizes henbane, also, and cures the bites of dogs, when applied with honey to the wound. It is taken in drink also for the stings of serpents; and of its leaves, mixed with oil, a most valuable liniment is made for bruises on the body, even when they have swelled and formed blisters.

Hippocrates1421 is of opinion also, that fumigations made with garlic have the effect of bringing away the after-birth; and he used to employ the ashes of garlic, mixed with oil, for the cure of running ulcers of the head. Some persons have prescribed boiled garlic for asthmatic patients; while others, again, have given it raw. Diocles prescribes it, in combination with centaury, for dropsy, and to be taken in a split fig, to promote the alvine evacuations: taken fresh, however, in unmixed wine, with coriander, it is still more efficacious for that purpose. Some persons have given it, beaten up in milk, for asthma. Praxagoras used to prescribe garlic, mixed with wine, for jaundice, and with oil and pottage for the iliac passion: he employed it also in a similar form, as a liniment for scrofulous swellings of the neck.

The ancients used to give raw garlic in cases of madness, and Diocles administered it boiled for phrenitis. Beaten up, and taken in vinegar and water, it is very useful as a gargle for quinsy. Three heads of garlic, beaten up in vinegar, give relief in toothache: and a similar result is obtained by rinsing the mouth with a decoction of garlic, and inserting pieces of it in the hollow teeth. Juice of garlic is sometimes injected into the ears with goose-grease,1422 and, taken in drink, or similarly227 injected, in combination with vinegar and nitre, it arrests phthiriasis1423 and porrigo.1424 Boiled with milk, or else beaten up and mixed with soft cheese, it is a cure for catarrhs. Employed in a similar manner, and taken with pease or beans, it is good for hoarseness, but in general it is found to be more serviceable cooked than raw, and boiled than roasted: in this last state, however, it is more beneficial to the voice. Boiled in oxymel, it has the effect of expelling tape-worm and other intestinal worms; and a pottage made of it is a cure for tenesmus. A decoction of garlic is applied topically for pains in the temples; and first boiled and then beaten up with honey, it is good for blisters. A decoction of it, with stale grease, or milk, is excellent for a cough; and where persons are troubled with spitting of blood or purulent matter, it may be roasted in hot ashes, and taken with honey in equal proportions. For convulsions and ruptures it is administered in combination with salt and oil; and, mixed with grease, it is employed for the cure of suspected tumours.

Mixed with sulphur and resin, garlic draws out the humours from fistulous sores, and employed with pitch, it will extract an arrow even1425 from the wound. In cases of leprosy, lichen, and eruptions of the skin, it acts as a detergent, and effects a cure, in combination with wild marjoram, or else reduced to ashes, and applied as a liniment with oil and garum.1426 It is employed in a similar manner, too, for erysipelas; and, reduced to ashes, and mixed with honey, it restores contused or livid spots on the skin to their proper colour. It is generally believed, too, that taken in the food and drink, garlic is a cure for epilepsy, and that a clove of it, taken in astringent wine, with an obolus’ weight of silphium,1427 will have the effect of dispelling quartan fever. Garlic cures coughs also, and suppurations228 of the chest, however violent they may be; to obtain which result, another method is followed, it being boiled with broken beans, and employed as a diet till the cure is fully effected. It is a soporific also, and in general imparts to the body an additional ruddiness of colour.

Garlic acts as an aphrodisiac, beaten up with fresh coriander, and taken in pure wine. The inconveniences which result from the use of it, are dimness of the sight and flatulency; and if taken in too large quantities, it does injury to the stomach, and creates thirst. In addition to these particulars, mixed with spelt flour, and given to poultry in their food, it preserves them from attacks of the pip.1428 Beasts of burden, it is said, will void their urine all the more easily, and without any pain, if the genitals are rubbed with garlic.

The first kind of lettuce which grows spontaneously, is the one that is generally known as “goat1429-lettuce;” thrown into the sea, this vegetable has the property of instantaneously killing all the fish that come into its vicinity. The milky juice of this lettuce,1430 left to thicken and then put into vinegar, is given in doses of two oboli, with the addition of one cyathus of water, to patients for dropsy. The stalk and leaves, bruised and sprinkled with salt, are used for the cure of wounds of the sinews. Pounded with vinegar, and employed as a gargle in the morning twice a month, they act as a preventive of tooth-ache.

