Detailed table of contents
CHAP. 69.
CAUSES OF STERILITY.
But we ought always to bear in mind, more particularly, that there are two varieties of evils that are inflicted upon the earth by the heavens. The first of these, known by us under the name of “tempests,” comprehends hail-storms, hurricanes and other calamities of a similar nature; when these take place at the full moon, they come upon us with additional intensity. These tempests take their rise in certain noxious constellations, as already stated by us on several occasions, Arcturus, for instance, Orion, and the Kids.
The other evils that are thus inflicted upon us, supervene with a bright, clear sky, and amid the silence of the night, no one being sensible of them until we have perceived their effects. These dispensations are universal and of a totally different character from those previously mentioned, and have various names given to them, sometimes mildew, sometimes blast, and sometimes coal blight; but in all cases sterility is the infallible result. It is of these last that we have now to speak, entering into details which have not hitherto been treated of by any writer; and first of all we will explain the causes of them.
(29.) Independently of the moon, there are two principal causes of these calamities, which emanate more particularly from two quarters of the heavens of but limited extent. On the one hand, the Vergiliæ exercise an especial influence on our harvests, as it is with their rising that the summer begins, and with their setting, the winter; thus embracing, in the space of six months, the harvest, the vintage, and the ripening of all the vegetable productions. In addition to this, there is a circular tract in the heavens, quite visible to the human eye even, known as the Milky Way. It is the emanations from this, flowing as it were from the breast, that supply their milky nutriment to all branches of the vegetable world. Two constellations more particularly mark this circular tract, the Eargle in the north, and Canicula in the south; of this last, we have already made mention in its appropriate place. This circle traverses also Sagittarius and Gemini, and passing through the centre of the sun, cuts the equinoctial line below, the constellation of the Eagle making its appearance at the point of intersection on the one side, and Canicula on the other. Hence it is that the influences of both these constellations develope themselves upon all cultivated lands; it being at these points only that the centre of the sun is brought to correspond with that of the earth. If, then, at the moments of the rising and the setting of these constellations, the air, soft and pure, transmits these genial and milky emanations to the earth, the crops will thrive and ripen apace; but if on the other hand, the moon, as already mentioned, sheds her chilling dews, the bitterness thereof infuses itself into these milky secretions, and so kills the vegetation in its birth. The measure of the injury so inflicted on the earth depends, in each climate, upon the combination of the one or other of these causes; and hence it is that it is not felt in equal intensity throughout the whole earth, nor even precisely at the same moment of time. We have already said that the Eagle rises in Italy on the thirteenth day before the calends of January, and the ordinary course of Nature does not permit us before that period to reckon with any degree of certainty upon the fruits of the earth; for if the moon should happen to be in conjunction at that time, it will be a necessary consequence, that all the winter fruits, as well as the early ones, will receive injury more or less.
The life led by the ancients was rude and illiterate; still, as will be readily seen, the observations they made were not less remarkable for ingenuity than are the theories of the present day. With them there were three set periods for gathering in the produce of the earth, and it was in honour of these periods that they instituted the festive days, known as the Robigalia, the Floralia, and the Vinalia. The Robigalia were established by Numa in the fortieth year of his reign, and are still celebrated on the seventh day before the calends of May, as it is at this period that mildew mostly makes its first attacks upon the growing corn. Varro fixes this crisis at the moment at which the sun enters the tenth degree of Taurus, in accordance with the notions that prevailed in his day: but the real cause is the fact, that thirty-one days after the vernal equinox, according to the observations of various nations, the Dog-star sets between the seventh and fourth before the calends of May, a constellation baneful in itself, and to appease which a young dog should first be sacrificed. The same people also, in the year of the City 513, instituted the Floralia, a festival held upon the fourth before the calends of May, in accordance with the oracular injunctions of the Sibyl, to secure a favourable season for the blossoms and flowers. Varro fixes this day as the time at which the sun enters the fourteenth degree of Taurus. If there should happen to be a full moon during the four days at this period, injury to the corn and all the plants that are in blossom, will be the necessary result. The First Vinalia, which in ancient times were established on the ninth before the calends of May, for the purpose of tasting the wines, have no signification whatever in reference to the fruits of the earth, any more than the festivals already mentioned have in reference to the vine and the olive; the germination of these last not commencing, in fact, till the rising of the Vergiliæ, on the Sixth day before the ides of May, as already mentioned on previous occasions. This, again, is another period of four days, which should never be blemished by dews, as the chilling constellation of Arcturus, which sets on the following day, will be sure to nip the vegetation; stili less ought there to be a full moon at this period.
