speaking in high terms of those of Megara,[1021] recommends most
particularly for cultivation. Among these bulbs, the squill,[1022]
we find, occupies the very highest rank, although by nature it is
medicinal, and is employed for imparting an additional sharpness to
vinegar:[1023] indeed, there is no bulb known that grows to a larger
size than this, or is possessed of a greater degree of pungency.
There are two varieties of it employed in medicine, the male squill,
which has white leaves, and the female squill, with black[1024] ones.
There is a third kind also, which is good to eat, and is known as
the Epimenidian[1025] squill; the leaf is narrower than in the other
kinds, and not so rough. All the squills have numerous seeds, but they
come up much more quickly if propagated from the offsets that grow on
the sides. To make them attain a still greater size, the large leaves
that grow around them are turned down and covered over with earth; by
which method all the juices are carried to the heads. Squills grow
spontaneously and in vast numbers in the Baleares and the island of
Ebusus, and in the Spanish provinces.[1026] The philosopher Pythagoras
has written a whole volume on the merits of this plant, setting forth
its various medicinal properties; of which we shall have occasion to
speak more at length in the succeeding Book.[1027]
The other species of bulbs are distinguished by their colour, size,
and sweetness; indeed, there are some that are eaten raw even—those
found in the Tauric Chersonesus, for instance. Next to these, the
bulbs of Africa are held in the highest esteem, and after them those
of Apulia. The Greeks have distinguished the following varieties: the
bulbine,[1028] the setanion,[1029] the opition,[1030] the cyix,[1031]
the leucoion,[1032] the ægilips,[1033] and the sisyrinchion[1034]—in
the last there is this remarkable feature, that the extremities of
the roots increase in winter, but during the spring, when the violet
appears, they diminish in size and gradually contract, and then it is
that the bulb begins to increase in magnitude.
Among the varieties of the bulb, too, there is the plant known in Egypt
by the name of “aron.”[1035] In size it is very nearly as large as
the squill, with a leaf like that of lapathum, and a straight stalk a
couple of cubits in length, and the thickness of a walking-stick: the
root of it is of a milder nature, so much so, indeed, as to admit of
being eaten raw.
Bulbs are taken up before the spring, for if not, they are apt to spoil
very quickly. It is a sign that they are ripe when the leaves become
dry at the lower extremities. When too old they are held in disesteem;
the same, too, with the long and the smaller ones; those, on the other
hand, which are red and round are greatly preferred, as also those of
the largest size. In most of them there is a certain degree of pungency
in the upper part, but the middle is sweet. The ancients have stated
that bulbs are reproduced from seed only, but in the champaign country
of Præneste they grow spontaneously, and they grow to an unlimited
extent in the territory of the Remi.[1036]
CHAP. 31. (6.)—THE ROOTS, FLOWERS, AND LEAVES OF ALL THESE PLANTS.
GARDEN PLANTS WHICH LOSE THEIR LEAVES.
Nearly all[1037] the garden plants have a single[1038] root only,
radishes, beet, parsley, and mallows, for example; it is lapathum,
however, that has the longest root of them all, it attaining the length
of three cubits even. The root of the wild kind is smaller and of a
humid nature, and when up it will keep alive for a considerable period.
In some of these plants, however, the roots are fibrous, as we find the
case in parsley and mallows, for instance; in others, again, they are
of a ligneous nature, as in ocimum, for example; and in others they
are fleshy, as in beet, and in saffron even more so. In some, again,
the root is composed of rind and flesh, as in the radish and the rape;
while in others it is jointed, as in hay grass.[1039] Those plants
which have not a straight root throw out immediately a great number of
hairy fibres, orage[1040] and blite,[1041] for instance: squills again,
bulbs, onions, and garlic never have any but a vertical root. Among the
plants that grow spontaneously, there are some which have more numerous
roots than leaves, spalax,[1042] for example, pellitory,[1043] and
saffron.[1044]
Wild thyme, southernwood, turnips, radishes, mint, and rue blossom
all[1045] at once; while others, again, shed their blossom directly
they have begun to flower. Ocimum[1046] blossoms gradually, beginning
at the lower parts, and hence it is that it is so very long in blossom:
the same is the case, too, with the plant known as heliotropium.[1047]
In some plants the flower is white, in others yellow, and in
others purple. The leaves fall first[1048] from the upper part in
wild-marjoram and elecampane, and in rue[1049] sometimes, when it has
been injured accidentally. In some plants the leaves are hollow, the
onion and the scallion,[1050] more particularly.
CHAP. 32.—VARIETIES OF THE ONION.
Garlic and onions[1051] are invoked by the Egyptians,[1052] when
taking an oath, in the number of their deities. The Greeks have many
varieties[1053] of the onion, the Sardian onion, the Samothracian,
the Alsidenian, the setanian, the schistan, and the Ascalonian,[1054]
so called from Ascalon,[1055] a city of Judæa. They have, all of
them, a pungent smell, which[1056] draws tears from the eyes, those
of Cyprus more particularly, and those of Cnidos the least of all. In
all of them the body is composed of a cartilage of an unctuous[1057]
nature. The variety known as the setanian is the smallest of them all,
with the exception of the Tusculan[1058] onion, but it is sweet to
the taste. The schistan[1059] and the Ascalonian kinds are used for
storing. The schistan onion is left during the winter with the leaves
on; in the spring it is stripped of them, upon which offsets make
their appearance at the same divisions as the leaves; it is to this
circumstance that this variety owes its name. Taking the hint from this
fact, it is recommended to strip the other kinds of their leaves, to
make them bulb all the better, instead of running to seed.
The Ascalonian onion is of a peculiar nature, being barren in some
measure in the root; hence it is that the Greeks have recommended it
to be reproduced from seed, and not from roots: the transplanting,
too, they say, should be done later in the spring, at the time the
plant germinates, the result being that it bulbs with all the greater
rapidity, and hastens, as it were, to make up for lost time; great
dispatch, however, is requisite in taking it up, for when ripe it rots
with the greatest rapidity. If propagated from roots, it throws out a
long stalk, runs rapidly to seed, and dies.
There are considerable differences, too, in the colour of the onion;
the whitest of all are those grown at Issus and Sardes. The onions,
too, of Crete are held in high esteem, but there is some doubt whether
they are not the same as the Ascalonian variety; for when grown from
seed they produce a fine bulb, but when planted they throw out a long
stalk and run to seed; in fact, they differ from the Ascalonian kind
only in the sweetness of their flavour.
Among us there are two principal varieties known of the onion; the
scallion, employed for seasonings, is one, known to the Greeks by the
name of “gethyon,” and by us as the “pallacana;” it is sown in March,
April, and May. The other kind is the bulbed or headed[1060] onion;
it is sown just after the autumnal equinox, or else after the west
winds have begun to prevail. The varieties of this last kind, ranged
according to their relative degrees of pungency, are the African onion,
the Gallic, the Tusculan, the Ascalonian, and the Amiternian: the
roundest in shape are the best. The red onion, too, is more pungent
than the white, the stored than the fresh, the raw than the cooked,
and the dried than the preserved. The onion of Amiternum is cultivated
in cold, humid localities, and is the only one that is reproduced from
heads,[1061] like garlic, the other kinds being grown from seed. This
last kind yields no seed in the ensuing summer, but a bulb only, which
dries and keeps; but in the summer after, the contrary is the case,
for seed is produced, while the bulb very quickly spoils. Hence it is
that every year there are two separate sowings, one of seed for the
reproduction of bulbs, and one of bulbs for the growth of seed; these
onions keep best in chaff. The scallion has hardly any bulb at all, but
a long neck only—hence it is nothing but leaf, and is often cut down,
like the leek; for this reason, too, like the leek, it is grown from
seed, and not from plants.