There is a second kind of wild lettuce, known by the Greeks229 is “cæsapon.”1431 The leaves of this lettuce, applied as a liniment with polenta,1432 are used for the cure of ulcerous sores. This plant is found growing in the fields. A third kind, again, grows in the woods; the name given to it is “isatis.”1433 The leaves of this last, beaten up and applied with polenta, are very useful for the cure of wounds. A fourth kind is used by dyers of wool; in the leaves it would resemble wild lapathum, were it not that they are more numerous and darker. This lettuce has the property of stanching blood, and of healing phagedænic sores and putrid spreading ulcers, as well as tumours before suppuration. Both the root as well as the leaves are good, too, for erysipelas; and a decoction of it is drunk for affections of the spleen. Such are the properties peculiar to each of these varieties.

The properties which are common to all the wild varieties1434 are whiteness, a stem sometimes as much as a cubit in length, and a roughness upon the stalk and leaves. Among these plants there is one with round, short leaves, known to some persons as “hieracion;”1435 from the circumstance that the hawk tears it open and sprinkles1436 its eyes with the juice, and so dispels any dimness of sight of which it is apprehensive. The juice of all these plants is white, and in its properties resembles that of the poppy.1437 It is collected at harvest-time, by230 making incisions in the stalk, and is kept in new earthen vessels, being renowned as a remedy for numerous maladies.1438 Mixed with woman’s milk, it is a cure for all diseases of the eyes, such as argema for instance, films on the eyes, scars and inflammations1439 of all kinds, and dimness of the sight more particularly. It is applied to the eyes, too, in wool, as a remedy for defluxions of those organs.

This juice also purges the bowels, taken in doses of two oboli in vinegar and water. Drunk in wine it is a cure for the stings of serpents, and the leaves and stalk of the plant are pounded and taken in vinegar. They are employed also as a liniment for wounds, the sting of the scorpion more particularly; combined, too, with oil and vinegar, they are similarly applied for the bite of the phalangium.1440 They have the effect, also, of neutralizing other poisons, with the exception of those which kill by suffocation or by attacking the bladder, as also with the exception of white lead. Steeped in oxymel, they are applied to the abdomen for the purpose of drawing out vicious humours of the intestines. The juice is found good, also, in cases of retention of the urine. Crateuas prescribes it to be given to dropsical patients, in doses of two oboli, with vinegar and one cyathus of wine.

Some persons collect the juice of the cultivated lettuce as well, but it is not so efficacious1441 as the other. We have already made mention,1442 to some extent, of the peculiar properties of the cultivated lettuce, such as promoting sleep, allaying the sexual passions, cooling the body when heated, purging1443 the stomach, and making blood. In addition to these, it possesses no few properties besides; for it has the effect of removing flatulency, and of dispelling eructations, while at the same time it promotes the digestion, without ever being indigestible itself. Indeed, there is no article of diet known that is a greater stimulant to the appetite, or which tends in a greater degree to231 modify it; it being the extent, either way, to which it is eaten that promotes these opposite results. In the same way, too, lettuces eaten in too large quantities are laxative, but taken in moderation they are binding. They have the effect, also, of attenuating the tough, viscous, phlegm, and, according to what some persons say, of sharpening the senses. They are extremely serviceable, too, to debilitated stomachs; for which purpose * *1444 oboli of sour sauce1445 is added to them, the sharpness of which is modified by the application of sweet wine, to make it of the same strength as vinegar-sauce.1446 If, again, the phlegm with which the patient is troubled is extremely tough and viscous, wine of squills or of wormwood is employed; and if there is any cough perceptible, hyssop wine is mixed as well.

Lettuces are given with wild endive for cœliac affections, and for obstructions of the thoracic organs. White lettuces, too, are prescribed in large quantities for melancholy and affections of the bladder. Praxagoras recommends them for dysentery. Lettuces are good, also, for recent burns, before blisters have made their appearance: in such cases they are applied with salt. They arrest spreading ulcers, being applied at first with saltpetre, and afterwards with wine. Beaten up, they are applied topically for erysipelas; and the stalks, beaten up with polenta, and applied with cold water, are soothing for luxations of the limbs and spasmodic contractions; used, too, with wine and polenta, they are good for pimples and eruptions. For cholera lettuces have been given, cooked in the saucepan, in which case it is those with the largest stalk and bitter that are the best: some persons administer them, also, as an injection, in milk. These stalks boiled, are remarkably good, it is said, for the stomach: the summer lettuce, too, more particularly, and the bitter, milky lettuce, of which we have already1447 made mention as the “meconis,” have a soporific effect. This juice, in combination with woman’s milk, is said to be extremely beneficial to the eyesight, if applied to the head in good time; it is a remedy,232 too, for such maladies of the eyes as result from the action of cold.

