Chapter IX: Book XVIII: The Natural History of Grain (3)

Lucerne[301] 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 thirty[303] 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 spot 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 six[306] 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 spoken[307] 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.

CHAP. 44. (17.)—THE DISEASES OF GRAIN: THE OAT.

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, will 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 three[309] 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, breed[310] 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 grass[314] that grows in the fields, very similar to panic in appearance, but fatal to cattle. As to 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 vine[320] 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 weight[321] 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 it[322] 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 resemblance[326] 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, and 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.

CHAP. 45.—THE BEST REMEDIES FOR THE DISEASES OF GRAIN.

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. Virgil[331] 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 modius of shelled[332] beans. Other seeds, again, it is said, will be exempt from the attacks of maggots, if bruised cypress[333] 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 certain[336] 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 are 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 larger[339] 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.

CHAP. 46.—THE CROPS THAT SHOULD BE SOWN IN THE DIFFERENT SOILS.

This, then, is the opinion expressed by Cato[340] 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 land[341] 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 is 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 year[344] in which Hannibal was vanquished: on that occasion, we find it stated, corn was seen growing upon trees.[345]

CHAP. 47.—THE DIFFERENT SYSTEMS OF CULTIVATION EMPLOYED BY VARIOUS NATIONS.

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 very 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, Egypt[348] 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 of 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 be regulated by the oracular precept—“Remember that every locality has its own tendencies.”

CHAP. 48.—THE VARIOUS KINDS OF PLOUGHS.

Ploughs are of various kinds. The coulter[350] 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 Gaul[352] 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 harrows[354] 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.

CHAP. 49. (19.)—THE MODE OF PLOUGHING.

In ploughing, the most rigid attention should be paid to the oracular precepts given by Cato[355] 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 rules[356]—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.

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 transversely[359] only, the point of the share inclining upwards at one moment and downwards[360] 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 repeated 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.

CHAP. 50. (21.)—THE METHODS OF HARROWING, STUBBING, AND HOEING, EMPLOYED FOR EACH DESCRIPTION OF GRAIN. THE USE OF THE HARROW.

For winter wheat, spelt, wheat, zea,[368] and barley, harrow, hoe and stub upon the days which will be mentioned[369] 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 harrow[371] 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. Virgil[372] 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, circumstances 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.

CHAP. 51. (22.)—EXTREME FERTILITY OF SOIL.

There is a city of Africa, situate in the midst of the sands as you journey towards the Syrtes and Great Leptis, Tacape[374] 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 cubit[375] 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.

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 ascertained[377] 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.

CHAP. 52. (23.)—THE METHOD OF SOWING MORE THAN ONCE IN THE YEAR.

If the soil is of that nature which we have already[378] 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.

CHAP. 53.—THE MANURING OF LAND.

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 is 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.

CHAP. 54. (24.)—HOW TO ASCERTAIN THE QUALITY OF SEED.

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—beyond 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 bottom[387] 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 same[389] 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 time[390] with the step, moving always with the right foot. There are certain persons, also, who have a secret method[391] of their own, having been born[392] 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 cold 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.

CHAP. 55.—WHAT QUANTITY OF EACH KIND OF GRAIN IS REQUISITE FOR SOWING A JUGERUM.

[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 mentioned[394] 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 observed[397]—“Don’t rob the harvest.”[398] Attius, in his Praxidicus,[399] has added that the proper time for sowing is, 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.

CHAP. 56.—THE PROPER TIMES FOR SOWING.

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. Virgil[401] 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 should 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 winds[405] 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 uninformed 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.

CHAP. 57. (25.)—ARRANGEMENT OF THE STARS ACCORDING TO THE TERRESTRIAL DAYS AND NIGHTS.

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, 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 Virgil[414] 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 February[416] 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 having been made for twelve[418] 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 Stars[420]—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, 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, Asia[422] 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 influence[425] of the sun, and that the characteristics of the seasons are developed in excess every eighth year, at the revolution of every hundredth moon.

CHAP. 58.—THE RISING AND SETTING OF THE STARS.

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 disappearance 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.

CHAP. 59.—THE EPOCHS OF THE SEASONS.