In addition to these particulars, it is recommended that the ground
intended for sowing onions should be turned up three times, care being
taken to remove all roots and weeds; ten pounds of seed is the proper
proportion for a jugerum. Savory too, they say, should be mixed with
them, the onions being all the finer for it; the ground, too, should
be stubbed and hoed four times at least, if not oftener. In Italy, the
Ascalonian onion is sown in the month of February. The seed of the
onion is gathered when it begins to turn black, and before it becomes
dry and shrivelled.
CHAP. 33.—THE LEEK.
While upon this subject, it will be as well, too, to speak of the
leek,[1062] on account of the affinity which it bears to the plants
just mentioned, and more particularly because cut-leek has recently
acquired considerable celebrity from the use made of it by the Emperor
Nero. That prince, to improve his voice,[1063] used to eat leeks and
oil every month, upon stated days, abstaining from every other kind
of food, and not touching so much as a morsel of bread even. Leeks
are reproduced from seed, sown just after the autumnal equinox; if
they are intended for cutting,[1064] the seed is sown thicker than
otherwise. The leeks in the same bed are cut repeatedly, till it is
quite exhausted, and they are always kept well manured. If they are
wanted to bulb before being cut, when they have grown to some size they
are transplanted to another bed, the extremities of the leaves being
snipped off without touching the white part, and the heads stripped of
the outer coats. The ancients were in the habit of placing a stone or
potsherd upon the leek, to make the head grow all the larger, and the
same with the bulbs as well; but at the present day it is the usual
practice to move the fibrous roots gently with the weeding-hook, so
that by being bent they may nourish the plant, and not withdraw the
juices from it.
It is a remarkable fact, that, though the leek stands in need of
manure and a rich soil, it has a particular aversion to water; and
yet its nature depends very much upon the natural properties of the
soil. The most esteemed leeks are those grown in Egypt, and next to
them those of Ostia and Aricia.[1065] Of the leek for cutting, there
are two varieties: that with grass-green[1066] leaves and incisions
distinctly traced on them, and the leek with paler and rounder leaves,
the incisions being more lightly marked. There is a story told,
that Mela,[1067] a member of the Equestrian order, being accused of
mal-administration by order of the Emperor Tiberius, swallowed in his
despair leek-juice to the amount of three denarii in weight of silver,
and expired upon the spot without the slightest symptom of pain. It
is said, however, that a larger dose than this is productive of no
injurious effects whatever.[1068]
CHAP. 34.—GARLIC.
Garlic[1069] is generally supposed, in the country more particularly,
to be a good specific[1070] for numerous maladies. The external coat
consists of membranes of remarkable fineness, which are universally
discarded when the vegetable is used; the inner part being formed by
the union of several cloves, each of which has also a separate coat of
its own. The flavour of it is pungent, and the more numerous the cloves
the more pungent it is. Like the onion, it imparts an offensive smell
to the breath; but this is not the case when it is cooked. The various
species of garlic are distinguished by the periods at which they ripen:
the early kind becomes fit for use in sixty days. Another distinction,
too, is formed by the relative size of the heads. Ulpicum,[1071] also,
generally known to the Greeks as “Cyprian garlic,” belongs to this
class; by some persons it is called “antiscorodon,” and in Africa
more particularly it holds a high rank among the dishes of the rural
population; it is of a larger size than ordinary garlic. When beaten
up with oil and vinegar, it is quite surprising what a quantity of
creaming foam is produced.
There are some persons who recommend that neither ulpicum nor garlic
should be sown on level ground, but say that they should be planted in
little mounds trenched up, at a distance of three feet apart. Between
each clove, they say, there should be a distance of four fingers left,
and as soon as ever three leaves are visible, the heads should be hoed;
the oftener they are hoed, the larger the size they will attain. When
they begin to ripen, the stalks are bent downwards, and covered over
with earth, a precaution which effectually prevents them from running
to leaf. In cold soils, it is considered better to plant them in spring
than in autumn.
For the purpose of depriving all these plants of their strong smell,
it is recommended to set them when the moon is below the horizon, and
to take them up when she is in conjunction. Independently of these
precautions, we find Menander, one of the Greek writers, recommending
those who have been eating garlic to eat immediately afterwards a
root of beet roasted on hot coals; if this is done, he says, the
strong smell of the garlic will be effectually neutralized. Some
persons are of opinion, that the proper period for planting garlic and
ulpicum is between the festival of the Compitalia[1072] and that of
the Saturnalia.[1073] Garlic, too, can be grown from seed, but it is
very slow, in such case, in coming to maturity; for in the first year,
the head attains the size only of that of a leek, in the second, it
separates into cloves, and only in the third it arrives at maturity;
there are some, however, who think that garlic grown this way is the
best. Garlic should never be allowed to run to seed, but the stalk
should be twisted, to promote its growth, and to make the head attain a
larger size.
If garlic or onions are wanted to keep some time, the heads should
be dipped in salt water, made luke-warm; by doing this, they will be
all the better for keeping, though quite worthless for reproduction.
Some persons content themselves with hanging them over burning coals,
and are of opinion that this is quite sufficient to prevent them from
sprouting: for it is a well-known fact, that both garlic and onions
sprout when out of the ground, and that after throwing out their thin
shoots they shrivel away to nothing. Some persons are of opinion, too,
that the best way of keeping garlic is by storing it in chaff. There is
a kind[1074] of garlic that grows spontaneously in the fields, and is
known by the name of “alum.” To preserve the seeds that are sown there
from the remorseless ravages of the birds, this plant is scattered over
the ground, being first boiled, to prevent it from shooting. As soon
as ever they have eaten of it, the birds become so stupefied as to be
taken with the hand even,[1075] and if they remain but a few moments
only on the spot, they fall fast asleep. There is a wild garlic, too,
generally known as “bear’s” garlic;[1076] it has exactly the smell of
millet, with a very small head and large leaves.
CHAP. 35. (7.)—THE NUMBER OF DAYS REQUIRED FOR THE RESPECTIVE PLANTS TO
MAKE THEIR APPEARANCE ABOVE GROUND.
Among the garden[1077] plants which make their appearance most speedily
above ground, are ocimum, blite, the turnip, and rocket; for they
appear above the surface the third day after they are sown. Anise,
again, comes up on the fourth day, the lettuce on the fifth, the radish
on the sixth, the cucumber and the gourd on the seventh—the cucumber
rather the first of the two—cresses and mustard on the fifth, beet on
the sixth day in summer and the tenth in winter, orage on the eighth,
onions on the nineteenth or twentieth, and scallions on the tenth or
twelfth. Coriander, again, is more stubborn in its growth, cunila and
wild marjoram do not appear till after the thirtieth day, and parsley
comes up with the greatest difficulty of all, for at the very earliest
it is forty days before it shows itself, and in most instances as much
as fifty.