I find other marvellous praises lavished upon the lettuce, such, for instance, as that, mixed with Attic honey, it is no less beneficial for affections of the chest than abrotonum;1448 that the menstrual discharge is promoted in females by using it as a diet; that the seed, too, Of the cultivated lettuce is administered as a remedy for the stings of scorpions, and that pounded, and taken in wine, it arrests all libidinous dreams and imaginations during sleep; that water, too, which affects1449 the brain will have no injurious effects upon those who eat lettuce. Some persons have stated, however, that if lettuces are eaten too frequently they will prove injurious to the eyesight.

Nor are the two varieties of the beet without their remedial properties.1450 The root of either white or black beet, if hung by a string, fresh-gathered, and softened with water, is said to be efficacious for the stings of serpents. White beet, boiled and eaten with raw garlic, is taken for tapeworm; the root, too, of the black kind, similarly boiled in water, removes porrigo; indeed, it is generally stated, that the black beet is the more efficacious1451 of the two. The juice of black beet is good for inveterate head-aches and vertigo, and injected into the ears, it stops singing in those organs. It is a diuretic, also, and employed in injections is a cure for dysentery and jaundice.

This juice, used as a liniment, allays tooth-ache, and is good for the stings of serpents; but due care must be taken that it is extracted from this root only. A decoction, too, of beet-root is a remedy for chilblains.

A liniment of white beet-root applied to the forehead, arrests defluxions of the eyes, and mixed with a little alum it is an excellent remedy for erysipelas. Beaten up, and applied233 without oil, it is a cure for excoriations. In the same way, too, it is good for pimples and eruptions. Boiled, it is applied topically to spreading ulcers, and in a raw state it is employed in cases of alopecy, and running ulcers of the head. The juice, injected with honey into the nostrils, has the effect of clearing the head. Beet-root is boiled with lentils and vinegar, for the purpose of relaxing the bowels; if it is boiled, however, some time longer, it will have the effect of arresting fluxes of the stomach and bowels.

There is a wild beet, too, known by some persons as “limonion,”1452 and by others as “neuroides;” it has leaves much smaller and thinner than the cultivated kind, and lying closer together. These leaves amount often to eleven1453 in number, the stalk resembling that of the lily.1454 The leaves of this plant are very useful for burns, and have an astringent taste in the mouth: the seed, taken in doses of one acetabulum, is good for dysentery. It is said that a decoction of beet with the root has the property of taking stains out of cloths and parchment.

Endive,1455 too, is not without its medicinal uses. The juice of it, employed with rose oil and vinegar, has the effect of allaying headache; and taken with wine, it is good for pains in the liver and bladder: it is used, also, topically, for defluxions of the eyes. The spreading endive has received from some persons234 among us the name of “ambula.” In Egypt, the wild endive is known as “cichorium,”1456 the cultivated kind being called “seris.” This last is smaller than the other, and the leaves of it more full of veins.

Wild endive or cichorium has certain refreshing qualities,1457 used as an aliment. Applied by way of liniment, it disperses abscesses, and a decoction of it loosens the bowels. It is also very beneficial to the liver, kidneys, and stomach. A decoction of it in vinegar has the effect of dispelling the pains of strangury; and, taken in honied wine, it is a cure for the jaundice, if unattended with fever. It is beneficial, also, to the bladder, and a decoction of it in water promotes the menstrual discharge to such an extent as to bring away the dead fœtus even.

In addition to these qualities, the magicians1458 state that persons who rub themselves with the juice of the entire plant, mixed with oil, are sure to find more favour with others, and to obtain with greater facility anything they may desire. This plant, in consequence of its numerous salutary virtues, has been called by some persons “chreston,”1459 and “pancration”1460 by others.

There is a sort of wild endive, too, with a broader leaf, known to some persons as “hedypnoïs.”1461 Boiled, it acts as an astringent upon a relaxed stomach, and eaten raw, it is productive of constipation. It is good, too, for dysentery, when eaten with lentils more particularly. This variety, as well as235 the preceding one, is useful for ruptures and spasmodic contractions, and relieves persons who are suffering from spermatorrhœa.