On the fourth before the nones of June, the Eagle rises again in the evening, a critical day for the olives and vines in blossom, if there should happen to be a full moon. For my part, I am of opinion that the eighth before the calends of July, the day of the summer solstice, must be a critical day, for a similar reason; and that the rising of the Dog-star, twenty-three days after the summer solstice, must be so too, in case the moon is then in conjunction; for the excessive heat is productive of injurious effects, and the grape becomes prematurely ripened, shrivelled, and tough. Again, if there is a full noon on the fourth before the nones of July, when Canicula rises to the people of Egypt, or at least on the sixteenth before the calends of August, when it rises in Italy, it is productive of injurious results. The same is the case, too, from the thirteenth day before the calends of August, when the Eagle sets, to the tenth before the calends of that month. The Second Vinalia, which are celebrated on the fourteenth before the calends of September, bear no reference to these influences. Varro fixes them at; the period at which the Lyre begins its morning setting, and says that this indicates the beginning of autumn, the day having been set apart for the purpose of propitiating the weather: at the present day, however, it is observed that the Lyre sets on the sixth before the ides of August.
Within these periods there are exerted the sterilizing influences of the heavens, though I am far from denying that they may be considerably modified by the nature of the locality according as it is cold or hot. Still, however, it is sufficient for me to have demonstrated the theory; the modifications of its results depending, in a great degree, upon attentive observation. It is beyond all question too, that either one of these two causes will be always productive of its own peculiar effects, the full moon, I mean, or else the moon’s conjunction. And here it suggests itself how greatly we ought to admire the bounteous provisions made for us by Nature; for, in the first place, these calamitous results cannot by any possibility befall us every year, in consequence of the fixed revolutions of the stars; nor indeed, when they do happen, beyond a few nights in the year, and it may be easily known beforehand which nights those are likely to be. In order, too, that we might not have to apprehend these injuries to vegetation in all the months, Nature has so ordained that the times of the moon’s conjunction in summer, and of the full moon in winter, with the exception of two days only at those respective periods, are well ascertained, and that there is no danger to be apprehended on any but the nights of summer, and those nights the shortest of all; in the day-time, on the other hand
, there is nothing to fear. And then, besides, these phænomena may be so easily understood, that the ant even, that most diminutive of insects, takes its rest during the moon’s conjunction, but toils on, and that during the night as well, when the moon is at the full; the bird, too, called the “parra” disappears upon the day on which Sirius rises, and never reappears until that star has set; while the witwall, on the other hand, makes its appearance on the day of the summer solstice. The moon, however, is productive of no noxious effects at either of these periods, except when the nights are clear, and every movement of the air is lulled; for so long as clouds prevail, or the wind is blowing, the night dews never fall. And then, besides, there are certain remedies to counteract these noxious influences.
Detailed table of contents
CHAP. 70.
REMEDIES AGAINST THESE NOXIOUS INFLUENCES.
When you have reason to fear these influences, make bonfires in the fields and vineyards of cuttings or heaps of chaff, or else of the weeds that have been rooted up; the smoke will act as a good preservative. The smoke, too, of burning chaff will be an effectual protection against the effects of fogs, when likely to be injurious. Some persons recommend that three crabs should be burnt alive among the trees on which the vines are trained, to prevent these from being attacked by coal blight; while others say that the flesh of the silurus should be burnt in a slow fire, in such a way that the smoke may be dispersed by the wind throughout the vineyard.
Varro informs us, that if at the setting of the Lyre, which is the beginning of autumn, a painted grape is consecrated in the midst of the vineyard, the bad weather will not be pro- ductive of such disastrous results as it otherwise would. Archibius has stated, in a letter to Antiochus, king of Syria, that if a bramble-frog is burried in a new earthen vessel, in the middle of a corn-field, there will be no storms to cause injury.
Detailed table of contents
CHAP. 71.
WORK TO BE DONE AFTER THE SUMMER SOLSTICE.
The following are the rural occupations for this interval of time-the ground must have another turning up, and the trees must be cleared about the roots and moulded up, where the heat of the locality requires it. Those plants, however, which are in bud must not be spaded at the roots, except where the soil is particularly rich. The seed-plots, too, must be well cleared with the hoe, the barley-harvest got in, and the threshing-floor prepared for the harvest with chalk, as Cato tells us, slackened with amurca of olives; Virgil makes mention of a method still more laborious even. In general, however, it is considered sufficient to make it perfectly level, and then to cover it with a solution of cow-dung and water; this being thought sufficient to prevent the dust from rising.
Detailed table of contents
CHAP. 72. (30.)
THE HARVEST.
The mode of getting in the harvest varies considerably. In the vast domains of the provinces of Gaul a large hollow frame, armed with teeth and supported on two wheels, is driven through the standing corn, the beasts being yoked behind it; the result being, that the ears are torn off and fall within the frame. In other countries the stalks are cut with the sickle in the middle, and the ears are separated by the aid of paddle-forks. In some places, again, the corn is torn up by the roots; and it is asserted by those who adopt this plan, that it is as good as a light turning up for the ground, whereas, in reality, they deprive it of its juices. There are differences in other respects also: in places where they thatch their houses with straw, they keep the longest haulms for that purpose; and where hay is scarce, they employ the straw for litter. The straw of panic is never used for thatching, and that of millet is mostly burnt; barley-straw, however, is always preserved, as being the most agreeable of all as a food for oxen. In the Gallic provinces panic and millet are gathered, ear by ear, with the aid of a comb carried in the hand.