The age,[1078] too, of the seed is of some importance in this respect;
for fresh seed comes up more rapidly in the case of the leek, the
scallion, the cucumber, and the gourd, while in that of parsley, beet,
cardamum, cunila, wild marjoram, and coriander, seed that has been kept
for some time is the best.
There is one remarkable circumstance[1079] in connection with the
seed of beet; it does not all germinate in the first year, but some
of it in the second, and some in the third even; hence it is that a
considerable quantity of seed produces only a very moderate crop. Some
plants produce only in the year in which they are set, and some, again,
for successive years, parsley, leeks, and scallions[1080] for instance;
indeed, these plants, when once sown, retain their fertility, and
produce for many years.
CHAP. 36.—THE NATURE OF THE VARIOUS SEEDS.
In most plants the seed is round, in some oblong; it is broad and
foliaceous in some, orage for instance, while in others it is narrow
and grooved, as in cummin. There are differences, also, in the colour
of seeds, which is either black or white; while some seeds are woody
and hard, in radishes, mustard, and rape, the seeds are enclosed in
pods. In parsley, coriander, anise, fennel, and cummin, the seed has
no covering at all, while in blite, beet, orage, and ocimum, it has
an outer coat, and in the lettuce it is covered with a fine down.
There is no seed more prolific than that of ocimum;[1081] it is
generally recommended[1082] to sow it with the utterance of curses and
imprecations, the result being that it grows all the better for it;
the earth, too, is rammed down when it is sown, and prayers offered
that the seed may never come up. The seeds which are enveloped in an
outer coat, are dried with considerable difficulty, that of ocimum more
particularly; hence it is that all these seeds are dried artificially,
their fruitfulness being greatly promoted thereby.
Plants in general come up better when the seed is sown in heaps than
when it is scattered broad-cast: leeks, in fact, and parsley are
generally grown by sowing the seed in little bags;[1083] in the case
of parsley, too, a hole is made with the dibble, and a layer of manure
inserted.
All garden plants grow either from seed or from slips, and some from
both seed and suckers, such as rue, wild marjoram, and ocimum,[1084]
for example—this last being usually cut when it is a palm in height.
Some kinds, again, are reproduced from both seed and root, as in the
case of onions, garlic, and bulbs, and those other plants of which,
though annuals themselves, the roots retain their vitality. In those
plants which grow from the root, it lives for a considerable time,
and throws out offsets, as in bulbs, scallions, and squills for
example.—Others, again, throw out offsets, though not from a bulbous
root, such as parsley and beet, for instance. When the stalk is cut,
with the exception[1085] of those which have not a rough stem, nearly
all these plants put forth fresh shoots, a thing that may be seen in
ocimum,[1086] the radish,[1087] and the lettuce,[1088] which are in
daily use among us; indeed, it is generally thought that the lettuce
which is grown from a fresh sprouting, is the sweetest. The radish,
too, is more pleasant eating when the leaves have been removed before
it has begun to run to stalk. The same is the case, too, with rape;
for when the leaves are taken off, and the roots well covered up with
earth, it grows all the larger for it, and keeps in good preservation
till the ensuing summer.
CHAP. 37.—PLANTS OF WHICH THERE IS BUT A SINGLE KIND. PLANTS OF WHICH
THERE ARE SEVERAL KINDS.
Of ocimum, lapathum, blite, cresses, rocket, orage, coriander, and
anise respectively, there is but a single kind, these plants being
the same everywhere, and no better in one place than in another. It
is the general belief that stolen[1089] rue grows the best, while, on
the other hand, bees[1090] that have been stolen will never thrive.
Wild mint, cat-mint, endive, and pennyroyal, will grow even without
any cultivation. With reference to the plants of which we have already
spoken, or shall have occasion to speak, there are numerous varieties
of many of them, parsley more particularly.
(8.) As to the kind of parsley[1091] which grows spontaneously in moist
localities, it is known by the name of “helioselinum;”[1092] it has a
single leaf[1093] only, and is not rough at the edges. In dry places,
we find growing the kind known as “hipposelinum,”[1094] consisting
of numerous leaves, similar to helioselinum. A third variety is the
oreoselinum,[1095] with leaves like those of hemlock, and a thin, fine,
root, the seed being similar to that of anise, only somewhat smaller.
The differences, again, that are found to exist in cultivated
parsley,[1096] consist in the comparative density of the leaves, the
crispness or smoothness of their edges, and the thinness or thickness
of the stem, as the case may be: in some kinds, again, the stem is
white, in others purple, and in others mottled.
CHAP. 38.—THE NATURE AND VARIETIES OF TWENTY-THREE GARDEN PLANTS. THE
LETTUCE; ITS DIFFERENT VARIETIES.
The Greeks have distinguished three varieties of the lettuce;[1097] the
first with a stalk so large, that small garden gates,[1098] it is said,
have been made of it: the leaf of this lettuce is somewhat larger than
that of the herbaceous, or green lettuce, but extremely narrow, the
nutriment seeming to be expended on the other parts of the plant. The
second kind is that with a rounded[1099] stalk; and the third is the
low, squat lettuce,[1100] generally known as the Laconian lettuce.
Some persons[1101] have made distinctions in reference to their
respective colours, and the times for sowing them: the black lettuce
is sown in the month of January, the white in March, and the red in
April; and they are fit for transplanting, all of them, at the end of
a couple of months. Those, again, who have pursued these enquiries
even further than this, have distinguished a still greater number of
varieties of them—the purple, the crisped, the Cappadocian,[1102] and
the Greek lettuce, this last having a longer leaf than the rest, and
a broad stalk: in addition to which, there is one with a long, narrow
leaf, very similar to endive in appearance. The most inferior kind,
however, of all, is the one to which the Greeks, censuring it for its
bitterness, have given the name of “picris.”[1103] There is still
another variety, a kind of white lettuce, called “meconis,”[1104]
a name which it derives from the abundance of milk, of a narcotic
quality, which it produces; though, in fact, it is generally thought
that they are all of them of a soporific tendency. In former
times, this last was the only kind of lettuce that was held in any
esteem[1105] in Italy, the name “lactuca” having been given it on
account of the milk[1106] which it contains.
The purple kind, with a very large root, is generally known as the
Cæcilian[1107] lettuce; while the round one, with an extremely
diminutive root and broad leaves, is known to some persons as the
“astytis,”[1108] and to others as the “eunychion,” it having the
effect, in a remarkable degree, of quenching the amorous propensities.
Indeed, they are, all of them, possessed of cooling and refreshing
properties, for which reason it is, that they are so highly esteemed
in summer; they have the effect, also, of removing from the stomach
distaste for food, and of promoting the appetite. At all events, we
find it stated, that the late Emperor Augustus, when ill, was saved on
one occasion,[1109] thanks to the skill of his physician, Musa,[1110]
by eating lettuces, a food which the excessive scruples of his former
physician, C. Æmilius, had forbidden him. At the present day, however,
lettuces have risen into such high estimation, that a method has been
discovered even of preserving them during the months in which they
are out of season, by keeping them in oxymel.[1111] It is generally
supposed, also, that lettuces have the effect of making blood.
