Delphi Complete Works of Pliny the Elder

by Pliny the Elder

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  CHAP. 59.

  THE EPOCHS OF THE SEASONS.

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

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

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  CHAP. 60.

  THE PROPER TIME FOR WINTER SOWING.

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

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

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  CHAP. 61.

  WHEN TO SOW THE LEGUMINOUS PLANTS AND THE POPPY.

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

  “The lentisk, ever green and ever bent

  Beneath its fruits, affords a threefold crop:

  Thrice teeming, thrice it warns us when to plough.”

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

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  CHAP. 62.

  WORK TO BE DONE IN THE COUNTRY IN EACH MONTH RESPECTIVELY.

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

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  CHAP. 63.

  WORK TO BE DONE AT THE WINT
ER SOLSTICE.

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

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

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  CHAP. 64.

  WORK TO BE DONE BETWEEN THE WINTER SOLSTICE AND THE PREVALENCE OF THE WEST WINDS.

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

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

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  CHAP. 65.

  WORK TO BE DONE BETWEEN THE PREVALENCE OF THE WEST WINDS AND THE VERNAL EQUINOX.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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  CHAP. 66.

  WORK TO BE DONE AFTER THE VERNAL EQUINOX.

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