THE NATURE AND CULTIVATION OF FLAX, AND AN ACCOUNT OF VARIOUS GARDEN
PLANTS.
CHAP. 1.—THE NATURE OF FLAX—MARVELLOUS FACTS RELATIVE THERETO.
We have now imparted a knowledge[801] 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 marvels[803] revealed to
us than in this? To think that here is a plant which brings Egypt in
close proximity to Italy!—so much so, in fact, that Galerius[804] 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, and[806] * * * that it is rendered subservient to his purposes.
The inventor of this art has been 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 execrations[808] to be
found that can equal his demerits!
It is only in the preceding Book[809] 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 scorching[811] the
ground where it is grown, and of deteriorating the quality of the very
soil itself.
CHAP. 2. (1.)—HOW FLAX IS SOWN: TWENTY-SEVEN PRINCIPAL VARIETIES OF IT.
Flax is mostly sown in sandy[812] soils, and after a single ploughing
only. There is no plant that grows more rapidly[813] 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 Serrani[822] for the women
never to wear garments of linen. In Germany it is in caves[823] 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 Sætabis[824] claiming the
first, and those of Retovium[825] and of Faventia, 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 nap[826] 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 Tarraco[827] there. The fineness, too, of this
linen is quite marvellous, and here it is that the first manufactories
of cambric[828] were established. From the same province, too, of
Spain, the flax of Zoëla[829] 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 remarkable[831]
as to allow of being 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 Cadurci[832] 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 strong[836] 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 the 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 already[840] mentioned, from gourds that grow upon
trees.
CHAP. 3.—THE MODE OF PREPARING FLAX.
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 medicinal[841] 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: 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
which[842] 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 honourable[843] 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.
CHAP. 4.—LINEN MADE OF ASBESTOS.
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, napkins[845] that were made of it 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 grows[846] 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.
Anaxilaüs[849] 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 formerly 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.
CHAP. 5.—AT WHAT PERIOD LINEN WAS FIRST DYED.
Attempts, too, have even been made to dye linen, and to make it assume
the frivolous colours[854] 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.
CHAP. 6.—AT WHAT PERIOD COLOURED AWNINGS WERE FIRST EMPLOYED IN THE
THEATRES.
In more recent[855] 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 linen[856] over the
theatre, at the celebration of the Games in honour of Apollo. After
this, Cæsar, 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 court[857] of our houses are generally red: one reason
for employing them is to protect the moss that grows there from the
rays[858] 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 cuirasses[860] 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.
CHAP. 7. (2.)—THE NATURE OF SPARTUM.
For the fact is that spartum[862] did not begin to be employed 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 Carthage[865] 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 making[866]
their beds; with it they kindle their fires also, and prepare their
torches; shoes[867] 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 May[869] and those of June, that being the period
at which it is perfectly ripe.
CHAP. 8.—THE MODE OF PREPARING SPARTUM.
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 sun 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.
CHAP. 9.—AT WHAT PERIOD SPARTUM WAS FIRST EMPLOYED.
The Greeks used formerly to employ the rush for making ropes; so, at
least, we are led to believe, from the name[870] 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.
CHAP. 10.—THE BULB ERIOPHORUS.
Theophrastus[871] informs us, that there is a kind of bulb, which
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 no[873] 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
already[874] alluded on other occasions: from this it would appear that
spartum has come into use since his day.
CHAP. 11.—PLANTS WHICH SPRING UP AND GROW WITHOUT A ROOT—PLANTS WHICH
GROW, BUT CANNOT BE REPRODUCED FROM SEED.
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 callous[876]
concretion of the earth.
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 much[877] 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
Africa[878] 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]
CHAP. 12. (3.)—MISY; ITON; AND GERANION.
Of a similar nature, too, is the vegetable production known in the
province of Cyrenaica by the name of “misy,”[881] remarkable for the
sweetness of its smell and taste, but more fleshy than the truffle: the
same, too, as to the iton[882] of the Thracians, and the geranion of
the Greeks.
CHAP. 13.—PARTICULARS CONNECTED WITH THE TRUFFLE.
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, thunder[883] 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.
CHAP. 14.—THE PEZICA.
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.