In addition to the above varieties, there is another kind of lettuce
known as the “goats’ lettuce,”[1112] of which we shall have occasion
to make further mention when we come to the medicinal plants: at the
moment, too, that I am writing this, a new species of cultivated
lettuce has been introduced, known as the Cilician lettuce, and held
in very considerable esteem; the leaf of it is similar to that of the
Cappadocian lettuce, except that it is crisped, and somewhat larger.
CHAP. 39.—ENDIVE.
Endive, though it cannot exactly be said to be of the same genus as
the lettuce, still cannot be pronounced to belong to any other.[1113]
It is a plant better able to endure the rigours of the winter than
the lettuce,[1114] and possessed of a more acrid taste, though the
flavour of the stalk[1115] is equally agreeable. Endive is sown at
the beginning of spring, and transplanted at the end of that season.
There is also a kind of spreading[1116] endive, known in Egypt as
“cichorium,”[1117] of which we shall have occasion[1118] to speak
elsewhere more at length.
A method has been discovered of preserving all the thyrsi or leaves
of the lettuce in pots, the object being to have them fresh when
wanted for boiling. Lettuces may be sown all the year[1119] through
in a good soil, well-watered and carefully manured;[1120] two months
being allowed to intervene between sowing and transplanting, and two
more between transplanting and gathering them when ripe. The rule is,
however, to sow them just after the winter solstice, and to transplant
when the west winds begin to prevail, or else to sow at this latter
period, and to plant out at the vernal equinox. The white lettuce is
the best adapted for standing the rigours of the winter.
All the garden plants are fond of moisture; lettuces thrive, more
particularly, when well manured, and endive even more so. Indeed, it
is found an excellent plan to plant them out with the roots covered
up in manure, and to keep up the supply, the earth being cleared away
for that purpose. Some, again, have another method of increasing their
size; they cut them[1121] down when they have reached half a foot in
height, and cover them with fresh swine’s dung. It is the general
opinion that those lettuces only will admit of being blanched which are
produced from white seed; and even then, as soon as they begin to grow,
sand from the sea-shore should be spread over them, care being taken to
tie the leaves as soon as ever they begin to come to any size.
CHAP. 40.—BEET: FOUR VARIETIES OF IT.
Beet[1122] is the smoothest of all the garden plants. The Greeks
distinguish two kinds of beet, according to the colour, the black and
the white. The last, which is the kind generally preferred, has but
very little seed, and is generally known as the Sicilian[1123] beet;
just as it is the white lettuce that is held in the highest degree of
esteem. Our people, also, distinguish two varieties of beet, the spring
and the autumn kinds, so called from the periods of sowing; although
sometimes we find beet sown in June even. This is a plant, too, that
is sometimes transplanted; and it thrives all the better, like the
lettuce, if the roots are well covered with manure, in a moist soil.
Beet is mostly eaten[1124] with lentils and beans; it is prepared
also in the same way as cabbage, with mustard more particularly, the
pungency of which relieves its insipidity. Medical men are of opinion
that beet is a more unwholesome[1125] vegetable than cabbage; hence it
is that I never remember seeing it served at table. Indeed, there are
some persons who scruple to taste it even, from a conviction that it is
a food suitable only for persons of a robust constitution.
Beet is a vegetable with twofold characteristics, partaking of the
nature of the cabbage in its leaves and resembling a bulb in the
root; that which grows to the greatest breadth being the most highly
esteemed. This plant, like the lettuce, is made to grow to head by
putting a light weight upon it the moment it begins to assume its
proper colour. Indeed, there is no garden plant that grows to a larger
head than this, as it sometimes spreads to a couple of feet in breadth,
the nature of the soil contributing in a very considerable degree to
its size: those found in the territory of Circeii attain the largest
size. Some persons[1126] think that the best time for sowing beet is
when the pomegranate is in flower, and are of opinion that it ought
to be transplanted as soon as it has thrown out five leaves. There
is a singular difference—if indeed it really exists—between the two
varieties of beet, the white kind being remarkable for its purgative
qualities, and the black being equally astringent. When wine in the vat
has been deteriorated by assuming a flavour like[1127] that of cabbage,
its original flavour is restored, it is said, by plunging beet leaves
into it.
CHAP. 41—CABBAGES; THE SEVERAL VARIETIES OF THEM.
Cabbage and coleworts, which at the present day are the most highly
esteemed of all the garden vegetables, were held in little repute, I
find, among the Greeks; but Cato,[1128] on the other hand, sings the
wondrous praises of the cabbage, the medicinal properties of which we
shall duly enlarge[1129] upon when we come to treat of that subject.
Cato distinguishes three varieties of the cabbage; the first, a plant
with leaves wide open, and a large stalk; a second, with crisped
leaves, to which he gives the name of “apiaca;”[1130] and a third,
with a thin stalk, and a smooth, tender leaf, which with him ranks the
lowest of all. Cabbages may be sown the whole year through, as we find
that they are cut at all periods of the year; the best time, however,
for sowing them is at the autumnal equinox, and they are usually
transplanted as soon as five leaves are visible. In the ensuing spring
after the first cutting, the plant yields sprouts, known to us as
“cymæ.”[1131] These sprouts, in fact, are small shoots thrown out from
the main stem, of a more delicate and tender quality than the cabbage
itself. The exquisite palate, however, of Apicius[1132] rejected these
sprouts for the table, and his example was followed by the fastidious
Drusus Cæsar; who did not escape, however, the censures of his father,
Tiberius, for being so over-nice. After the cymæ have made their
appearance the cabbage throws out its summer and autumn shoots, and
then its winter ones; after which, a new crop of cymæ is produced,
there being no plant so productive as this, until, at last, it is quite
exhausted by its extreme fertility. A second time for sowing cabbages
is immediately after the vernal equinox, the plants of this growth
being transplanted at the end of spring, that they may not run up into
sprouts before coming to a top: and a third sowing takes place about
the summer solstice, the transplanting being done in summer if the soil
is moist, but, if too dry, in autumn. When moisture and manure are
supplied in small quantities, the flavour of the cabbage is all the
more agreeable, but when they are supplied in greater abundance, the
plants attain a larger size. Asses’ dung is the best adapted for its
growth.
The cabbage, too, is one of those articles so highly esteemed by
epicures; for which reason it will not be amiss if we speak of it at
somewhat greater length. To obtain plants equally remarkable for their
size and flavour, care must be taken first of all to sow the seed in
ground that has had a couple of turnings up, and then to follow up the
shoots as they appear above ground by moulding them up, care being
taken to throw up the earth over them as they increase in luxuriance,
and to let nothing but the summit appear above the surface. This kind
is known as the Tritian[1133] cabbage: in money and labour it costs
twice as much as any of the others.
The other varieties of the cabbage[1134] are numerous—there is the
Cumanian cabbage, with leaves that lie close to the ground, and a wide,
open head; the Aricinian[1135] cabbage, too, of no greater height, but
with more numerous leaves and thinner—this last is looked upon as the
most useful of them all, for beneath nearly all of the leaves there are
small shoots thrown out, peculiar to this variety. The cabbage, again,
of Pompeii[1136] is considerably taller, the stalk, which is thin at
the root, increasing in thickness as it rises among the leaves, which
are fewer in number and narrower; the great merit of this cabbage is
its remarkable tenderness, although it is not able to stand the cold.
