456 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XVII. 



Padus, are such admirers of ashes 89 for this purpose, that they 

 even prefer it as a manure to the dung of beasts of burden; 

 indeed, they are in the habit of burning dung for this pur- 

 pose, on account of its superior lightness. They do not, how- 

 ever, use them indiscriminately upon the same soil, nor do 

 they employ ashes for promoting the growth of shrubs, nor, in 

 fact, of some of the cereals, as we shall have occasion 90 to 

 mention hereafter. There are some persons who are of opinion 

 also that dust 91 imparts nutriment to grapes, and cover them 

 with it while they are growing, taking care to throw it also 

 upon the roots of the vines and other trees. It is well 

 known that this is done in the province of Gallia Narbonensis, 

 and it is a fact even better ascertained that the grape ripens 

 all the sooner for it ; indeed, the dust there contributes more 

 to its ripeness than the heat of the sun. 



CHAP. 6. JLLNTJRE. 



There are various kinds of manure, the use of which is of 

 very ancient date. In the times of Homer 92 even, the aged 

 king is represented as thus enriching the land by the labour of 

 his own hands. Tradition reports that King Augeas was the 

 first in Greece to make use of it, and that Hercules introduced 

 the practice into Italy ; which country has, however, immor- 

 talized the name of its king, Stercutus, 93 the son of Faunus, 

 as claiming the honour of this invention. M. Varro 94 assigns 

 the first rank for excellence to the dung of thrushes kept in 

 aviaries, and lauds it as being not only good for land, but 

 excellent food for oxen and swine as well ; indeed, he goes so 

 far as to assert that there is no food that they will grow fat upon 

 more speedily. We really have some reason to augur well of 

 the manners of the present day, if it is true that in the days 

 of our ancestors there were aviaries of such vast extent as to 

 be able to furnish manure for the fields. 



89 Though ashes fertilize the ground, more particularly when of an ar- 

 gillaceous nature, they are not so extensively used now as in ancient times. 

 Pliny alludes here more particularly to wood and dunghill ashes. 



90 This, however, he omits to do. 



91 He alludes, probably, to Theophrastus, De Causis, B. iii. c. 22. 



92 Odyssey xxiv. 225. 



93 From "stercus," "dung." A fabulous personage, most probably. 



94 De Re Rust. i. 38. 