In some places the corn is beaten out by machines upon the threshing-floor, in others by the feet of mares, and in others with flails. The later wheat is cut, the more prolific it is; but it is got in early, the grain is finer and stronger. The best rule is to cut it before the grain hardens, and just as it is changing colour: though the oracles on husbandry say that it is better to begin the harvest two days too soon than two days too late. Winter and other wheat must be treated exactly the same way both on the threshing-floor and in the granary. Spelt, as it is difficult to be threshed, should be stored with the chaff on, being only disengaged of the straw and the beard.
Many countries make use of chaff for hay: the smoother and thinner it is, and the more nearly resembling dust, the better; hence it is that the chaff of millet is considered the best, that of barley being the next best, and that of wheat the worst of all, except for beasts that are hard worked. In stony places they break the haulms, when dry, with staves, for the cattle to lie upon: if there is a deficiency of chaff, the straw as well is ground for food. The following is the method employed in preparing it: it is cut early and sprinkled with bay salt, after which it is dried and rolled up in trusses, and given to the oxen as wanted, instead of hay. Some persons set fire to the stubble in the fields, a plan that has been greatly extolled by Virgil: the chief merit of it is that the seed of the weeds is effectually destroyed. The diversity of the methods employed in harvesting mainly depends upon the extent of the crops and the price of labour.
Detailed table of contents
CHAP. 73
THE METHODS OF STORING CORN.
Connected with this branch of our subject is the method of storing corn. Some persons recommend that granaries should be built for the purpose at considerable expense, the walls being made of brick, and not less than three feet thick; the corn, they say, should be let in from above, the air being carefully excluded, and no windows allowed. Others, again, say that the granary should have an aspect in no direction but the north-east or north, and that the walls should be built without lime, that substance being extremely injurious to corn; as to what we find recommended in reference to amurca of olives, we have already mentioned it on a former occasion. In some places they build their granaries of wood, and upon pillars, thinking it the best plan to leave access for the air on every side, and from below even. Some persons think, how- ever, that the grain diminishes in bulk if laid on a floor above the level of the ground, and that it is liable to ferment beneath a roof of tiles. Many persons say, too, that the grain should never be stirred up to air it, as the weevil is never known to penetrate beyond four fingers in depth; consequently, beyond that depth there is no danger. According to Columella, the west wind is beneficial to grain, a thing that surprises me, as that wind is generally a very parching one. Some persons recommend that, before housing the corn, a bramble-frog should be hung up by one of the hind legs at the threshold of the granary. To me it appears that the most important precaution of all is to house the grain at the proper time; for if it is unripe when cut, and not sufficiently firm, or if it is got in a heated state, it follows of necessity that noxious insects will breed in it.
There are several causes which contribute to the preservation of grain; the outer coats in some kinds are more numerous, as in millet, for instance; the juices are of an oleaginous nature, and so supply ample moisture, as in sesame, for example; while in other kinds, again, they are naturally bitter, as in the lupine and the chicheling vetch. It is in wheat more particularly that insects breed, as it is apt to heat from the density of its juices, and the grain is covered with a thick bran. In barley the chaff is thinner, and the same is the case with all the leguminous seeds: it is for this reason that they do not ordinarily breed insects. The bean, however, is covered with a coat of a thicker substance: and hence it is that it ferments. Some persons sprinkle wheat, in order to make it keep the longer, with amurea of olives, a quadrantal to a thousand modii: others, again, with powdered Chalcidian or Carian chalk, or with worm-wood. There is a certain earth found at Olynthus, and at Cerinthus, in Eubœa, which prevents grain from spoiling. If garnered in the ear, grain is hardly ever found to suffer any in
jury.
The best plan, however, of preserving grain, is to lay it up in trenches, called “siri,” as they do in Cappadocia, Thracia, Spain, and at * * * in Africa. Particular care is taken to dig these trenches in a dry soil, and a layer of chaff is then placed at the bottom the grain, too, is always stored in the ear. In this case, if no air is allowed to penetrate to the corn, we may rest assured that no noxious insects will ever breed in it. Varro says, that wheat, if thus stored, will keep as long as fifty years, and millet a hundred; and he assures us that beans and other leguminous grain, if put away in oil jars with a covering of ashes, will keep for a great length of time. He makes a statement, also, to the effect that some beans were preserved in a cavern in Ambracia from the time of King Pyrrhus until the Piratical War of Pompeius Magnus, a period of about two hundred and twenty years.
Delphi Complete Works of Pliny the Elder Page 131