The cabbage of Bruttium,[1137] on the other hand, thrives all the
better for cold; the leaves of it are remarkably large, the stalk thin,
and the flavour pungent. The leaves, again, of the Sabine[1138] cabbage
are crisped to such a degree as to excite our surprise, and their
thickness is such as to quite exhaust the stem; in sweetness, however,
it is said to surpass all the others.
There have lately come into fashion the cabbages known as the
“Lacuturres;”[1139] they are grown in the valley of Aricia, where
there was formerly a lake, now no longer in existence, and a tower
which is still standing. The head of this cabbage is very large, and
the leaves are almost without number, some of them being round and
smooth, and others long and sinewy; indeed, there is no cabbage that
runs to a larger head than this, with the sole exception of the Tritian
variety, which has a head sometimes as much as a foot in thickness, and
throws out its cymæ the latest of all.
In all kinds of cabbages, hoar-frost contributes very materially to
their sweetness; but it is apt to be productive of considerable injury,
if care is not taken to protect the pith by cutting them aslant. Those
plants which are intended for seed are never cut.
There is another kind, again, that is held in peculiar esteem, and
which never exceeds the height of an herbaceous plant; it is known by
the name of “halmyridia,”[1140] from the circumstance of its growing
on the sea-shore[1141] only. It will keep green and fresh during a
long voyage even, if care is taken not to let it touch the ground
from the moment that it is cut, but to put it into oil-vessels lately
dried, and then to bung them so as to effectually exclude all air.
There are some[1142] who are of opinion, that the plant will come to
maturity all the sooner if some sea-weed is laid at the root when it
is transplanted, or else as much pounded nitre as can be taken up with
three fingers; and others, again, sprinkle the leaves with trefoil seed
and nitre pounded together.[1143] Nitre, too, preserves the greenness
of cabbage when cooked, a result which is equally ensured by the
Apician mode of boiling, or in other words, by steeping the plants in
oil and salt before they are cooked.
There is a method of grafting vegetables by cutting the shoots and
the stalk, and then inserting in the pith the seed of another plant;
a plan which has been adopted with the wild cucumber even. There is
another kind of wild cabbage, also, the lapsana,[1144] which has become
famous since the triumphs of the late Emperor Julius, in consequence
of the songs and jokes of his soldiers more particularly; for in the
alternate lines sung by them, they used to reproach him for having made
them live on lapsana at the siege of Dyrrhachium, and to rally him upon
the parsimonious scale on which he was in the habit of recompensing
their services. The lapsana is nothing more than a wild cyma.[1145]
CHAP. 42.—WILD AND CULTIVATED ASPARAGUS.
Of all the garden plants, asparagus is the one that requires the most
delicate attention in its cultivation. We have already[1146] spoken
at considerable length of its origin, when treating of the wild
plants, and have mentioned that Cato[1147] recommends it to be grown
in reed-beds. There is another kind, again, of a more uncultivated
nature than the garden asparagus, but less pungent than corruda;[1148]
it grows upon the mountains in different countries, and the plains of
Upper Germany are quite full of it, so much so, indeed, that it was a
not unhappy remark of Tiberius Cæsar, that a weed grows there which
bears a remarkably strong resemblance to asparagus. That which grows
spontaneously upon the island of Nesis, off the coast of Campania, is
looked upon as being by far the best of all.
Garden asparagus is reproduced from roots,[1149] the fibres of which
are exceedingly numerous, and penetrate to a considerable depth. When
it first puts forth its shoots, it is green; these in time lengthen out
into stalks, which afterwards throw out streaked branches from the
head: asparagus admits, also, of being grown from seed.
Cato[1150] has treated of no subject with greater care than this,
the last Chapter of his work being devoted to it, from which we may
conclude that it was quite new to him, and a subject which had only
very recently occupied his attention. He recommends that the ground
prepared for it should be a moist or dense soil, the seed being set at
intervals of half a foot every way, to avoid treading upon the heads;
the seed, he says, should be put two or three into each hole, these
being made with the dibble as the line runs—for in his day, it should
be remembered, asparagus was only grown from seed—this being done about
the vernal equinox. It requires, he adds, to be abundantly manured,
and to be kept well hoed, due care being taken not to pull up the
young plants along with the weeds. The first year, he says, the plants
must be protected from the severity of the winter with a covering of
straw, care being taken to uncover them in the spring, and to hoe and
stub up the ground about them. In the spring of the third year, the
plants must be set fire to, and the earlier the period at which the
fire is applied, the better they will thrive. Hence it is, that as
reed-beds[1151] grow all the more rapidly after being fired, asparagus
is found to be a crop remarkably well suited for growing with them.
The same author recommends, however, that asparagus should not be hoed
before the plants have made their appearance above-ground, for fear of
disturbing the roots; and he says that in gathering the heads, they
should be cut close to the root, and not broken off at the surface, a
method which is sure to make them run to stalk and die. They should
be cut, he says, until they are left to run to seed, and after the
seed is ripe, in spring they must be fired, care being taken, as soon
as they appear again, to hoe and manure them as before. After eight
or nine years, he says, when the plants have become old, they must
be renewed, after digging and manuring the ground, by replanting the
roots at intervals of a foot, care being taken to employ sheep’s dung
more particularly for the purpose, other kinds of manure being apt to
produce weeds.
No method of cultivating this plant that has since been tried has been
found more eligible than this, with the sole exception that the seed
is now sown about the ides of February, by laying it in heaps in
small trenches, after steeping it a considerable time in manure; the
result of which is that the roots become matted, and form into spongy
tufts, which are planted out at intervals of a foot after the autumnal
equinox, the plants continuing to be productive so long as ten years
even. There is no soil more favourable to the growth of asparagus, than
that of the gardens of Ravenna.[1152]
We have already[1153] spoken of the corruda, by which term I mean
the wild asparagus, by the Greeks called “orminos,” or “myacanthos,”
as well as by other names. I find it stated, that if rams’ horns are
pounded, and then buried in the ground, asparagus will come up.[1154]
CHAP. 43.—THISTLES.
It really might have been thought that I had now given an account of
all the vegetable productions that are held in any degree of esteem,
did there not still remain one plant, the cultivation of which is
extremely profitable, and of which I am unable to speak without a
certain degree of shame. For it is a well-known fact, that some small
plots of land, planted with thistles,[1155] in the vicinity of Great
Carthage and of Corduba more particularly, produce a yearly income of
six thousand sesterces;[1156] this being the way in which we make the
monstrous productions even of the earth subservient to our gluttonous
appetites, and that, too, when the very four-footed brutes[1157]
instinctively refuse to touch them.
Thistles are grown two different ways, from plants set in autumn, and
from seed sown before the nones of March;[1158] in which latter case
they are transplanted before the ides of November,[1159] or, where
the site is a cold one, about the time that the west winds prevail.
They are sometimes manured even, and if[1160] such is the will of
heaven, grow all the better for it. They are preserved, too, in a
mixture of honey and vinegar,[1161] with the addition of root of laser
and cummin—so that a day may not pass without our having thistles at
table.[1162]
CHAP. 44.—OTHER PLANTS THAT ARE SOWN IN THE GARDEN: OCIMUM; ROCKET; AND
NASTURTIUM.
