Delphi Complete Works of Pliny the Elder

by Pliny the Elder

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  CHAP. 46.

  THE CROPS THAT SHOULD BE SOWN IN THE DIFFERENT SOILS.

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

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

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

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  CHAP. 47.

  THE DIFFERENT SYSTEMS OF CULTIVATION EMPLOYED BY VARIOUS NATIONS.

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

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

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  CHAP. 48.

  THE VARIOUS KINDS OF PLOUGHS.

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

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  CHAP. 49. (19,)

  THE MODE OF PLOUGHING.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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  CHAP. 50. (21.)

  THE METHODS OF HARROWING, STUBBING, AND HOEING, EMPLOYED FOR EACH DESCRIPTION OF GRAIN. THE USE OF THE HARROW.

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

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

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

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  CHAP. 51. (22.)

  EXTREME FERTILITY OF SOIL.

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

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

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  CHAP. 52. (23.)

  THE METHOD OF SOWING MORE THAN ONCE IN THE YEAR.

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