The vegetable, too, called “seris,”1462 which bears a considerable resemblance to the lettuce, consists of two kinds. The wild, which is of a swarthy colour, and grows in summer, is the best of the two; the winter kind, which is whiter than the other, being inferior. They are both of them bitter, but are extremely beneficial to the stomach, when distressed by humours more particularly. Used as food with vinegar, they are cooling, and, employed as a liniment, they dispel other humours besides those of the stomach. The roots of the wild variety are eaten with polenta for the stomach: and in cardiac diseases they are applied topically above the left breast. Boiled in vinegar, all these vegetables are good for the gout, and for patients troubled with spitting of blood or spermatorrhœa; the decoction being taken on alternate days.

Petronius Diodotus, who has written a medical Anthology,1463 utterly condemns seris, and employs a multitude of arguments to support his views: this opinion of his is opposed, however, to that of all other writers on the subject.

It would be too lengthy a task to enumerate all the praises of the cabbage, more particularly as the physician Chrysippus has devoted a whole volume to the subject, in which its virtues are described in reference to each individual part of the human body. Dieuches has done the same, and Pythagoras too, in particular. Cato, too, has not been more sparing in its praises than the others; and it will be only right to examine the opinions which he expresses in relation to it, if for no other purpose than to learn what medicines the Roman people made use of for six hundred years.

The most ancient Greek writers have distinguished three1464 varieties of the cabbage: the curly1465 cabbage, to which they236 have given the name of “selinoïdes,”1466 from the resemblance of its leaf to that of parsley, beneficial to the stomach, and moderately relaxing to the bowels; the “helia,” with broad leaves running out from the stalk—a circumstance, owing to which some persons have given it the name of “caulodes”—of no use whatever in a medicinal point of view; and a third, the name of which is properly “crambe,” with thinner leaves, of simple form, and closely packed, more bitter than the others, but extremely efficacious in medicine.1467

Cato1468 esteems the curly cabbage the most highly of all, and next to it, the smooth cabbage with large leaves and a thick stalk. He says that it is a good thing for headache, dimness of the sight, and dazzling1469 of the eyes, the spleen, stomach, and thoracic organs, taken raw in the morning, in doses of two acetabula, with oxymel, coriander, rue, mint, and root of silphium.1470 He says, too, that the virtue of it is so great that the very person even who beats up this mixture feels himself all the stronger for it; for which reason he recommends it to be taken mixed with these condiments, or, at all events, dressed with a sauce compounded of them. For the gout, too, and diseases of the joints, a liniment of it should be used, he says, with a little rue and coriander, a sprinkling of salt, and some barley meal: the very water even in which it has been boiled is wonderfully efficacious, according to him, for the sinews and joints. For wounds, either recent or of long standing, as also for carcinoma,1471 which is incurable by any other mode of treatment, he recommends fomentations to be made with warm water, and, after that, an application of cabbage, beaten up, to the parts affected, twice a-day. He says, also, that fistulas and sprains should be treated in a similar way, as well as all humours which it may be desirable to bring to a head and disperse; and he states that this vegetable, boiled and eaten fasting, in considerable quantities, with oil237 and salt, has the effect of preventing dreams and wakefulness; also, that if, after one boiling, it is boiled a second time, with the addition of oil, salt, cummin, and polenta, it will relieve gripings1472 in the stomach; and that, if eaten in this way without bread, it is more beneficial still. Among various other particulars, he says, that if taken in drink with black wine, it has the effect of carrying off the bilious secretions; and he recommends the urine of a person who has been living on a cabbage diet to be preserved, as, when warmed, it is a good remedy for diseases of the sinews. I will, however, here give the identical words in which Cato expresses himself upon this point: “If you wash little children with this urine,” says he, “they will never be weak and puny.”

He recommends, also, the warm juice of cabbage to be injected into the ears, in combination with wine, and assures us that it is a capital remedy for deafness: and he says that the cabbage is a cure for impetigo1473 without the formation of ulcers.