For the remaining plants a brief description will suffice. The best
time for sowing ocimum,[1163] it is said, is at the festival of the
Parilia;[1164] though some say that it may be done in autumn as well,
and recommend, when it is sown in winter, to drench the seed thoroughly
with vinegar. Rocket,[1165] too, and nasturtium[1166] may be grown
with the greatest facility either in summer or winter. Rocket, more
particularly, is able to stand the cold, and its properties are quite
different from those of the lettuce, as it is a great provocative of
lust. Hence it is that we are in the habit of mixing these two plants
in our dishes, the excess of cold in the one being compensated by
the equal degree of heat in the other. Nasturtium has received that
name from[1167] the smarting sensation which its pungency causes to
the nostrils, and hence it is that a certain notion of smartness has
attached itself to the word, it having become quite a proverbial
saying, that a sluggish man should eat nasturtium, to arouse him from
his torpidity. In Arabia, it is said, this plant attains a size that is
quite marvellous.
CHAP. 45.—RUE.
Rue,[1168] too, is generally sown while the west winds prevail, as
well as just after the autumnal equinox. This plant has an extreme
aversion to cold, moisture, and dung; it loves dry, sunny localities,
and a soil more particularly that is rich in brick clay; it requires
to be nourished, too, with ashes, which should be mixed with the
seed as well, as a preservative against the attacks of caterpillars.
The ancients held rue in peculiar esteem; for I find that honied
wine flavoured with rue was distributed to the people, in his
consulship,[1169] by Cornelius Cethegus, the colleague of Quintus
Flamininus, after the closing of the Comitia. This plant has a great
liking[1170] for the fig-tree, and for that tree only; indeed, it never
thrives better than when grown beneath that tree. It is generally grown
from slips, the lower end of which is inserted in a perforated[1171]
bean, which holds it fast, and so nurtures the young plant with its
juices. It also reproduces itself;[1172] for the ends of the branches
bending downwards, the moment they reach the ground, they take root
again. Ocimum[1173] is of a very similar nature to rue, except that
it dries with greater difficulty. When rue has once gained strength,
there is considerable difficulty in stubbing it, as it causes itching
ulcerations on the hands, if they are not covered or previously
protected by being rubbed with oil. Its leaves, too, are preserved,
being packed in bundles for keeping.
CHAP. 46.—PARSLEY.
Parsley is sown immediately after the vernal equinox, the seed being
lightly beaten[1174] first in a mortar. It is thought that, by doing
this, the parsley will be all the more crisped, or else by taking
care to beat it down when sown with a roller or the feet. It is a
peculiarity of this plant, that it changes colour: it has the honour,
in Achaia, of forming the wreath of the victors in the sacred contests
of the Nemean Games.
CHAP. 47.—MINT.
It is at the same season, too, that mint[1175] is transplanted; or, if
it has not yet germinated, the matted tufts of the old roots are used
for the purpose. This plant, too, is no less fond of a humid soil than
parsley; it is green in summer and turns yellow in winter. There is a
wild kind of mint, known to us as “mentastrum:”[1176] it is reproduced
by layers, like the vine, or else by planting the branches upside down.
It was the sweetness of its smell that caused this plant to change
its name among the Greeks, its former name with them being “mintha,”
from which the ancient Romans derived their name[1177] for it; whereas
now, of late, it has been called by them ἡδύοσμον.[1178] The mint that
is used in the dishes at rustic entertainments pervades the tables
far and wide with its agreeable odour. When once planted, it lasts
a considerable length of time; it bears, too, a strong resemblance
to pennyroyal, a property of which is, as mentioned by us more than
once,[1179] to flower when kept in our larders.
These other herbs, mint, I mean, and catmint, as well as pennyroyal,
are all kept for use in a similar manner; but it is cummin[1180] that
is the best suited of all the seasoning herbs to squeamish and delicate
stomachs. This plant grows on the surface of the soil, seeming hardly
to adhere to it, and raising itself aloft from the ground: it ought
to be sown in the middle of the summer, in a crumbly, warm soil, more
particularly. There is another wild kind[1181] of cummin, known by some
persons as “rustic,” by others as “Thebaic” cummin: bruised and drunk
in water, it is good for pains in the stomach. The cummin most esteemed
in our part of the world is that of Carpetania,[1182] though elsewhere
that of Africa and Æthiopia is more highly esteemed; with some, indeed,
this last is preferred to that of Egypt.
CHAP. 48.—OLUSATRUM.
But it is olusatrum,[1183] more particularly, that is of so singular
a nature, a plant which by the Greeks is called “hipposelinum,”[1184]
and by others “smyrnium.” This plant is reproduced from a tear-like
gum[1185] which exudes from the stem; it is also grown from the
roots as well. Those whose business it is to collect the juice of
it, say that it has just the flavour of myrrh; and, according to
Theophrastus,[1186] it is obtained by planting myrrh. The ancients
recommended that hipposelinum should be grown in uncultivated spots
covered with stones, and in the vicinity of garden walls; but at the
present day it is sown in ground that has been twice turned up, between
the prevalence of the west winds and the autumnal equinox.
The caper,[1187] too, should be sown in dry localities more
particularly, the plot being hollowed out and surrounded with an
embankment of stones erected around it: if this precaution is not
taken, it will spread all over the adjoining land, and entail sterility
upon the soil. The caper blossoms in summer, and retains its verdure
till the setting of the Vergiliæ; it thrives the best of all in a sandy
soil. As to the bad qualities of the caper which grows in the parts
beyond the sea, we have already[1188] enlarged upon them when speaking
of the exotic shrubs.
CHAP. 49.—THE CARAWAY.
The caraway[1189] is an exotic plant also, which derives its name,
“careum,” from the country[1190] in which it was first grown; it is
principally employed for culinary purposes. This plant will grow in
any kind of soil, and requires to be cultivated just the same way as
olusatrum; the most esteemed, however, is that which comes from Caria,
and the next best is that of Phrygia.
CHAP. 50.—LOVAGE.
Lovage[1191] grows wild in the mountains of Liguria, its native
country, but at the present day it is grown everywhere. The cultivated
kind is the sweetest of the two, but is far from powerful; by some
persons it is known as “panax.” Crateuas, a Greek writer, gives this
name, however, to the plant known to us as “cunila bubula;”[1192] and
others, again, call the conyza[1193] or cunilago, cunila, while they
call cunila,[1194] properly so called, by the name of “thymbra.” With
us cunila has another appellation, being generally known as “satureia,”
and reckoned among the seasoning plants. It is usually sown in the
month of February, and for utility rivals wild marjoram. These two
plants are never used together, their properties being so extremely
similar; but it is only the wild marjoram of Egypt that is considered
superior to cunila.
CHAP. 51.—DITTANDER.
Dittander,[1195] too, was originally an exotic plant: it is usually
sown after the west winds have begun to prevail. As soon as it begins
to shoot, it is cut down close to the ground, after which it is hoed
and manured, a process which is repeated the succeeding year. After
this, the shoots are fit for use, if the rigour of the winter has
not injured them; for it is a plant quite unable to withstand any
inclemency[1196] of the weather. It grows to the height of a cubit, and
has a leaf like that of the laurel,[1197] but softer; it is never used
except in combination with milk.
CHAP. 52.—GITH.
Gith[1198] is employed by bakers, dill and anise by cooks and medical
men. Sacopenium,[1199] so extensively used for adulterating laser, is
also a garden plant, but is only employed for medicinal purposes.