CHAP. 15.—LASERPITIUM, LASER, AND MASPETUM.
Next to these, laserpitium[886] claims our notice, a very remarkable
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 stalk[888] 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 shoot[889] 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 inferior[891]
to that of Cyrenaica; and even then it is extensively adulterated
with gum, sacopenium,[892] or pounded beans. I ought the less then
to omit the facts, that in the consulship[893] 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 eating[895] 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. Upon 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
laserpitium[899] 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.
CHAP. 16.—MAGYDARIS.
There is another[900] 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. There 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]
CHAP. 17.—MADDER.
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]
CHAP. 18.—THE RADICULA.
The plant known to us by the name of “radicula,”[909] is the 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 ferulaceous[911] 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.
CHAP. 19. (4.)—THE PLEASURES OF THE GARDEN.
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 Adonis[914] and Alcinoüs,[915] 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 Superbus[917] 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 effects[919] 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 connoisseur[921] 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 garden[923] 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 the deep, and to seek each kind of oyster at the risk
and peril of shipwreck, to go searching for birds beyond the river
Phasis[925] 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 through[930] 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 marrow[931] 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 destined 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
pounds[934] 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 forbidden[935] 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
Rome 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 used 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.
CHAP. 20.—THE LAYING OUT OF GARDEN GROUND.
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.
CHAP. 21.—PLANTS OTHER THAN GRAIN AND SHRUBS.
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.
CHAP. 22.—THE NATURAL HISTORY OF TWENTY DIFFERENT KINDS OF PLANTS
WHICH GROW IN GARDENS—THE PROPER METHODS TO BE FOLLOWED IN SOWING THEM
RESPECTIVELY.
Of some plants the fruits[943] 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,” anise[947] and mallows, for instance; indeed, we find
it stated by some writers that in Arabia[948] the mallow becomes
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-tree[949] 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 hemp[950] also.
There are some plants, again, to which we must give the appellation of
“fleshy;”[951] such as those spongy[952] productions which are found
growing in damp meadows. As to the fungus, with a hard, tough flesh, we
have already[953] 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]
CHAP. 23. (5.)—VEGETABLES OF A CARTILAGINOUS NATURE—CUCUMBERS. PEPONES.
The cucumber[955] 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, that the cucumber ought to be propagated from seed that has
been steeped[957] 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 green[958] 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 difficult[961] 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 surprising 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.
Columella[965] 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 fond[967] 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.
CHAP. 24.—GOURDS.
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. Both cucumbers and gourds
are sown in holes a foot and a half[969] deep, between the vernal
equinox and the summer solstice, at the time of the Parilia[970] 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
than[975] nine feet in length.
The cucumber flowers gradually, blossom succeeding blossom; and it
adapts itself perfectly well to a dry soil. It is 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 food[976] 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 casks[977] 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 remarkable[978] 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 preserving[979] 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 shaded 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 wild[980] 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.
CHAP. 25.—RAPE. TURNIPS.
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 treated[981]
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 turnip[985] 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;
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 City[991]
are held in the next degree of esteem. The other particulars connected
with the sowing of the turnip have been already mentioned[992] by us
when speaking of the rape.
CHAP. 26.—RADISHES.
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 flatulent[993]
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 oil[995] that is extracted from the seed. Indeed, 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 radish[996] 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 Algidan[997] 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, 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 nitre[1004] 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.
Medical men recommend raw radishes to be eaten fasting, with salt, for
the purpose[1005] 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 phthiriasis[1006] 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 radish[1007] and the vine; which last will shrink from the
radish, if sown in its vicinity.
CHAP. 27.—PARSNIPS.
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 grows spontaneously; by
the Greeks it is known as “staphylinos.”[1008] Another kind[1009] 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 hibiscum[1010] 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 occasion[1012]
to mention it among the medicinal plants.
CHAP. 28.—THE SKIRRET.
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 pungency
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.
CHAP. 29.—ELECAMPANE.
Elecampane[1015] 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
modifying[1016] 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 boiled[1017] 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 Julia[1018]
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, as it throws out its shoots to a very considerable
distance.[1019] Skirrets, however, are best transplanted.
CHAP. 30.—BULBS, SQUILLS, AND ARUM.