As we have already given those of Cato, it will be as well to set forth the opinions entertained by the Greek writers on this subject, only in relation, however, to those points upon which he has omitted to touch. They are of opinion that cabbage, not thoroughly boiled, carries off the bile, and has the effect of loosening the bowels; while, on the other hand, if it is boiled twice over, it will act as an astringent. They say, too, that as there is a natural1474 enmity between it and the vine, it combats the effects of wine; that, if eaten before drinking, it is sure to prevent1475 drunkenness, being equally a dispellent of crapulence1476 if taken after drinking: that cabbage is a food very beneficial to the eyesight, and that the juice of it raw is even more so, if the corners of the eyes are only touched with a mixture of it with Attic honey. Cabbage, too,238 according to the same testimony, is extremely easy of digestion,1477 and, as an aliment, greatly tends to clear the senses.

The school of Erasistratus proclaims that there is nothing more beneficial to the stomach and the sinews than cabbage; for which reason, he says, it ought to be given to the paralytic and nervous, as well as to persons affected with spitting of blood. Hippocrates prescribes it, twice boiled, and eaten with salt, for dysentery and cœliac affections, as also for tenesmus and diseases of the kidneys; he is of opinion, too, that, as an aliment, it increases the quantity of the milk in women who are nursing, and that it promotes the menstrual discharge.1478 The stalk, too, eaten raw, is efficacious in expelling the dead fœtus. Apollodorus prescribes the seed or else the juice of the cabbage to be taken in cases of poisoning by fungi; and Philistion recommends the juice for persons affected with opisthotony, in goats’-milk, with salt and honey.

I find, too, that persons have been cured of the gout by eating cabbage and drinking a decoction of that plant. This decoction has been given, also, to persons afflicted with the cardiac disease and epilepsy, with the addition of salt; and it has been administered in white wine, for affections of the spleen, for a period of forty days.

According to Philistion, the juice of the raw root should be given as a gargle to persons afflicted with icterus1479 or phrenitis, and for hiccup he prescribes a mixture of it, in vinegar, with coriander, anise, honey, and pepper. Used as a liniment, cabbage, he says, is beneficial for inflations of the stomach; and the very water, even, in which it has been boiled, mixed with barley-meal, is a remedy for the stings of serpents1480 and foul ulcers of long standing; a result which is equally effected by a mixture of cabbage-juice with vinegar or fenugreek. It is in this manner, too, that some persons employ it topically, for affections of the joints and for gout. Applied topically, cabbage is a cure for epinyctis, and all kinds of spreading eruptions on the body, as also for sudden1481 attacks of dimness; indeed, if239 eaten with vinegar, it has the effect of curing the last. Applied by itself, it heals contusions and other livid spots; and mixed with a ball of alum in vinegar, it is good as a liniment for leprosy and itch-scabs: used in this way, too, it prevents the hair from falling off.

Epicharmus assures us that, applied topically, cabbage is extremely beneficial for diseases of the testes and genitals, and even better still when employed with bruised beans; he says, too, that it is a cure for convulsions; that, in combination with rue, it is good for the burning heats of fever and maladies of the stomach; and that, with rue-seed, it brings away the after-birth. It is of use, also, for the bite of the shrew-mouse. Dried cabbage-leaves, reduced to a powder, are a cathartic both by vomit and by stool.

In all varieties of the cabbage, the part most agreeable to the taste is the cyma,1482 although no use is made of it in medicine, as it is difficult to digest, and by no means beneficial to the kidneys. At the same time, too, it should not be omitted, that the water in which it has been boiled,1483 and which is so highly praised for many purposes, gives out a very bad smell when poured upon the ground. The ashes of dried cabbage-stalks are generally reckoned among the caustic substances: mixed with stale grease, they are employed for sciatica, and, used as a liniment, in the form of a depilatory, together with silphium1484 and vinegar, they prevent hair that has been once removed from growing again. These ashes, too, are taken lukewarm in oil, or else by themselves, for convulsions, internal ruptures, and the effects of falls with violence.

And are we to say then that the cabbage is possessed of no evil qualities whatever? Certainly not, for the same authors tell us, that it is apt to make the breath smell, and that it is injurious to the teeth and gums. In Egypt, too, it is never eaten, on account of its extreme bitterness.1485

Cato1486 extols infinitely more highly the properties of wild or erratic cabbage;1487 so much so, indeed, as to affirm that the very powder of it, dried and collected in a scent-box, has the property, on merely smelling at it, of removing maladies of the nostrils and the bad smells resulting therefrom. Some persons call this wild cabbage “petræa:”1488 it has an extreme antipathy to wine, so much so, indeed, that the vine invariably1489 avoids it, and if it cannot make its escape, will be sure to die. This vegetable has leaves of uniform shape, small, rounded, and smooth: bearing a strong resemblance to the cultivated cabbage, it is whiter, and has a more downy1490 leaf.