CHAP. 53.—THE POPPY.
There are certain plants which are grown in company[1200] with others,
the poppy, for instance, sown with cabbages and purslain, and rocket
with lettuce. Of the cultivated poppy[1201] there are three kinds, the
first being the white[1202] poppy, the seed of which, parched, and
mixed with honey, used to be served up in the second course at the
tables of the ancients; at the present day, too, the country people
sprinkle it on the upper crust of their bread, making it adhere by
means of the yolk of eggs, the under crust being seasoned with parsley
and gith to heighten the flavour of the flour. The second kind is the
black[1203] poppy, from which, upon an incision being made in the
stalk, a milky juice distils; and the third is that known to the Greeks
by the name of “rhœas;”[1204] and by us as the wild poppy. This last
grows spontaneously, but in fields, more particularly, which have been
sown with barley: it bears a strong resemblance to rocket, grows to the
height of a cubit, and bears a red flower, which quickly fades; it is
to this flower that it is indebted for its Greek name.[1205]
As to the other kinds of poppies which spring up spontaneously, we
shall have occasion to speak of them when treating of the medicinal
plants.[1206] That the poppy has always been held in esteem among
the Romans, we have a proof in the story related of Tarquinius[1207]
Superbus, who, by striking down the tallest poppies in his garden,
surreptitiously conveyed, unknown to them, his sanguinary message
through the envoys who had been sent by his son.
CHAP. 54.—OTHER PLANTS WHICH REQUIRE TO BE SOWN AT THE AUTUMNAL EQUINOX.
There are some other plants, again, which require to be sown together
at the time of the autumnal equinox; coriander, for instance,
anise, orage, mallows, lapathum, chervil, known to the Greeks as
“pæderos,”[1208] and mustard,[1209] which has so pungent a flavour,
that it burns like fire, though at the same time it is remarkably
wholesome for the body. This last, though it will grow without
cultivation, is considerably improved by being transplanted; though, on
the other hand, it is extremely difficult to rid the soil of it when
once sown there, the seed when it falls germinating immediately. This
seed, when cooked in the saucepan,[1210] is employed even for making
ragouts, its pungency being rendered imperceptible by boiling; the
leaves, too, are boiled just the same way as those of other vegetables.
There are three different kinds of mustard,[1211] the first of a
thin, slender form, the second, with a leaf like that of the rape,
and the third, with that of rocket: the best seed comes from Egypt.
The Athenians have given mustard the name of “napy,”[1212] others,
“thapsi,”[1213] and others, again, “saurion.”[1214]
CHAP. 55.—WILD THYME; SISYMBRIUM.
Most mountains abound with wild thyme and sisymbrium, those of Thrace,
for example, where[1215] branches of these wild plants are torn up and
brought away for planting. So, too, the people of Sicyon seek for wild
thyme on their mountains, and the Athenians on the slopes of Hymettus.
Sisymbrium, too, is planted in a similar manner; it grows to the
greatest perfection upon the walls of wells, and around fish preserves
and ponds.[1216]
CHAP. 56. (9.)—FOUR KINDS OF FERULACEOUS PLANTS. HEMP.
The other garden plants are of the ferulaceous kind, such as fennel,
for instance, very grateful to serpents, as already stated,[1217]
and used for numerous seasonings when dried; thapsia, too, which
bears a close resemblance to fennel, and already mentioned by us when
speaking[1218] of the exotic shrubs. Then, too, there is hemp,[1219] a
plant remarkably useful for making ropes, and usually sown after the
west winds have begun to prevail: the more thickly it is sown, the
thinner are the stalks. The seed is gathered when ripe, just after the
autumnal equinox, and is dried by the agency of the sun, the wind, or
smoke.[1220] The hemp itself is plucked just after vintage-time, and is
peeled and cleaned by the labourers at night.
The best hemp is that of Alabanda,[1221] which is used more
particularly for making hunting-nets, and of which there are three
varieties. The hemp which lies nearest the bark or the pith is the
least valuable, while that which lies in the middle, and hence has the
name of “mesa,” is the most esteemed. The hemp of Mylasa[1222] occupies
the second rank. With reference to the size to which it grows, that of
Rosea,[1223] in the Sabine territory, equals the trees in height.[1224]
We have already mentioned two kinds of fennel-giant when speaking[1225]
of the exotic shrubs: the seed of it is used in Italy for food; the
plant, too, admits of being preserved, and, if stored in earthen pots,
will keep for a whole year. There are two parts of it that are used
for this purpose, the upper stalks and the umbels of the plant. This
kind of fennel is sometimes known by the name of “corymbia,” and the
parts preserved are called “corymbi.”
CHAP. 57. (10.)—THE MALADIES OF GARDEN PLANTS.
The garden plants, too, like the rest of the vegetable productions,
are subject to certain maladies. Thus, for[1226] instance, ocimum,
when old, degenerates into wild thyme, and sisymbrium[1227] into mint,
while the seed of an old cabbage produces rape, and vice versâ. Cummin,
too, if not kept well hoed, is killed by hæmodorum,[1228], a plant
with a single stalk, a root similar to a bulb in appearance, and never
found except in a thin, meagre soil. Besides this, cummin is liable
to a peculiar disease of its own, the scab:[1229] ocimum, too, turns
pale at the rising of the Dog-star. All plants, indeed, will turn of
a yellow complexion on the approach of a woman who has the menstrual
discharge[1230] upon her.
There are various kinds of insects,[1231] too, that breed upon the
garden plants—fleas, for instance, upon turnips, and caterpillars and
maggots upon radishes, as well as lettuces and cabbages; besides which,
the last two are exposed to the attacks of slugs and snails. The leek,
too, is infested with peculiar insects of its own; which may very
easily be taken, however, by laying dung upon the plants, the insects
being in the habit of burrowing in it. Sabinus Tiro says, in his book
entitled “Cepurica,”[1232] which he dedicated to Mæcenas, that it is
not advisable to touch rue, cunila, mint, or ocimum with any implement
of iron.
CHAP. 58.—THE PROPER REMEDIES FOR THESE MALADIES. HOW ANTS ARE BEST
DESTROYED. THE BEST REMEDIES AGAINST CATERPILLARS AND FLIES.
The same author recommends as a remedy against ants, which are by no
means the slightest plague in a garden that is not kept well watered,
to stop up the mouths of their holes with sea-slime or ashes. But
the most efficient way of destroying them is with the aid of the
plant heliotropium;[1233] some persons, too, are of opinion that
water in which an unburnt brick has been soaked is injurious to them.
The best protection for turnips is to sow a few fitches with them,
and for cabbages chickpeas, these having the effect of keeping away
caterpillars. If, however, this precaution should have been omitted,
and the caterpillars have already made their appearance, the best
remedy is to throw upon the vegetables a decoction of wormwood,[1234]
or else of house-leek,[1235] known to some as “aïzoüm,” a kind of herb
already mentioned by us. If cabbage-seed, before it is sown, is steeped
in the juice of house-leek, the cabbages, it is said, are sure not be
attacked by any insect.