According to Chrysippus, this plant is a remedy for flatulency, melancholy, and recent wounds, if applied with honey, and not taken off before the end of six days: beaten up in water, it is good also for scrofula and fistula. Other writers, again, say that it is an effectual cure for spreading sores on the body, known as “nomæ;” that it has the property, also, of removing excrescences, and of reducing the scars of wounds and sores; that if chewed raw with honey, it is a cure for ulcers of the mouth and tonsils; and that a decoction of it used as a gargle with honey, is productive of the same effect. They say, too, that, mixed in strong vinegar with alum, in the proportion of three parts to two of alum, and then applied as a liniment, it is a cure for itch scabs and leprous sores of long standing. Epicharmus informs us, that for the bite of a mad dog, it is quite sufficient to apply it topically to the part affected, but that if used with silphium and strong vinegar, it is better still: he says, too, that it will kill a dog, if given to it with flesh to eat.

The seed of this plant, parched, is remedial in cases of poisoning,241 by the stings of serpents, eating fungi, and drinking bulls’ blood. The leaves of it, either boiled and taken in the food or else eaten raw, or applied with a liniment of sulphur and nitre, are good for affections of the spleen, as well as hard tumours of the mamillæ. In swelling of the uvula, if the parts affected are only touched with the ashes of the root, a cure will be the result; and applied topically with honey, they are equally beneficial for reducing swellings of the parotid glands, and curing the stings of serpents. We will add only one more proof of the virtues of the cabbage, and that a truly marvellous one—in all vessels in which water is boiled, the incrustations which adhere with such tenacity that it is otherwise impossible to detach them, will fall off immediately if a cabbage is boiled therein.

Among the wild cabbages, we find also the lapsana,1491 a plant which grows a foot in height, has a hairy leaf, and strongly resembles mustard, were it not that the blossom is whiter. It is eaten cooked, and has the property of soothing and gently relaxing the bowels.

Sea-cabbage1492 is the most strongly purgative of all these plants. It is cooked, in consequence of its extreme pungency, with fat meat, and is extremely detrimental to the stomach.

In medicine, we give the name of white squill to the male plant, and of black1493 to the female: the whiter the squill, the better it is for medicinal1494 purposes. The dry coats being first taken off of it, the remaining part, or so much of it as retains life, is cut into pieces, which are then strung and suspended242 on a string, at short distances from each other. After these pieces are thoroughly dried, they are thrown into a jar of the very strongest vinegar, suspended in such a way, however, as not to touch any portion of the vessel. This is done forty-eight days before the summer solstice. The mouth of the jar is then tightly sealed with plaster; after which it is placed beneath some tiles which receive the rays of the sun the whole day through. At the end of forty-eight days the vessel is removed, the squills are taken out of it, and the vinegar poured into another jar.

This vinegar has the effect of sharpening the eyesight, and, taken every other day, is good for pains in the stomach and sides: the strength of it, however, is so great, that if taken in too large a quantity, it will for some moments produce all the appearance of death. Squills, too, if chewed by themselves even, are good for the gums and teeth; and taken in vinegar and honey they expel tapeworm and other intestinal worms. Put fresh beneath the tongue, they prevent persons afflicted with dropsy from experiencing thirst.

Squills are cooked in various ways; either in a pot with a lining of clay or grease, which is put into an oven or furnace, or else cut into pieces and stewed in a saucepan. They are dried also in a raw state, and then cut into pieces and boiled with vinegar; in which case, they are employed as a liniment for the stings of serpents. Sometimes, again, they are roasted and then cleaned; after which, the middle of the bulb is boiled again in water.

When thus boiled, they are used for dropsy, as a diuretic, being taken in doses of three oboli, with oxymel: they are employed also in a similar manner for affections of the spleen, and of the stomach, when it is too weak to digest the food, provided no ulcerations have made their appearance; also for gripings of the bowels, jaundice, and inveterate cough, accompanied with asthma. A cataplasm of squill leaves, taken off at the end of four days, has the effect of dispersing scrofulous swellings of the neck; and a decoction of squills in oil, applied as a liniment, is a cure for dandriff and running ulcers of the head.