It is said, too, that all caterpillars may be effectually exterminated,
if the skull[1236] of a beast of burden is set up upon a stake in the
garden, care being taken to employ that of a female only. There is a
story related, too, that a river crab, hung up in the middle of the
garden, is a preservative against the attacks of caterpillars. Again,
there are some persons who are in the habit of touching with slips
of blood-red cornel[1237] such plants as they wish to preserve from
caterpillars. Flies,[1238] too, infest well-watered gardens, and more
particularly so, if there happen to he any shrubs there; they may be
got rid of, however, by burning galbanum.[1239]
(11.) With reference to the deterioration to which seed is
subject,[1240] there are some seeds which keep better than others,
such, for instance, as that of coriander, beet, leeks, cresses,
mustard, rocket, cunila, nearly all the pungent plants in fact. The
seed, on the other hand, of orage, ocimum, gourds, and cucumbers, is
not so good for keeping. All the summer seeds, too, last longer than
the winter ones; but scallion seed is the very worst for keeping of
them all. But of those, even, which keep the very longest, there is
none that will keep beyond four years—for sowing[1241] purposes, at
least; for culinary purposes, they are fit for use beyond that period.
CHAP. 59.—WHAT PLANTS ARE BENEFITTED BY SALT WATER.
A peculiar remedy for the maladies to which radishes, beet, rue, and
cunila are subject, is salt water, which has also the additional merit
of conducing very materially to their sweetness and fertility. Other
plants, again, are equally benefitted by being watered with fresh
water, the most desirable for the purpose being that which is the
coldest and the sweetest to drink: pond and drain-water, on the other
hand, are not so good, as they are apt to carry the seeds of weeds
along with them. It is rain,[1242] however, that forms the principal
aliment of plants; in addition to which, it kills the insects as they
develope themselves upon them.
CHAP. 60. (12.)—THE PROPER METHOD OF WATERING GARDENS.
The proper times[1243] for watering are the morning and the evening,
to prevent the water from being heated[1244] by the sun; with the sole
exception, however, of ocimum, which requires to be watered at midday;
indeed, this plant, it is generally thought, will grow with additional
rapidity, if it is watered with boiling water when sown. All plants,
when transplanted, grow all the better and larger for it, leeks and
turnips more particularly. Transplanting, too, is attended with certain
remedial effects, and acts as a preservative to certain plants, such
as scallions, for instance, leeks, radishes, parsley, lettuces, rape,
and cucumbers. All the wild plants[1245] are generally smaller in the
leaf and stalk than the cultivated ones, and have more acrid juices,
cunila, wild marjoram, and rue, for example. Indeed, it is only the
lapathum[1246] that is better in a wild state than cultivated: in
its cultivated state it is the same plant that is known to us as the
“rumix,” being the most vigorous[1247] by far of all the plants that
are grown; so much so, indeed, that it is said that when it has once
taken root, it will last for ever, and can never be extirpated from
the soil, more particularly if water happens to be near at hand. Its
juices, which are employed only in ptisans,[1248] as an article of
food, have the effect of imparting to them a softer and more exquisite
flavour. The wild variety[1249] is employed for many medicinal purposes.
So true it is, that the careful research of man has omitted nothing,
that I have even met with a poem,[1250] in which I find it stated, that
if pellets of goats’ dung, the size of a bean, are hollowed out, and
the seed of leeks, rocket, lettuces, parsley, endive, and cresses is
inserted in them, and then sown, the plants will thrive in a marvellous
degree. Plants[1251] in a wild state, it is generally thought, are more
dry and acrid than when cultivated.
CHAP. 61.—THE JUICES AND FLAVOURS OF GARDEN HERBS.
This, too, reminds me that I ought to make some mention of the
difference between the juices and flavours of the garden herbs,
a difference which is more perceptible here than in the fruits
even.[1252] In cunila, for instance, wild marjoram, cresses, and
mustard, the flavour is acrid; in wormwood[1253] and centaury,[1254]
bitter; in cucumbers, gourds, and lettuces, watery; and in parsley,
anise, and fennel, pungent and odoriferous. The salt flavour is the
only one that is not to be found[1255] in plants, with the sole
exception, indeed, of the chicheling[1256] vetch, though even then it
is to be found on the exterior surface only of the plant, in the form
of a kind of dust which settles there.
CHAP. 62.—PIPERITIS, LIBANOTIS, AND SMYRNIUM.
To come to a full understanding, too, both here as elsewhere, how
unfounded are the notions which are generally entertained, I shall
take this opportunity of remarking that panax[1257] has the flavour
of pepper, and siliquastrum even more so, a circumstance to which it
owes its name of piperitis:[1258] libanotis,[1259] again, has just the
odour of frankincense, and smyrnium[1260] of myrrh. As to panax, we
have spoken of it at sufficient length already.[1261] Libanotis grows
in a thin, crumbly soil, and is generally sown in spots exposed to the
falling dews; the root, which is just like that of olusatrum,[1262]
has a smell in no way differing from that of frankincense; when a year
old, it is extremely wholesome for the stomach; some persons give it
the name of rosmarinum.[1263] Smyrnium is a garden herb that grows in
similar soils, and has a root which smells like myrrh: siliquastrum
too, is grown in a similar manner.
Other plants, again, differ from the preceding ones, both in smell and
taste, anise[1264] for example; indeed, so great is the difference
in this respect, and in their relative virtues, that not only are
the properties of each modified by the other, but quite neutralized
even. It is in this way that our cooks correct the flavour of vinegar
in their dishes with parsley, and our butlers employ the same plant,
enclosed in sachets, for removing a bad odour in wine.
[1265]Thus far, then, we have treated of the garden plants, viewed as
articles of food only; it remains for us now (for up to the present we
have only spoken of their various methods of cultivation, with some
succinct details relative thereto), to enlarge upon the more elaborate
operations of Nature in this respect; it being quite impossible to
come to a full understanding as to the true characteristics of each
individual plant, without a knowledge of its medicinal effects, a
sublime and truly mysterious manifestation of the wisdom of the Deity,
than which nothing can possibly be found of a nature more elevated. It
is upon principle that we have thought proper not to enlarge upon the
medicinal properties of each plant when treating of it; for it is a
quite different class of persons that is interested in knowing their
curative properties, and there is no doubt that both classes of readers
would have been inconvenienced in a very material degree, if these two
points of view had engaged our attention at the same moment. As it
is, each class will have its own portion to refer to, while those who
desire to do so, will experience no difficulty in uniting them, with
reference to any subject of which we may happen to treat.
SUMMARY.—Remarkable facts, narratives, and observations, one thousand
one hundred and forty-four.
ROMAN AUTHORS QUOTED.—Maccius Plautus,[1266] M. Varro,[1267] D.
Silanus,[1268] Cato the Censor,[1269] Hyginus,[1270] Virgil,[1271]
Mucianus,[1272] Celsus,[1273] Columella,[1274] Calpurnius Bassus,[1275]
Mamilius Sura,[1276] Sabinus Tiro,[1277] Licinius Macer,[1278] Quintus
Hirtius,[1279] Vibius Rufus,[1280] Cæsennius[1281] who wrote the
Cepurica, Castritius[1282] who wrote on the same subject, Firmus[1283]
who wrote on the same subject, Petrichus[1284] who wrote on the same
subject.
FOREIGN AUTHORS QUOTED.—Herodotus,[1285] Theophrastus,[1286]
Democritus,[1287] Aristomachus,[1288] Menander[1289] who wrote the
Biochresta, Anaxiläus.[1290]